Wong GoonFui, Sun Rui, Adler Jordana, Yeung Kwok Wah, Yu Song, Gao Junling
Neuroscience for Education Laboratory, Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, China.
Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Hong Kong SAR, China.
Front Hum Neurosci. 2022 Sep 1;16:891377. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2022.891377. eCollection 2022.
Loving-Kindness Meditation (LKM) is an efficient mental practice with a long history that has recently attracted interest in the fields of neuroscience, medicine and education. However, the neural characters and underlying mechanisms have not yet been fully illustrated, which has hindered its practical usefulness. This study aimed to investigate LKM from varied aspects and interactions between the brain, the heart, and psychological measurements. A Buddhist monk practitioner was recruited to complete one 10-min LKM practice, in between two 10-min resting tasks (pre- and post-resting) per experimental run. Two sets of single-channel wearable EEG devices were used to collect EEG data (placed at Fz and Pz) and heart rate simultaneously. A self-report evaluation was conducted to repeatedly record the comprehensive performance of mind and body in each session. EEG data were preprossessed and analyzed by EEGlab. Further statistics were made by SPSS. Spectrum analysis showed a significant increase of theta power (Fz: = -3.356; = 0.002; Pz: = -5.199; < 0.001) and decrease of heart rate between pre- and post-resting tasks ( = 4.092, < 0.001). The analysis showed a negative correlation between theta power and heart rate (Fz: = -0.681, < 0.001; Pz: r = -0.384, = 0.008), and a positive correlation between theta power and the self-designed report score (Fz: = 0.601, < 0.001). These findings suggest that LKM is accompanied by significant neurophysiological changes, mainly an increase in slower frequencies, such as theta, and a decrease in heart rate. More importantly, subjective psychological assessments were also correlated with objective neurophysiological measurements in a long-term meditator participant. During LKM meditation, this connection was stronger. The results of this case report have promising implications for LKM practice in daily life.
慈心禅（LKM）是一种历史悠久的有效心理练习，最近在神经科学、医学和教育领域引起了关注。然而，其神经特征和潜在机制尚未得到充分阐明，这阻碍了它的实际应用。本研究旨在从大脑、心脏和心理测量之间的不同方面及相互作用来探究慈心禅。招募了一名佛教僧侣修行者，在每个实验流程中，于两次10分钟的休息任务（休息前和休息后）之间完成一次10分钟的慈心禅练习。使用两组单通道可穿戴式脑电图设备同时收集脑电图数据（放置在Fz和Pz位置）和心率。进行了自我报告评估，以反复记录每个阶段身心的综合表现。脑电图数据由EEGlab进行预处理和分析。进一步的统计分析由SPSS完成。频谱分析显示，休息前和休息后任务之间，theta波功率显著增加（Fz：=-3.356；=0.002；Pz：=-5.199；<0.001），心率下降（=4.092，<0.001）。分析表明，theta波功率与心率之间呈负相关（Fz：=-0.681，<0.001；Pz：r=-0.384，=0.008），theta波功率与自行设计的报告得分之间呈正相关（Fz：=0.601，<0.001）。这些发现表明，慈心禅伴随着显著的神经生理变化，主要是较慢频率（如theta波）的增加和心率的降低。更重要的是，在一名长期冥想参与者中，主观心理评估也与客观神经生理测量相关。在慈心禅冥想期间，这种联系更强。本病例报告的结果对日常生活中的慈心禅练习具有积极的启示意义。
