Enhancing specialization of attention-related EEG power and phase synchronism brain patterns by meditation.
Yupeng Han, Lizhao Du, Qiyun Huang, Donghong Cui, Yuanqing Li
Cerebral Cortex July 1, 2024 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhae288 (opens in new tab) via Semantic Scholar
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractLong-term meditation experience produces detectable neurophysiological changes in brain activity, possibly enhancing functional segregation and specialization. Electroencephalogram data from 20 long-term meditators and 20 nonmeditators during cognitive tasks and a relaxed state showed that meditators had higher classification accuracy and calculation efficiency. During a calculation task, both the power and global phase synchronism of gamma response decreased in meditators compared to their relaxation state, while no such change occurred in nonmeditators. These findings suggest meditation improves brain flexibility through neural plastic mechanisms.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Observational cohort Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 40 |
| Population | Long-term meditators and nonmeditators |
| Intervention | meditation |
| Keywords | Medicine Psychology |
| Key finding | Long-term meditators showed higher classification accuracy and calculation efficiency, with decreased gamma power and global phase synchronism during calculation compared to relaxation, unlike nonmeditators. |
Abstract
Meditation, mental training that aims to improve one's ability to regulate their cognition, has been widely applied in clinical medicine. However, the mechanism by which meditation affects brain activity is still unclear. To explore this question, electroencephalogram data were recorded in 20 long-term meditators and 20 nonmeditators during 2 high-level cognitive tasks (meditation and mental calculation) and a relaxed resting state (control). Then, the power spectral density and phase synchronization of the electroencephalogram were extracted and compared between these 2 groups. In addition, machine learning was used to discriminate the states within each group. We found that the meditation group showed significantly higher classification accuracy and calculation efficiency than the control group. Then, during the calculation task, both the power and global phase synchronism of the gamma response decreased in meditators compared to their relaxation state; yet, no such change was observed in the control group. A potential explanation for our observations is that meditation improved the flexibility of the brain through neural plastic mechanism. In conclusion, we provided robust evidence that long-term meditation experience could produce detectable neurophysiological changes in brain activity, which possibly enhance the functional segregation and/or specialization in the brain.