The Impact of Meditation on Body Awareness: Prestimulus Alpha Activity Modulates Response Bias in a Somatosensory Signal Detection Task
Maik Mylius, Simon Guendelman, Fivos Iliopoulos, Vittorio Gallese, Laura Kaltwasser
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational cohort |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 64 |
| Population | Expert meditators and matched controls |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Key findings | Meditators showed decreased decision threshold and lower prestimulus alpha power, indicating altered body awareness through reduced sensory filtering rather than increased somatosensory accuracy. |
Abstract
The effects of mindfulness on body awareness and interoception have been proposed as potential mechanisms for its salutary effects. However, research investigating the relationship between mindfulness and body awareness using psychophysical measures is limited. In this study, we compared 31 expert meditators with 33 matched controls on somatosensory accuracy using a somatosensory signal detection task (SSDT) alongside interoception self-report instruments. Our main hypothesis was that meditators would show increased accuracy within the SSDT, indicating higher somatosensory accuracy (body awareness) and that this would be accompanied by neural correlates of increased alpha modulation over the somatosensory cortex as measured through EEG. Participants were asked to detect a near-threshold tactile sensation, which was combined with a non-informative light in 50% of the cases. Associations between prestimulus alpha activity and responses were analysed on a trial-by-trial basis. Contrary to our expectation, instead of an increase in accuracy, we observed a decrease in the decision threshold in meditators, while we found a decrease in prestimulus alpha power in meditators. A trial-by-trial analysis revealed a negative relationship between prestimulus alpha activity and the report of touch. Meditators self-reported higher interoceptive abilities compared to readers. These findings suggest that lower prestimulus alpha activity may have increased the probability of reporting touch within the SSDT, providing a potential mechanism for the increase in response rate in meditators. Our study indicates that meditation practice alters body awareness as shown by modulated prestimulus alpha activity, potentially decreasing the filter function over the somatosensory cortex.
Comparable studies
Other observational and cohort studies on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Using Self-Report Assessment Methods to Explore Facets of Mindfulness Undergraduate students | 2006 | Observational cohort | |
| Effectiveness of a meditation-based stress reduction program in the treatment of anxiety disorders Patients with generalized anxiety disorder or panic disorder with or without agoraphobia | 1992 | Observational cohort | n = 22 |
| Meditation experience is associated with increased cortical thickness Participants with extensive Insight meditation experience and matched controls | 2005 | Observational cohort | n = 20 |
| Meditation experience is associated with differences in default mode network activity and connectivity Experienced meditators and matched meditation-naive controls | 2011 | Observational cohort | |
| Long-term meditators self-induce high-amplitude gamma synchrony during mental practice Long-term Buddhist practitioners and controls | 2004 | Observational cohort |
Citations in the library
Cites 31
- The benefits of being present: Mindfulness and its role in psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 2003
- How Does Mindfulness Meditation Work? Proposing Mechanisms of Action From a Conceptual and Neural Perspective Perspectives on Psychological Science October 14, 2011
- REBUS and the Anarchic Brain: Toward a Unified Model of the Brain Action of Psychedelics Pharmacological Reviews June 20, 2019
- Defining mindfulness by how poorly I think I pay attention during everyday awareness and other intractable problems for psychology's (re)invention of mindfulness: Comment on Brown et al. (2011). Psychological Assessment 2011
- Interoception, contemplative practice, and health Frontiers in Psychology June 9, 2015
and 26 more in the library