Spectral alteration of brain waves during MBSR meditation: a longitudinal EEG study

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Meditation has long been practiced to cultivate the spirituality and well-being of human. Recent neuroscientific studies have shown that meditation, including mindfulness based stress reduction (MBSR), may proactively adjust the states of mind and has positive effects on perception, emotion, and cognition of individual's mind (Sedlmeier et al., 2008). Spontaneous brain activities can be modulated by meditation, which is referred as brain plasticity following mental exercises (Doraiswamy et al., 2009). However, the exact mechanism underlying this brain alteration has not been well-illustrated (Doraiswamy et al., 2009; Polich et al., 2006). This preliminary study was aimed at exploring the effect of MBSR on the spectral properties of brain waves using electroencephalography (EEG) before and after undertaking a standard MBSR course. we also recorded natural resting-state, which is different in specific frequency ban…