Short Meditation Trainings Enhance Non-REM Sleep Low-Frequency Oscillations.
STUDY OBJECTIVES:We have recently shown higher parietal-occipital EEG gamma activity during sleep in long-term meditators compared to meditation-naive individuals. This gamma increase was specific for NREM sleep, was present throughout the entire night and correlated with meditation expertise, thus...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2016-01-01
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| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4764716?pdf=render |
| _version_ | 1818381378738192384 |
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| author | Daniela Dentico Fabio Ferrarelli Brady A Riedner Richard Smith Corinna Zennig Antoine Lutz Giulio Tononi Richard J Davidson |
| author_facet | Daniela Dentico Fabio Ferrarelli Brady A Riedner Richard Smith Corinna Zennig Antoine Lutz Giulio Tononi Richard J Davidson |
| author_sort | Daniela Dentico |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | STUDY OBJECTIVES:We have recently shown higher parietal-occipital EEG gamma activity during sleep in long-term meditators compared to meditation-naive individuals. This gamma increase was specific for NREM sleep, was present throughout the entire night and correlated with meditation expertise, thus suggesting underlying long-lasting neuroplastic changes induced through prolonged training. The aim of this study was to explore the neuroplastic changes acutely induced by 2 intensive days of different meditation practices in the same group of practitioners. We also repeated baseline recordings in a meditation-naive cohort to account for time effects on sleep EEG activity. DESIGN:High-density EEG recordings of human brain activity were acquired over the course of whole sleep nights following intervention. SETTING:Sound-attenuated sleep research room. PATIENTS OR PARTICIPANTS:Twenty-four long-term meditators and twenty-four meditation-naïve controls. INTERVENTIONS:Two 8-h sessions of either a mindfulness-based meditation or a form of meditation designed to cultivate compassion and loving kindness, hereafter referred to as compassion meditation. MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS:We found an increase in EEG low-frequency oscillatory activities (1-12 Hz, centered around 7-8 Hz) over prefrontal and left parietal electrodes across whole night NREM cycles. This power increase peaked early in the night and extended during the third cycle to high-frequencies up to the gamma range (25-40 Hz). There was no difference in sleep EEG activity between meditation styles in long-term meditators nor in the meditation naïve group across different time points. Furthermore, the prefrontal-parietal changes were dependent on meditation life experience. CONCLUSIONS:This low-frequency prefrontal-parietal activation likely reflects acute, meditation-related plastic changes occurring during wakefulness, and may underlie a top-down regulation from frontal and anterior parietal areas to the posterior parietal and occipital regions showing chronic, long-lasting plastic changes in long-term meditators. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-14T02:33:38Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-31bce9f744e04fdf8f625565f6a03ac1 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-14T02:33:38Z |
| publishDate | 2016-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj.art-31bce9f744e04fdf8f625565f6a03ac12022-12-21T23:20:10ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032016-01-01112e014896110.1371/journal.pone.0148961Short Meditation Trainings Enhance Non-REM Sleep Low-Frequency Oscillations.Daniela DenticoFabio FerrarelliBrady A RiednerRichard SmithCorinna ZennigAntoine LutzGiulio TononiRichard J DavidsonSTUDY OBJECTIVES:We have recently shown higher parietal-occipital EEG gamma activity during sleep in long-term meditators compared to meditation-naive individuals. This gamma increase was specific for NREM sleep, was present throughout the entire night and correlated with meditation expertise, thus suggesting underlying long-lasting neuroplastic changes induced through prolonged training. The aim of this study was to explore the neuroplastic changes acutely induced by 2 intensive days of different meditation practices in the same group of practitioners. We also repeated baseline recordings in a meditation-naive cohort to account for time effects on sleep EEG activity. DESIGN:High-density EEG recordings of human brain activity were acquired over the course of whole sleep nights following intervention. SETTING:Sound-attenuated sleep research room. PATIENTS OR PARTICIPANTS:Twenty-four long-term meditators and twenty-four meditation-naïve controls. INTERVENTIONS:Two 8-h sessions of either a mindfulness-based meditation or a form of meditation designed to cultivate compassion and loving kindness, hereafter referred to as compassion meditation. MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS:We found an increase in EEG low-frequency oscillatory activities (1-12 Hz, centered around 7-8 Hz) over prefrontal and left parietal electrodes across whole night NREM cycles. This power increase peaked early in the night and extended during the third cycle to high-frequencies up to the gamma range (25-40 Hz). There was no difference in sleep EEG activity between meditation styles in long-term meditators nor in the meditation naïve group across different time points. Furthermore, the prefrontal-parietal changes were dependent on meditation life experience. CONCLUSIONS:This low-frequency prefrontal-parietal activation likely reflects acute, meditation-related plastic changes occurring during wakefulness, and may underlie a top-down regulation from frontal and anterior parietal areas to the posterior parietal and occipital regions showing chronic, long-lasting plastic changes in long-term meditators.http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4764716?pdf=render |
| spellingShingle | Daniela Dentico Fabio Ferrarelli Brady A Riedner Richard Smith Corinna Zennig Antoine Lutz Giulio Tononi Richard J Davidson Short Meditation Trainings Enhance Non-REM Sleep Low-Frequency Oscillations. PLoS ONE |
| title | Short Meditation Trainings Enhance Non-REM Sleep Low-Frequency Oscillations. |
| title_full | Short Meditation Trainings Enhance Non-REM Sleep Low-Frequency Oscillations. |
| title_fullStr | Short Meditation Trainings Enhance Non-REM Sleep Low-Frequency Oscillations. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Short Meditation Trainings Enhance Non-REM Sleep Low-Frequency Oscillations. |
| title_short | Short Meditation Trainings Enhance Non-REM Sleep Low-Frequency Oscillations. |
| title_sort | short meditation trainings enhance non rem sleep low frequency oscillations |
| url | http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4764716?pdf=render |
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