Dissociating meditation proficiency and experience dependent EEG changes during traditional Vipassana meditation practice

Kakumanu, RJ and Nair, AK and Venugopal, R and Sasidharan, A and Ghosh, PK and John, JP and Mehrotra, S and Panth, R and Kutty, BM (2018) Dissociating meditation proficiency and experience dependent EEG changes during traditional Vipassana meditation practice. In: Biological Psychology, 135 . pp. 65-75.

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Abstract

Meditation, as taught by most schools of practice, consists of a set of heterogeneous techniques. We wanted to assess if EEG profiles varied across different meditation techniques, proficiency levels and experience of the practitioners. We examined EEG dynamics in Vipassana meditators (Novice, Senior meditators and Teachers) while they engaged in their traditional meditation practice (concentration, mindfulness and loving kindness in a structured manner) as taught by S.N. Goenka. Seniors and Teachers (vs Novices) showed trait increases in delta (1–4 Hz), theta-alpha (6–10 Hz) and low-gamma power (30–40 Hz) at baseline rest; state-trait increases in low-alpha (8–10 Hz) and low-gamma power during concentrative and mindfulness meditation; and theta-alpha and low-gamma power during loving-kindness meditation. Permutation entropy and Higuchi fractal dimension measures further dissociated high proficiency from duration of experience as only Teachers showed consistent increase in network complexity from baseline rest and state transitions between the different meditation states.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publication:	Biological Psychology
Publisher:	Elsevier B.V.
Additional Information:	The copyright for this article belongs to the Elsevier B.V.
Keywords:	article; conformational transition; controlled study; dissociation; electroencephalogram; entropy; fractal analysis; human; meditation; mindfulness; nerve cell plasticity; physician; rest; teacher; time perception; adult; aged; electroencephalogram; electroencephalography; female; male; meditation; middle aged; physiology; procedures; psychology, Adult; Aged; Brain Waves; Electroencephalography; Female; Humans; Male; Meditation; Middle Aged; Mindfulness; Rest
Department/Centre:	Division of Electrical Sciences > Electrical Engineering
Date Deposited:	08 Aug 2022 06:09
Last Modified:	08 Aug 2022 06:09
URI:	https://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/75563

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