Mindfulness (Vipassana) meditation: effects on P3b event-related potential and heart rate variability.
Luis Carlos Delgado-Pastor, Pandelis Perakakis, Pailoor Subramanya, Shirley Telles, Jaime Vila
International Journal of Psychophysiology November 1, 2013 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2013.07.006 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Within-subjects experimental design Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 10 |
| Population | Male experienced Vipassana meditators |
| Intervention | Vipassana meditation |
| Duration | 30-minute meditation or no-meditation session |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Attention Emotional regulation Event-related potential Heart rate variability |
| Key findings | Experienced Vipassana meditators showed greater P3b amplitudes to target tones after meditation and increased LF/HF ratio during meditation, supporting claims about mindfulness enhancing attention and autonomic regulation. |
Abstract
The concept of mindfulness is based on Vipassana, a Buddhist meditation technique. The present study examines the physiological indices of attention and autonomic regulation in experienced Vipassana meditators to test the claim that mindfulness is an effective therapeutic tool due to its effects on increasing awareness of present experience and emotional self-regulation. Ten male experienced Vipassana meditators underwent two assessment sessions, one where they practiced Vipassana meditation and another where they rested with no meditation (random thinking). Each meditation/no-meditation session lasted 30 min and was preceded and followed by an auditory oddball task with two tones (standard and target). Event-related potentials to the tones were recorded at the Fz, Cz, and Pz locations. Heart rate variability, derived from an EKG, was recorded continuously during the meditation/no-meditation sessions and during a 5-minute baseline before the task. The Vipassana experts showed greater P3b amplitudes to the target tone after meditation than they did both before meditation and after the no-meditation session. They also showed a larger LF/HF ratio increase during specific Vipassana meditation. These results suggest that expert Vipassana meditators showed increased attentional engagement after meditation and increased autonomic regulation during meditation supporting, at least partially, the two claims concerning the clinical effectiveness of mindfulness.
Comparable studies
Other experimental studies on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| The benefits of being present: Mindfulness and its role in psychological well-being. Cancer patients (clinical intervention study) | 2003 | Mixed methods: scale development, correlational, quasi-experimental, laboratory, experience-sampling, and clinical intervention study | |
| Loving-kindness meditation increases social connectedness. | 2008 | Controlled laboratory experiment | |
| Mindfulness and mind-wandering: Finding convergence through opposing constructs. | 2012 | Two studies: correlational study and experimental study | |
| Mental Training Enhances Attentional Stability: Neural and Behavioral Evidence | 2009 | Experimental study | |
| Mindfulness meditation and substance use in an incarcerated population. Incarcerated population | 2006 | Quasi-experimental with treatment-as-usual control condition |
Citations in the library
Cited by 52
- A systematic review of the neurophysiology of mindfulness on EEG oscillations Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews 2015
- Focused attention, open monitoring and loving kindness meditation: effects on attention, conflict monitoring, and creativity – A review Frontiers in Psychology September 23, 2014
- Modulation of Event-related Potentials of Visual Discrimination by Meditation Training and Sustained Attention. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience August 1, 2019
- Interpretability of Spatiotemporal Dynamics of the Brain Processes Followed by Mindfulness Intervention in a Brain-Inspired Spiking Neural Network Architecture Sensors December 21, 2020
- The Effectiveness of a Neurofeedback-Assisted Mindfulness Training Program Using a Mobile App on Stress Reduction in Employees: Randomized Controlled Trial. JMIR mHealth and uHealth October 3, 2023
and 47 more in the library
Cites 21
- Mindfulness: A proposed operational definition. Clinical Psychology Science and Practice 2004
- Mindfulness training as a clinical intervention: A conceptual and empirical review. Clinical Psychology Science and Practice 2003
- Meditation experience is associated with increased cortical thickness Neuroreport November 7, 2005
- A systematic review of neurobiological and clinical features of mindfulness meditations Psychological Medicine November 27, 2009
- Clarifying the construct of mindfulness in the context of emotion regulation and the process of change in therapy. Clinical Psychology Science and Practice 2004
and 16 more in the library