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Impact Study of Traditional Meditation Practices Using PSD Assessment of EEG Signals

M. Mishra, A. Mishra

2024 3rd Edition of IEEE Delhi Section Flagship Conference November 21, 2024 DOI: 10.1109/delcon64804.2024.10866344 (opens in new tab)

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Study at a glance

AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Observational study Peer reviewed
Population Practitioners of Himalayan Yoga, Isha Shoonya, and Vipassana meditation, plus a control group
Measures power spectral density (PSD), gamma amplitude (60–110 Hz), mean, median, variance, standard deviation
Topics Meditation
Key findings SNY and VIP practitioners showed higher gamma amplitude (60–110 Hz) in the parieto-occipital area than controls, and greater variance in mean gamma band activity, whereas HP practitioners showed lower variation. The authors suggest these EEG patterns may help assess meditation effectiveness and expand understanding of brain mechanisms.

Abstract

Meditation is a practice that involves training the mind to achieve focused attention, tranquillity, and enhanced self-awareness. Different meditation techniques have distinct effects on the mind. Electroencephalogram (EEG) signals provide valuable insights into the brain's functioning during meditation. The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of three traditional meditation practices on EEG signals: Himalayan Yoga (HP), Isha Shoonya (SNY), and Vipassana (VIP). Fast Fourier transformations with a Hanning window of size 256 are used in this study to decompose the input EEG data into distinct frequency bands. The influence of meditation is then assessed using power spectral density (PSD) for each band. For each participant, four statistical parameters are computed: mean, median, variance, and standard deviation. The findings show that SNY and VIP practitioners have higher gamma amplitude (60–110 Hz) in the parieto-occipital area than the control group. Furthermore, VIP and SNY practitioners have a bigger variance in the mean value of gamma band activity, whereas HP practitioners have a lower variation. These findings show that attaining a state of calm can help people assess the effectiveness of their meditation practice. As a result, these findings are useful for increasing meditation practice and expanding our understanding of brain systems.

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

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