Changes in EEG and autonomic nervous activity during meditation and their association with personality traits

Takahashi, Tetsuya; Murata, Tetsuhito; Hamada, Toshihiko; Omori, Masao; Kosaka, Hirotaka; Kikuchi, Mitsuru; Yoshida, Haruyoshi; Wada, Yuji

doi:10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2004.07.004

Cited by 344 publications

(265 citation statements)

References 42 publications

(53 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

216

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Based on a review of the literature, changes in HRV during mindfulness meditation have been reported to range between medium (Burg and Wolf, 2012;Takahashi et al, 2005) and large effect sizes (Krygier et al, 2013). Given α = .05 and the employment of multivariate statistical tests to study within-subject HRV changes during meditation, it was estimated that a total sample size of 40 participants would provide acceptable power (0.80) to assess a medium effect size (partial eta squared N 0.06) and excellent power (0.95) for detecting a large effect size (partial eta squared N 0.14).…”

Section: Sample Size Estimationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Heart rate variability is enhanced in controls but not maladaptive perfectionists during brief mindfulness meditation following stress-induction: A stratified-randomized trial

Azam

Katz

Fashler

et al. 2015

International Journal of Psychophysiology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Heart rate variability (HRV) is a vagal nerve-mediated biomarker of cardiac function used to investigate chronic illness, psychopathology, stress and, more recently, attention-regulation processes such as meditation. This study investigated HRV in relation to maladaptive perfectionism, a stress-related personality factor, and mindfulness meditation, a stress coping practice expected to elevate HRV, and thereby promote relaxation. Maladaptive perfectionists (n = 21) and Controls (n = 39) were exposed to a lab-based assessment in which HRV was measured during (1) a 5-minute baseline resting phase, (2) a 5-minute cognitive stress-induction phase, and (3) a post-stress phase. In the post-stress phase, participants were randomly assigned to a 10-minute audioinstructed mindfulness meditation condition or a 10-minute rest condition with audio-description of mindfulness meditation. Analyses revealed a significant elevation in HRV during meditation for Controls but not for Perfectionists. These results suggest that mindfulness meditation promotes relaxation following cognitive stress and that the perfectionist personality hinders relaxation possibly because of decreased cardiac vagal tone. The results are discussed in the context of developing psychophysiological models to advance therapeutic interventions for distressed populations.

show abstract

Section: Sample Size Estimationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Heart rate variability is enhanced in controls but not maladaptive perfectionists during brief mindfulness meditation following stress-induction: A stratified-randomized trial

Azam

Katz

Fashler

et al. 2015

International Journal of Psychophysiology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Several studies reported EEG findings concerning Zazen meditation compared to resting (Becker and Shapiro 1981;Kasamatsu and Hirai 1966;Murata et al 1994) and concerning other Zen meditations practicing attention to breathing (Huang and Lo 2009;Kubota et al 2001;Takahashi et al 2005;Yu et al 2011). Most of these studies found an increase of alpha and theta EEG frequency activity during meditation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Zazen meditation and no-task resting EEG compared with LORETA intracortical source localization

Faber¹,

Lehmann²,

Gianotti

et al. 2014

Cogn Process

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Meditation is a self-induced and willfully initiated practice that alters the state of consciousness. The meditation practice of Zazen, like many other meditation practices, aims at disregarding intrusive thoughts while controlling body posture. It is an open monitoring meditation characterized by detached moment-to-moment awareness and reduced conceptual thinking and self-reference. Which brain areas differ in electric activity during Zazen compared to task-free resting? Since scalp electroencephalography (EEG) waveforms are reference-dependent, conclusions about the localization of active brain areas are ambiguous. Computing intracerebral source models from the scalp EEG data solves this problem. In the present study we applied source modeling using low resolution brain electromagnetic tomography (LORETA) to 58-channel scalp EEG data recorded from 15 experienced Zen meditators during Zazen and no-task resting. Zazen compared to no-task resting showed increased alpha-1 and alpha-2 frequency activity in an exclusively right-lateralized cluster extending from prefrontal areas including the insula to parts of the somatosensory and motor cortices and temporal areas. Zazen also showed decreased alpha and beta-2 activity in the left angular gyrus and decreased beta-1 and beta-2 activity in a large bilateral posterior cluster comprising the visual cortex, the posterior cingulate cortex and the parietal cortex. The results include parts of the default mode network and suggest enhanced automatic memory and emotion processing, reduced conceptual thinking and self-reference on a less judgmental, i.e., more detached moment-to-moment basis during Zazen compared to no-task resting. Computing intracerebral source models from the scalp EEG data solves this problem. In the present study we applied source modeling using low resolution brain electromagnetic tomography (LORETA) to 58-channel scalp EEG data recorded from 15 experienced Zen meditators during Zazen and no-task resting. Zazen compared to no-task resting showed increased alpha-1 and alpha-2 frequency activity in an exclusively right-lateralized cluster extending from prefrontal areas including the insula to parts of the somatosensory and motor cortices and temporal areas. Zazen also showed decreased alpha and beta-2 activity in the left angular gyrus and decreased beta-1 and beta-2 activity in a large bilateral posterior cluster comprising the visual cortex, the posterior cingulate cortex and the parietal cortex. The results include parts of the default mode network and suggest enhanced automatic memory and emotion processing, reduced conceptual thinking and self-reference on a less judgmental, i.e., more detached moment-to-moment basis during Zazen compared to no-task resting.

show abstract

“…A detached attitude with reduced initial emotional evaluation of events is described. Indeed, meditation in general is practiced by many as a self-regulatory approach to emotion management (Takahashi 2005).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Meditators and Non-Meditators: EEG Source Imaging During Resting

Tei

Faber²,

Lehmann³

et al. 2009

Brain Topogr

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Many meditation exercises aim at increased awareness of ongoing experiences through sustained attention and at detachment, i.e., non-engaging observation of these ongoing experiences by the intent not to analyze, judge or expect anything. Long-term meditation practice is believed to generalize the ability of increased awareness and greater detachment into everyday life. We hypothesized that neuroplasticity effects of meditation (correlates of increased awareness and detachment) would be detectable in a no-task resting state. EEG recorded during resting was compared between Qigong meditators and controls. Using LORETA (low resolution electromagnetic tomography) to compute the intracerebral source locations, differences in brain activations between groups were found in the inhibitory delta EEG frequency band. In the meditators, appraisal systems were inhibited, while brain areas involved in the detection and integration of internal and external sensory information showed increased activation. This suggests that neuroplasticity effects of long-term meditation practice, subjectively described as increased awareness and greater detachment, are carried over into non-meditating states.Tei, S., Faber, P.L., Lehmann, D., Tsujiuchi, T., Kumano, H., Pascual-Marqui, R.D., Gianotti, L.R.R. and Kochi, K. Meditators and non-meditators: EEG source imaging during resting. Brain Topography 22 [3]: 158-165 (2009 Abstract Many meditation exercises aim at increased awareness of ongoing experiences through sustained attention and at detachment, i.e. non-engaging observation of these ongoing experiences by the intent not to analyze, judge or expect anything. Long-term meditation practice is believed to generalize the ability of increased awareness and greater detachment into everyday life. We hypothesized that neuroplasticity effects of meditation (correlates of increased awareness and detachment) would be detectable in a no-task resting state. EEG recorded during resting was compared between Qigong meditators and controls. Using LORETA (low resolution electromagnetic tomography) to compute the intracerebral source locations, differences in brain activations between groups were found in the inhibitory delta EEG frequency band.In the meditators, appraisal systems were inhibited, while brain areas involved in the detection and integration of internal and external sensory information showed increased activation. This suggests that neuroplasticity effects of long-term meditation practice, subjectively described as increased awareness and greater detachment, are carried over into non-meditating states.

show abstract

Changes in EEG and autonomic nervous activity during meditation and their association with personality traits

Cited by 344 publications

References 42 publications

Heart rate variability is enhanced in controls but not maladaptive perfectionists during brief mindfulness meditation following stress-induction: A stratified-randomized trial

Heart rate variability is enhanced in controls but not maladaptive perfectionists during brief mindfulness meditation following stress-induction: A stratified-randomized trial

Zazen meditation and no-task resting EEG compared with LORETA intracortical source localization

Meditators and Non-Meditators: EEG Source Imaging During Resting

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About