Sound Meditation Improves Stress and Anxiety: Complexity analysis of heart rate signals during Tibetan Singing Bowls meditation
Sara A. Nasrat, Zakia Dimassi, Eman Alefishat, A. Khandoker, H. F. Jelinek
International Conference on Software Development for Enhancing Accessibility and Fighting Info-exclusion November 13, 2024 DOI: 10.1145/3696593.3696607 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 8 |
| Population | Healthy participants |
| Intervention | Tibetan Singing Bowls meditation |
| Duration | 50-minute session; first 10 minutes baseline, remaining 40 minutes meditation |
| Measures | Multiscale modified diffusion entropy analysis (MSMDEA), correlation rate analysis, standard time and frequency HRV metrics |
| Topics | Anxiety Meditation |
| Key findings | Heart-rate fluctuations during Tibetan Singing Bowl meditation showed higher complexity across all 20 time scales compared with the pre-meditation baseline (p<0.05), and participants became more synchronized. The authors interpret this as increased 1/f-noise associated with crucial events, suggesting an effect on sympathovagal balance and potential benefits for stress and anxiety; they also contend that complexity analysis using crucial events outperforms traditional heart-rate variability metrics. |
Abstract
Investigating the effect of Tibetan Singing Bowls (TSB) meditation on physiological features including heart rate is limited. This study focused on applying multiscale modified diffusion entropy analysis (MSMDEA) on heart-rate fluctuations exhibiting 1/f noise. MSMDEA identifies the contribution of crucial events within a 1/f-noise time series that differs from the well-known Fractional Brownian Motion (FBM) 1/f-noise. Crucial events (µ) are defined as the waiting time distribution characterized by an inverse power law probability density function with the temporal complexity coefficient µ at 2< µ <3 computed from the MSMDEA complexity scaling parameter δ. Eight healthy participants underwent a 50-minute session of TSB meditation with their heart rate signals measured using a Polar Ignite wristwatch. MSMDEA was applied across 20-time scales on the signals from the first ten minutes of the session as baseline and compared to the TSB meditation of 40 minutes. Correlation rate analysis was also performed, showing increased synchronization properties between subjects associated with TSB compared to baseline. Results indicate a shift to higher complexity for all scales in the TSB meditation group (p<0.05), suggesting that TSB leads to an increase in 1/f-noise associated with crucial events and has a strong influence on the sympathovagal balance associated with 1/f-noise and consequently on improving stress and anxiety. Results also show the superiority of complexity analysis using crucial events in determining and characterizing the differences in HR signals before and during meditative states compared to a traditional HRV analysis using the standard time and frequency HRV metrics.
Comparable studies
Other observational and cohort studies on anxiety, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| Antidepressant effects of a single dose of ayahuasca in patients with recurrent depression: a preliminary report Patients with a depressive disorder | 2015 | Observational study | |
| Patterning of Cognitive and Somatic Processes in the Self-Regulation of Anxiety: Effects of Meditation versus Exercise Regular practitioners of physical exercise or meditation | 1978 | Retrospective study | n = 77 |
| Dynamic coupling of whole-brain neuronal and neurotransmitter systems Healthy humans | 2020 | Observational study | |
| Psychedelics not linked to mental health problems or suicidal behavior: A population study Randomly selected United States adults | 2015 | Observational cohort | n = 135,095 |
Citations in the library
Cites 3
- The Effects of Mindfulness and Meditation on Vagally Mediated Heart Rate Variability: A Meta-Analysis. Psychosomatic Medicine July 1, 2021
- Meditation-Induced Coherence and Crucial Events. Frontiers in Physiology May 29, 2018
- Effects of Singing Bowl Sound Meditation on Mood, Tension, and Well-being: An Observational Study. Journal of Evidence-Based Complementary & Alternative Medicine September 30, 2016