Use EGG to Explore the Impact of Mindfulness Meditation on Physiological and Neurological Responses

2047 

Abstract Submission 

Jun Mu¹, Tony Chui², Manli Zhong³, Hinhung Sik², Junling Gao²

¹The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China, ²Buddhism and Science Research Laboratory, Centre of Buddhist Studies, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong, ³Guangzhou Qingyu Information Technology Co.,Ltd., Guangzhou, Guangdong

Jun Mu  
The University of Hong Kong
Hong Kong, China

Tony Chui  
Buddhism and Science Research Laboratory, Centre of Buddhist Studies, The University of Hong Kong
Hong Kong, Hong Kong

Manli Zhong  
Guangzhou Qingyu Information Technology Co.,Ltd.
Guangzhou, Guangdong

Hinhung Sik  
Buddhism and Science Research Laboratory, Centre of Buddhist Studies, The University of Hong Kong
Hong Kong, Hong Kong

Junling Gao  
Buddhism and Science Research Laboratory, Centre of Buddhist Studies, The University of Hong Kong
Hong Kong, Hong Kong

Mindfulness meditation has been shown to have numerous benefits for mental and physical health, include reducing stress, and increased emotional regulation. However, there is a lack of understanding about the underlying neural mechanisms of these benefits. In this study, we would analyze the electroencephalography (EEG) signals to investigate changes in physiological and neurological responses, such as changes in brainwave activity and heart rate, so as to investigate the potential benefits of mindfulness practice. The study would contribute to the existing literature on mindfulness meditation, and provide insights into how to improve mental and physical well-being assisted by EEG. 

One middle age man (50 years old) participated in this longitudinal study using wearable EEG to investigate the neurophysiological change during a one-month consecutive vipassana mindfulness practice. Both EEG and heart rate responses were recorded each time, before (5 minutes), during (20 minutes), and after (5 minutes) meditation sessions. The EEG and HR data were analyzed by Matlab and EEGlab to examine changes in brainwave activity and heart rate. A self-assessment report was conducted immediately after the practice.

Alpha peak frequency (APF) is significantly higher after mindfulness meditation, as shown by comparison of APF before mindfulness (pre-5) and during mindfulness practice (med-20), and comparison between APF of pre-5 and after mindfulness practice (post-5). The same is with the beta peak frequency. While for theta peak frequency, it is significant lower during mindfulness meditation (med-20), when comparing to either pre-5 or post-5. See figure 1 a.
The alpha power first decreased and then increased, the beta power increased, and the theta power decreased, before, during and after meditation. Throughout the testing stage, the theta frequency, alpha power and heart rate showed the same change trend, but there was no significant correlation between the heart rate and theta frequency and alpha power. The theta power changed most significantly before and after meditation, which is consistent with previous studies showing that the theta power is the most sensitive index for loving-kindness meditation (LKM) training. See figure 1b. Meanwhile, we find significant change in standard deviation (SD) of heart rate between meditation and non-meditation mental states, as shown in table 1. The Self-assessment report shows that the scores of body-comfort, mind-comfort and mindfulness breathing are higher than the scores of body-movement, wandering-mind and fall-asleep. We can tentatively assume that meditation contributes to the comfort of the body and mind, and positive to mindfulness breathing. Meanwhile, meditation may help reduce body movement and wandering thoughts.

The study provides insights into the underlying neurophysiological mechanisms of mindfulness meditation using wearable EEG devices. It demonstrates that in term of EEG measurement, spectrum frequency can be more sensitive than spectrum power, and heart rate variability as measured by SD is more sensitive than the mean. Furthermore, mindfulness meditation can regulate brain wave frequency, help us regulate our emotions and reduce stress, multiple consecutive meditations with timely feedback helps to improve brain health as evidenced by traits analysis, a significant reduction in peak frequency of alpha waves with increasing number of meditations as well as correlations with numerous other physiological indicators. The findings support the idea that mindfulness meditation can induce a meditative state and improve cognitive and emotional regulation. Moreover, the proposed study contributes to the literature by using wearable EEG devices to collect data in a more accessible and convenient manner.

Non-Invasive Stimulation Methods Other

Psychiatric (eg. Depression, Anxiety, Schizophrenia)

Brain Machine Interface ¹

EEG ²

Electroencephaolography (EEG)

Other - Mindfulness Meditation; Physiological Response; Neurological Response