Studying the effect of Heartfulness Meditation on Brain Activity
Pallavi Gupta, Jahnavi Mundluru, Arth Patel, Shankar Pathmakanthan
Inquiry@Queen's Undergraduate Research Conference Proceedings February 20, 2018 DOI: 10.24908/iqurcp.10470 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Experimental within-subjects study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 60 |
| Population | Experienced Heartfulness meditators |
| Interventions | Heartfulness meditation Heartfulness guided relaxation |
| Duration | 6 testing sessions per participant |
| Measures | EEG alpha (8-12Hz), EEG delta, Cognitive Reflective Test, Random Associative Test |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Key findings | The authors report that Heartfulness meditation produced a significant decrease in brain activity, indexed by higher alpha (8-12Hz) during early meditation and higher delta as meditation deepened, and conclude that the practice produces a state distinguishable from effortful problem solving. Cognitive task results are not reported in the abstract. |
Abstract
Long-term meditation practice is increasingly recognized for its health benefits. Heartfulness meditation represents a quickly growing set of practices that is largely unstudied. Heartfulness is unique in that it is a meditation practice that focuses on the Heart. It helps individuals to connect to themselves and find inner peace. In order to deepen ones’ meditation, the element of Yogic Energy (‘pranahuti’) is used as an aid during meditation. The purpose of this study was to determine whether consistent EEG effects of Heartfulness meditation be observed in sixty experienced Heartfulness meditators, each of whom attended 6 testing sessions. In each session, participants performed three conditions: a set of cognitive tasks, Heartfulness guided relaxation, and Heartfulness Meditation. Participants during the cognitive portion were required to answer questions that tested their logical thinking (Cognitive Reflective Test) and creative thinking skills. (Random Associative Test) The order of condition was randomly counter balanced across six sessions. It was hypothesized that Heartfulness meditation would bring increased alpha (8-12Hz) brain activity during meditation and better cognitive task scores in sessions where the tasks followed meditation. Heartfulness meditation produces a significant decrease in brain activity (as indexed by higher levels of alpha during the early stages of meditation. As the meditation progressed deep meditative state (as indexed by higher levels of delta) were observed until the end of the condition. This lead to the conclusion that Heartfulness Meditation produces a state that is clearly distinguishable from effortful problem solving.
Comparable studies
Other experimental studies on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| The benefits of being present: Mindfulness and its role in psychological well-being. Cancer patients (clinical intervention study) | 2003 | Mixed methods: scale development, correlational, quasi-experimental, laboratory, experience-sampling, and clinical intervention study | |
| Loving-kindness meditation increases social connectedness. | 2008 | Controlled laboratory experiment | |
| Mindfulness and mind-wandering: Finding convergence through opposing constructs. | 2012 | Two studies: correlational study and experimental study | |
| Mental Training Enhances Attentional Stability: Neural and Behavioral Evidence | 2009 | Experimental study | |
| Mindfulness meditation and substance use in an incarcerated population. Incarcerated population | 2006 | Quasi-experimental with treatment-as-usual control condition |