Brahmi Mannu, Soni Dushyant, Kumar Jyoti
National Resource Centre for Value Education in Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, India.
Department of Design, Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, India.
Ann Neurosci. 2025 Jan 21:09727531241308701. doi: 10.1177/09727531241308701.
Neural activity and subjective experiences indicate that breath-awareness practices, which focus on mindful observation of breath, promote tranquil calm and thoughtless awareness.
This study explores the impact of tristage Ānāpānasati-based breath meditation on electroencephalography (EEG) oscillations and self-reported mindfulness states in novice meditators following a period of effortful cognition.
Eighty-nine novice meditators (82 males; Mean Age = 24.59 years) underwent a breath-based meditation intervention consisting of three stages: Resting State (RS), Breath Counting (BC), and Breath Focus (BF). EEG assessed neural oscillatory changes throughout the three stages while providing spectral indices for arousal and cognitive workload (CWL) stagewise. State mindfulness and breath awareness-related self-reported feedback were also collected using the Amsterdam Resting-State Questionnaire (ARSQ) post-BF stage and the curated Breath Count Feedback (BCF) post-BC stage, respectively. The internal reliability and construct validity of the standardised ARSQ and the designed BCF were satisfactorily computed within our sample. A within-subjects cross-sectional neurobehavioural examination of the breath self-regulatory novice experiences was thus conducted.
The breath-based intervention significantly increased alpha power across all stages, indicating relaxation. Theta and delta powers increased during BC and BF in the prefrontal cortex (PFC), suggesting enhanced working memory and focused attention. Gamma power in meditation-associated brain regions and occipital beta oscillations showed significant positive correlations with breath counts, reflecting improved visual and attentional concentration. Lower pre-meditative arousal and smaller in-meditation CWL levels were associated with fewer distractions and increased confidence accuracy during BC.
The results suggest that BC may serve as a valuable tool for improving present-centric control and concentration, highlighting the importance of managing CWL and arousal levels to optimise meditation outcomes.
神经活动和主观体验表明，专注于正念观察呼吸的呼吸觉知练习能促进平静安宁和无念觉知。
本研究探讨基于三阶段安那般那念的呼吸冥想对新手冥想者在一段努力认知期后的脑电图（EEG）振荡和自我报告的正念状态的影响。
八十九名新手冥想者（82名男性；平均年龄 = 24.59岁）接受了基于呼吸的冥想干预，包括三个阶段：静息状态（RS）、数息（BC）和专注呼吸（BF）。EEG评估了三个阶段中神经振荡的变化，同时逐阶段提供觉醒和认知工作负荷（CWL）的频谱指数。在BF阶段后使用阿姆斯特丹静息状态问卷（ARSQ），在BC阶段后使用精心编制的数息反馈（BCF）分别收集状态正念和与呼吸觉知相关的自我报告反馈。在我们的样本中令人满意地计算了标准化ARSQ和设计的BCF的内部信度和结构效度。因此对呼吸自我调节的新手体验进行了受试者内横断面神经行为检查。
基于呼吸的干预在所有阶段均显著增加了阿尔法功率，表明放松。前额叶皮质（PFC）在BC和BF期间theta和delta功率增加，表明工作记忆增强和注意力集中。与冥想相关的脑区中的伽马功率和枕叶贝塔振荡与呼吸次数呈显著正相关，反映了视觉和注意力集中度的提高。冥想前较低的觉醒水平和冥想中较小的CWL水平与BC期间较少的分心和更高的信心准确性相关。
结果表明，BC可能是改善以当下为中心的控制和注意力的有价值工具，突出了管理CWL和觉醒水平以优化冥想效果的重要性。
