Classroom Group Meditation and Frontal EEG Power-Envelope Networks: A Large Scale Hyperscanning Study
Junling Gao, Yilin Zhang, Hank Leung, Kin Cheung Lee, Chun Chi Poon, Bonnie Wai Yan Wu, Hin Hung Sik
October 20, 2026 preprint DOI: 10.31234/osf.io/5ghrb_v2 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Exploratory observational study |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 194 |
| Population | Students in twelve classroom sessions at four schools, 9–23 per session |
| Intervention | Guided group meditation |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Key findings | No EEG frequency band showed a difference in interparticipant network strength between guided group meditation and eyes-closed rest; the alpha-band mean session difference was 0.00006 (95% CI −0.00083 to 0.00096, q = .939). The authors conclude the data do not show that brief group meditation changes interparticipant EEG organisation in classrooms, and argue that per-session penalised network summaries need penalty-path and tuning-free checks before interpretation. |
Abstract
Portable electroencephalography (EEG) allows neural activity to be recorded from whole classrooms, but correlated activity across students can arise from shared instructions, parallel changes in arousal or common artefact rather than interpersonal coupling, and dyads within one class are not independent observations. In this exploratory analysis, single-channel frontal EEG was recorded during eyes-closed rest and guided group meditation in twelve classroom sessions at four schools (194 students; 9–23 per session). For each session and band (alpha, theta, delta, beta), sparse partial-correlation networks among participants were estimated from 140 consecutive 2-s band-power values with the Graphical Lasso, using one condition-blind penalty for both conditions. The primary outcome, positive network strength, was compared between conditions with the session as the unit of inference, using exact sign-flip tests and false-discovery-rate control across bands. No band differed between meditation and rest (alpha: mean session difference = 0.00006, 95% CI [−0.00083, 0.00096], raw p = .887, q = .939). No band differed after calibration against circular-shift surrogates or when one penalty was applied to all sessions, and alpha stayed null when any one session was removed. Along the penalty path, 9 of the 12 sessions changed the sign of their own alpha difference. A tuning-free mean pairwise correlation, calibrated against circular-shift surrogates, also showed no condition difference in any band. These data do not show that brief group meditation changes interparticipant EEG organisation in classrooms, and they indicate that per-session penalised network summaries need penalty-path and tuning-free checks before they are interpreted.
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 |