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Experienced mindfulness meditators exhibit higher parietal-occipital EEG gamma activity during NREM sleep.

PloS one
January 1, 2013
Fabio Ferrarelli et al. (9 authors)
Clinical TrialJournal ArticleResearch Support, N.I.H., ExtramuralResearch Support, Non-U.S. Gov'tHuman StudyClinical
Study Details

Study Goal

The researchers aimed to determine whether long-term meditation practice produces measurable changes in spontaneous brain activity during sleep, specifically focusing on EEG gamma power.

Results Summary

Long-term meditators showed increased parietal-occipital EEG gamma power during NREM sleep, which was specific to the gamma range (25-40 Hz) and positively correlated with lifetime meditation practice duration. These findings suggest meditation induces lasting, plastic changes in brain function.

Population

Long-term meditators (Buddhist meditation practices, ~8700 mean hours of practice) and meditation-naive individuals.

Effective Dosage

Not specified (lifetime practice ~8700 mean hours).

Duration

Not specified (lifetime practice assessed).

Interactions

None mentioned.

Extracted Claims (3)
InterventionDirectionEndpointPopulationDosageImpactClaim #
meditation practice
increase
spontaneous brain activity
-
-
produces measurable changes
#1
meditation training
increase
parietal-occipital EEG gamma power during NREM sleep
long-term meditators (LTM) of Buddhist meditation practices
-
increased
#2
length of lifetime daily meditation practice
increase
parietal-occipital EEG gamma power during NREM sleep
long-term meditators (LTM) of Buddhist meditation practices
-
positively correlated with
#3
Abstract

Over the past several years meditation practice has gained increasing attention as a non-pharmacological intervention to provide health related benefits, from promoting general wellness to alleviating the symptoms of a variety of medical conditions. However, the effects of meditation training on brain activity still need to be fully characterized. Sleep provides a unique approach to explore the meditation-related plastic changes in brain function. In this study we performed sleep high-density electroencephalographic (hdEEG) recordings in long-term meditators (LTM) of Buddhist meditation practices (approximately 8700 mean hours of life practice) and meditation naive individuals. We found that LTM had increased parietal-occipital EEG gamma power during NREM sleep. This increase was specific for the gamma range (25-40 Hz), was not related to the level of spontaneous arousal during NREM and was positively correlated with the length of lifetime daily meditation practice. Altogether, these findings indicate that meditation practice produces measurable changes in spontaneous brain activity, and suggest that EEG gamma activity during sleep represents a sensitive measure of the long-lasting, plastic effects of meditative training on brain function.

Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)
AdultBrain WavesFemaleHumansMaleMeditationMiddle AgedOccipital LobeParietal LobeSleep Stages
Study Links
Quality Scores
SafetyNot Assessed
Efficacy85/10
Quality78/10
Citation Metrics
Total Citations69
Citations/Year5.8
Relative Citation Ratio2.77
NIH Percentile83.3%
Research Impact Scores
APT Score0.75
Weight Score1.64
Normalized Score0.70
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