Phase synchrony in slow cortical potentials is decreased in both expert and trained novice meditators.
Han-Gue Jo, José R. Naranjo, Thilo Hinterberger, Ulf Winter, Stefan Schmidt
Neuroscience Letters May 1, 2019 DOI: 10.1016/j.neulet.2019.02.035 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational study with pre-post training comparison Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 20 |
| Population | 9 long-term expert meditators (average 22 years of experience) and 11 novices |
| Interventions | Breath-focused mindfulness meditation Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) program |
| Duration | 8-week MBSR program |
| Key findings | Expert meditators and novices showed the same amount of slow cortical potential phase synchrony during rest. During breath-focused meditation, synchrony decreased in expert meditators and in novices after an 8-week MBSR program, but not in novices before the program. The authors suggest this context-dependent synchrony could provide information about the human mind. |
Abstract
Neuronal interactions coupled by phase synchronization have been studied in a wide range of frequency bands, but fluctuations below the delta frequency have often been neglected. In the present study, phase synchrony in slow cortical potentials (SCPs, 0.01-0.1 Hz) was examined during two different mental states; a resting state and a breath-focused mindfulness meditation. SCP phase synchrony in 9 long-term expert meditators (on average 22 years of experience) were compared with the data obtained from 11 novices. Additionally, after the novices attended an 8-week mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) program, SCP phase synchrony was measured again. While expert meditators and novices exhibited the same amount of SCP phase synchrony in the resting state, decreased synchronization was found during meditation among expert meditators as well as novices who had participated in the MBSR program (but not prior to the program). These findings suggest that phase synchrony in slow cortical activity is context-dependent and could provide crucial information in the study of the human mind.
Citations in the library
Cited by 5
- Neurobehavioural Correlates of Breath Meditation in Novice Adolescents: Insights from Anapanasati-based Paradigm. Annals of Neurosciences April 2, 2025
- Neurophysiological mechanisms of focused attention meditation: A scoping systematic review Imaging Neuroscience 2025
- Exploring neural markers of dereification in meditation based on EEG and personalized models of electrophysiological brain states. Scientific Reports October 16, 2024
- Meditation-type specific reduction in infra-slow activity of electroencephalogram. Biomedical engineering letters July 1, 2024
- The Effect of Robot-Guided Meditation on Intra-Brain EEG Phase Synchronization IEEE/ACM International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction March 8, 2021
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