Change in physiological signals during mindfulness meditation.
Asieh Ahani, Helané Wahbeh, Meghan Miller, Hooman Nezamfar, Deniz Erdogmus, Barry Oken
International IEEE/EMBS Conference on Neural Engineering 2013 DOI: 10.1109/ner.2013.6696199 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 34 |
| Population | Older people with high stress levels who were novice meditators |
| Intervention | Mindfulness meditation |
| Duration | 6-week meditation intervention |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Key findings | Meditation and control conditions differed in alpha, beta, and theta EEG frequency bands. A classifier combining EEG and respiration signals discriminated between meditation and control conditions with higher accuracy than one using EEG alone. The authors propose this combined classifier as a viable objective marker for meditation ability. |
Abstract
Mindfulness meditation (MM) is an inward mental practice, in which a resting but alert state of mind is maintained. MM intervention was performed for a population of older people with high stress levels. This study assessed signal processing methodologies of electroencephalographic (EEG) and respiration signals during meditation and control condition to aid in quantification of the meditative state. EEG and respiration data were collected and analyzed on 34 novice meditators after a 6-week meditation intervention. Collected data were analyzed with spectral analysis and support vector machine classification to evaluate an objective marker for meditation. We observed meditation and control condition differences in the alpha, beta and theta frequency bands. Furthermore, we established a classifier using EEG and respiration signals with a higher accuracy at discriminating between meditation and control conditions than one using the EEG signal only. EEG and respiration based classifier is a viable objective marker for meditation ability. Future studies should quantify different levels of meditation depth and meditation experience using this classifier. Development of an objective physiological meditation marker will allow the mind-body medicine field to advance by strengthening rigor of methods.
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
Cited by 20
- An electrophysiological investigation on the emotion regulatory mechanisms of brief open monitoring meditation in novice non-meditators Scientific Reports August 28, 2020
- Meditation attenuates default-mode activity: A pilot study using ultra-high field 7 Tesla MRI. Brain Research Bulletin October 15, 2023
- Mind and body connection in expert meditators: a computational study based on central and peripheral nervous system BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies March 7, 2024
- Immediate effects of short-term meditation on sensorimotor rhythm-based brain–computer interface performance Frontiers in Human Neuroscience December 20, 2022
- Short‐term meditation training influences brain energy metabolism: A pilot study on 31 P MR spectroscopy Brain and Behavior December 10, 2020
and 15 more in the library
Cites 11
- Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction for Stress Management in Healthy People: A Review and Meta-Analysis The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine May 1, 2009
- The toronto mindfulness scale: Development and validation Journal of Clinical Psychology 2006
- Long-term meditators self-induce high-amplitude gamma synchrony during mental practice Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences November 8, 2004
- Neural correlates of attentional expertise in long-term meditation practitioners Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences June 28, 2007
- Minding one’s emotions: Mindfulness training alters the neural expression of sadness. Emotion February 1, 2010
and 6 more in the library