Talk: Effects of practice of meditation on Brain EEG dynamics

Speaker: Saketh Malipeddi, NIMHANS Title: Effects of practice of meditation on Brain EEG dynamics Emcee: Leyla Loued-Khenissi Backend host: Ali Rigby Details: Presented during Neuromatch Conference 3.0, Oct 26-30, 2020. Summary: Background: Humanity is going through unprecedented challenges. Chronic lifestyle diseases and mental health issues have skyrocketed in the last few decades, posing a significant threat to human well-being. Ancient Indian mind and body practices like Yoga and meditation prove beneficial in these times. Aims: To assess the effects of the practice of Isha Yoga on the Brain using EEG Methods: EEG data was acquired using a 128-channel Geodesic EEG system, in 7 advanced meditators, 5 novice meditators, and 6 controls (those with no previous history of any meditation). EEG data was recorded in all the three groups for 62 minutes (4 mins rest – 30 mins cognitive task – 4 mins rest – 6 mins of Pranayama – 14 mins of meditation – 4 mins of rest). EEG data preprocessing was done using Makoto’s PREP pipeline in EEGLAB and MATLAB version R2017a. Results: There was a statistically significant difference (p ＜ with FDR correction) in power spectral plots between the three groups: For Pranayama at 6 – 8 Hz (frontal mid-line and occipital regions) and 30 – 40 Hz (fronto-parietal and occipital regions); For Meditation at 6 – 8 Hz (occipital regions) and 30 – 40 Hz (Frontal and occipital regions) Conclusion: Advanced practitioners of Isha Yoga had an increased frontal mid-line theta power (indicating greater parasympathetic activation and calmness) and an increased gamma wave power (indicating brain-wide synchronization and a high degree of attentional control). The results indicate that the long-term practice of Isha Yoga leads to greater well-being and higher cognitive control.