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: neuromatch.io/abstract?submis...
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 v13.4.4b and MATLAB version R2017a.
Results: There was a statistically significant difference (p ＜ 0.05 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.

[@adityavardhanjain]

Intriguing.

[@malipeddibalathimmareddy5026]

Nice information. Effects of meditation on mind and body balance is analytically explained. Meditation gives mental strength to face any challenges in our life especially during pandemics. Keep it up

[@gangsterkami1]

Your findings are very interesting Dr. Malipeddi. I hope you delve further into this subject.

[@miguelangeloleal2181]

Brilhante tema muita luz 🙏🏻Ⓜ️🕉️Om Nama shivaya Ⓜ️😇🙏🏻🔥💎♾️🗝️⚓️🌞👍🫵Ⓜ️Miguel Angelo .^.

[@ParamaShivatva]

Why not also do research also on Nithyanananda yoga? It's very active and authentic to Vedas and Agamas.