Shifting Baselines: Longitudinal Reductions in EEG Beta Band Power Characterize Resting Brain Activity with Intensive Meditation.

Three months of focused attention meditation training reduces beta brainwave power not only during formal practice but also during eyes-closed rest, indicating that meditation's neurocognitive effects transfer beyond the meditation session itself. Experienced meditators were randomly assigned to a residential retreat or a waitlist control, with the control group later completing their own retreat. EEG recordings from 88 channels showed longitudinal reductions in beta frequency power, replicated across two independent training periods. Smaller reductions also appeared in high alpha and individual peak alpha frequencies. These findings suggest that resting brain activity is not an invariant baseline but can carry training-related changes, blurring the distinction between meditative state and enduring trait.

Study at a glance

Abstract

A core assumption of meditation training is that cognitive capacities developed during formal practice will transfer to other contexts or activities as expertise develops over time. This implies that meditation training might influence domain-general neurocognitive systems, the spontaneous activity of which should be reflected in the dynamics of the resting brain. Previous research has demonstrated that 3 months of meditation training led to reductions in EEG beta band power during mindfulness of breathing practice. The current study extends these findings to ask whether concomitant shifts in power are observed during 2 min of eyes closed rest, when participants are not explicitly engaged in formal meditation. Experienced meditation practitioners were randomly assigned to practice 3 months of focused attention meditation in a residential retreat, or to serve as waitlist controls. The waitlist controls later completed their own 3-month retreat. Permutation-based cluster analysis of 88-channel resting EEG data was used to test for spectral changes in spontaneous brain activity over the course of the retreats. Longitudinal reductions in EEG power in the beta frequency range were identified and replicated across the two independent training periods. Less robust reductions were also observed in the high alpha frequency range, and in individual peak alpha frequency. These changes closely mirror those previously observed during formal mindfulness of breathing meditation practice. These findings suggest that the neurocognitive effects of meditation training can extend beyond the bounds of formal practice, influencing the spontaneous activity of the resting brain. Rather than serving as an invariant baseline, resting states might carry meaningful training-related effects, blurring the line between state and trait change. The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12671-022-01974-9.