Decrease of Functional Connectivity within the Default Mode Network by a Brief Training of Focused Attention on the Breath in Novices

Abstract

Experienced meditators reduce the activity of the default mode network (DMN), a brain system preferentially active when people are not engaged in specific tasks. However, the neural modulation of the DMN in novices remain largely unexplored. By using electroencephalography, we investigated the DMN functional connectivity in two groups of novices: the meditation group practiced six consecutive days of focused attention on the breath; the control group practiced only on the first and last days. After the brief training, results showed a decrease in the DMN functional connectivity between the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and the posterior cingulate cortex in theta and alpha bands during the focused attention condition, in the meditation group compared to the control group. The change in DMN functional connectivity was significantly correlated with the increase in state-level mindfulness scores. These data elucidate DMN modifications already arising at the initial stages of mindfulness meditation training in novices.

EEG-based investigation of effects of mindfulness meditation training on state and trait by deep learning and traditional machine learning

“…The most convenient method for characterizing meditation state is EEG, which is the physiological electrical activity of the brain recorded from the human scalp. Though short term mindfulness training may affect EEG functional connectivity ( Xue et al, 2014 ; Travis, 2020 ; Trova et al, 2021 ), characteristics of mindfulness meditation can be more conveniently described in the spectral domain of EEG, especially in five standard frequency bands, namely delta band (1–4 Hz), theta band (5–8 Hz), alpha band (8–12 Hz), beta band (13–30 Hz), and gamma band (31–80 Hz), and reliable meditation characteristics have been found in theta and alpha bands ( Cahn and Polich, 2006 ). In the meditation state, the theta rhythm in the frontal and temporal lobes is significantly stronger than in the occipital lobe.…”