The EEG spectral fingerprints of meditation and mind wandering differ between experienced meditators and novices

Experienced meditators report greater focus and less mind wandering during meditation than non-meditators, and these differences are reflected in their brain activity. In a study of 29 experienced meditators and 29 non-meditators, EEG recordings during rest and breath-focus meditations showed that meditators, but not controls, had a significant decrease in individual alpha frequency and amplitude and a steeper 1/f slope during meditation compared to rest. Controls, but not meditators, showed increased alpha amplitude during mind wandering relative to breath focus. The findings indicate that meditation training alters both the subjective experience and the oscillatory and non-oscillatory components of brain activity.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Previous literature suggests that meditation training is associated with changes in participants’ experience during meditation practice. In this study, we assess whether putative differences in the experience of meditation between meditators and non-meditators are reflected in EEG spectral modulations. For this purpose, we recorded electroencephalography (EEG) during rest and two breath focus meditations (with and without experience sampling) in a group of 29 adult participants with more than 3 years of meditation experience and a control group of 29 participants without any meditation experience. Experience sampling in one of the meditation conditions allowed us to disentangle periods of breath focus from mind wandering (i.e. moments of distraction driven by task-irrelevant thoughts) during meditation practice. Overall, meditators reported a greater level of focus and reduced mind wandering during meditation practice than controls. In line with these reports, EEG spectral modulations associated to meditation and mind wandering also differed significantly between meditators and controls. While meditators (but not controls) showed a significant decrease in individual alpha frequency and amplitude and a steeper 1/f slope during meditation relative to rest, controls (but not meditators) showed a relative increase in individual alpha amplitude during mind wandering relative to breath focus periods. Together, our results show that the experience of meditation changes with training and that this is reflected in oscillatory and non-oscillatory components of brain activity.