Characterization of Meditation EEG based on Consistency of Covariance Matrices over Time
IEEE India Conference December 10, 2020 DOI: 10.1109/indicon49873.2020.9342426 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 15 |
| Population | Practitioners of peace and angelic meditations (Rajayoga meditation of Prajapita Brahmakumaris World Spiritual University) |
| Intervention | Angelic meditation |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Key findings | The covariance matrices of EEG signals become more uniform during meditation, with the frontal region showing significantly decreased distances between matrices of successive epochs. |
Abstract
Electroencephalogram (EEG) is investigated for changes in the pattern of brain activity during meditation. Correlation between the neural activity in each region with those of other regions of the brain are studied. EEG recorded from fifteen practitioners of the peace and angelic meditations, being part of the Rajayoga meditation of Prajapita Brahmakumaris World Spiritual University is analyzed for this study. The mean and variance of the Frobenius norms of the difference matrices between the covariance matrices of successive epochs is used to study the meditative and non-meditative states. Analysis has been carried out region wise. The covariance matrices become more uniform during meditation, leading to decreased distance between matrices of successive epochs. The frontal region shows significantly decreased distances between the covariance matrices during meditation.