Inter-brain co-activations during mindfulness meditation. Implications for devotional and clinical settings.
Alessio Matiz, Cristiano Crescentini, M. Bergamasco, R. Budai, Franco Fabbro
Consciousness and Cognition September 22, 2021 DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2021.103210 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Within-subjects experimental design Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 32 |
| Population | 16 couples of expert meditators |
| Interventions | Mindfulness-oriented meditation Instructed mind-wandering |
| Duration | 7-minute recording sessions per condition |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Key findings | Gamma activity in limbic areas was higher during mindfulness meditation performed together in the same room compared to when performed alone in different rooms. |
Abstract
Mindfulness meditation usually takes place as personal, introspective activity. It is not known if this practice activates the brain differently when done alone or with someone else. Sixteen couples of expert meditators performed mindfulness-oriented meditation (MOM) and instructed mind-wandering (IMW) tasks in two conditions: once sitting in the same room (SR) and once in two different rooms (DR). Spontaneous electroencephalographic (EEG) data was collected during 7-minute recording sessions in the four experimental settings (MOM/SR, MOM/DR, IMW/SR, IMW/DR). Power in band was computed in separate clusters of independent components of the EEG signals. In addition to significant task effects, found in frontolimbic (MOM > IMW in gamma) and frontoparietal locations (MOM < IMW in theta), significant condition effects were found in frontal (SR > DR in delta) and in temporo-occipital regions (SR > DR in theta and alpha). Moreover, a significant interaction between task and condition revealed higher gamma activity in limbic areas during MOM/SR vs. MOM/DR settings. This effect was not attributable to gender, age nor the meditation expertise of participants. We thus show that the brains of two people work differently when they are doing something together or alone; some of these differences are specific to mindfulness meditation. Implications for devotional and clinical settings are discussed.