Progressive increase of high-frequency EEG oscillations during meditation is associated with its trait effects on heart rate and proteomics: a study on the Tibetan Buddhist.
Xiaoli Guo, Meiyun Wang, Xu Wang, Menglin Guo, Ting Xue, Zhuo Wang, Han Li, Tianjiao Xu, Bin He, Donghong Cui, Shanbao Tong
Cerebral Cortex September 4, 2022 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhab453 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational case-control study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 103 |
| Population | Tibetan Buddhist monks (n=73) and meditation-naive local controls (n=30) |
| Intervention | Tibetan Buddhist meditation |
| Measures | EEG, electrocardiogram, proteomics |
| Topics | Buddhism Meditation |
| Keywords | EEG Tibetan buddhist meditation Heart rate Proteomics |
| Key findings | In monks practicing Tibetan Buddhist meditation, EEG activity shifted to higher frequencies from rest to meditation, with decreased frontal delta and increased frontal high beta and gamma activity; deep meditation additionally showed increased posterior high-frequency activity, proposed as a biomarker. This posterior activity correlated with trait effects on heart rate and neuropilin-1, with brain-heart correlation sources in attention and emotion networks, which the authors interpret as evidence that meditation is an integrative body-mind training. |
Abstract
Meditation has been a spiritual and healing practice in the East for thousands of years. However, the neurophysiologic mechanisms underlying its traditional form remain unclear. In this study, we recruited a large sample of monks (n = 73) who practice Tibetan Buddhist meditation and compared with meditation-naive local controls (n = 30). Their electroencephalography (EEG) and electrocardiogram signals were simultaneously recorded and blood samples were collected to investigate the integrative effects of Tibetan Buddhist on brain, heart, and proteomics. We found that the EEG activities in monks shifted to a higher frequency from resting to meditation. Meditation starts with decrease of the (pre)frontal delta activity and increase of the (pre)frontal high beta and gamma activity; while at the deep meditative state, the posterior high-frequency activity was also increased, and could be specified as a biomarker for the deep meditation. The state increase of posterior high-frequency EEG activity was significantly correlated with the trait effects on heart rate and nueropilin-1 in monks, with the source of brain-heart correlation mainly locating in the attention and emotion networks. Our study revealed that the effects of Tibetan Buddhist meditation on brain, heart, and proteomics were highly correlated, demonstrating meditation as an integrative body-mind training.
Comparable studies
Other observational and cohort studies on buddhism, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| AN ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAPHIC STUDY ON THE ZEN MEDITATION (ZAZEN) Zen priests and disciples of Zen sects of Buddhism | 1966 | Observational study | n = 48 |
| “Thinking about Not-Thinking”: Neural Correlates of Conceptual Processing during Zen Meditation Regular Zen practitioners and matched control subjects | 2008 | Observational cohort | |
| Individual Trait Anxiety Levels Characterizing the Properties of Zen Meditation Healthy adults who had not previously practiced any form of meditation | 2004 | Observational cohort | n = 22 |
| Zen meditation, Length of Telomeres, and the Role of Experiential Avoidance and Compassion 20 Zen meditation experts and 20 healthy matched non-meditators | 2016 | Observational cohort | n = 40 |
| EEG dynamics of experienced Zen meditation practitioners probed by complexity index and spectral measure Experienced Zen meditation practitioners and matched controls | 2009 | Observational cohort | n = 46 |
Citations in the library
Cited by 7
- Electrophysiological correlates of zen meditation: An investigation using in-monastery EEG acquisition Biological Psychology October 1, 2025
- Zen Meditation and Aromatherapy as a Core to Mental Health: Studies in Vietnamese Monasteries Religions April 14, 2025
- Brain-heart interactions in novice meditation practitioners during breath focus and an arithmetic task medRxiv July 8, 2023
- Analytical meditation improves physiological well-being in expert practitioners: a study on central and peripheral neurophysiological correlates bioRxiv Preprint Server December 8, 2025
- Modified-Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction as a Treatment for Cognitive Recovery in Patients with Minor Stroke: a Randomized Controlled Pilot Study. medRxiv November 11, 2024
and 2 more in the library
Cites 28
- Meditation experience is associated with differences in default mode network activity and connectivity Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences November 23, 2011
- Long-term meditators self-induce high-amplitude gamma synchrony during mental practice Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences November 8, 2004
- Attending to the present: mindfulness meditation reveals distinct neural modes of self-reference Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience August 13, 2007
- Neural correlates of attentional expertise in long-term meditation practitioners Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences June 28, 2007
- Regulation of the Neural Circuitry of Emotion by Compassion Meditation: Effects of Meditative Expertise PLoS One March 25, 2008
and 23 more in the library