National Center Stressmanagement, Loosdrecht, The Netherlands.
Meditation Awareness Peace research, Bergen, NH, The Netherlands.
Appl Psychophysiol Biofeedback. 2019 Dec;44(4):331-342. doi: 10.1007/s10484-019-09448-w.
Cardiac vagal tone can be seen as a stable marker for the ability to sustain attention and regulate emotion, two factors associated with the quality of meditation. In this study, heart rate variability (HRV) has been monitored in different forms of Shamatha quiescence meditation: three breath meditations, Settling the Mind in its natural state, Awareness of Awareness, Loving-kindness and Tonglen. Establish and test a practical means of monitoring neurobiological effects of meditation. Over 6 weeks, two experimental groups practiced Shamatha meditation on a daily basis (n = 20). HRV patterns and cortisol tests were monitored at three measuring points during these weeks, and an attention focus test was performed at the start and after 6 weeks. Six weeks of regular practice in Shamatha meditation were associated with HRV indices suggesting improvements in the homeostatic regulation of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) in 85% of the HRV recordings (tachogram and frequency specter) of all 20 subjects. Further, a substantial decrease in cortisol levels was also noted. The attention focus test showed a significant increase of 18.7% in sustained attention, moving from medium to high attention focus, with a significant result of t(20) = - 8.764 and p < 0.001. Participants reported positive subjective changes in attention focus, sense of happiness and calmness and increased abilities in emotional regulation and attunement. Six weeks of regular practice in Shamatha meditation contributes to a substantial increase of attention focus and a decrease in stress levels evidenced in changes in diurnal cortisol measures. HRV biofeedback shows that the sympathetic nervous system is counterbalanced by increased vagal tone, and autonomic balance is enhanced by all Shamatha meditations, not only breath meditations, but also mind meditations: Settling the Mind in its natural state, Awareness of Awareness, Loving-kindness and Tonglen. Although these results are promising, further research is recommended with HRV biofeedback instruments to report statistical analysis and to understand unique HRV patterns in Shamatha mind meditation.
心脏迷走神经张力可以被视为维持注意力和调节情绪的能力的稳定标志物，而这两个因素与冥想的质量有关。在这项研究中，我们监测了不同形式的 Shamatha 止息冥想中的心率变异性（HRV）：三种呼吸冥想、让心安住于其自然状态、意识觉察、慈悲心和施受法。建立并测试一种监测冥想神经生物学效应的实用方法。在六周的时间里，两个实验组每天练习 Shamatha 冥想（n=20）。在这几周的三个测量点监测 HRV 模式和皮质醇测试，并在开始和六周后进行注意力焦点测试。六周的定期 Shamatha 冥想练习与 HRV 指数相关，表明自主神经系统（ANS）的动态平衡调节得到改善，所有 20 名受试者的 HRV 记录（心率图和频谱）中有 85%显示出这种改善（tachogram 和频率谱）。此外，皮质醇水平也显著下降。注意力焦点测试显示，持续注意力显著提高了 18.7%，从中等注意力焦点转移到高注意力焦点，具有显著的 t(20)=-8.764 和 p<0.001 的结果。参与者报告说，注意力焦点、幸福感和平静感有了积极的主观变化，以及情绪调节和协调能力的提高。六周的定期 Shamatha 冥想练习有助于显著提高注意力焦点，并降低压力水平，这体现在日间皮质醇测量的变化上。HRV 生物反馈显示，交感神经系统通过增加迷走神经张力得到平衡，所有 Shamatha 冥想都增强了自主平衡，不仅是呼吸冥想，还有心识冥想：让心安住于其自然状态、意识觉察、慈悲心和施受法。尽管这些结果很有希望，但建议使用 HRV 生物反馈仪器进行进一步的研究，以报告统计分析结果，并了解 Shamatha 心识冥想的独特 HRV 模式。
