Investigation of advanced mindfulness meditation “cessation” experiences using EEG spectral analysis in an intensively sampled case study

Avijit Chowdhury; Remko van Lutterveld; Ruben E. Laukkonen; Heleen A. Slagter; Daniel M. Ingram; Matthew D. Sacchet

doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2023.108694

Investigation of advanced mindfulness meditation “cessation” experiences using EEG spectral analysis in an intensively sampled case study

Avijit Chowdhury
, Remko van Lutterveld
, Ruben E. Laukkonen
, Heleen A. Slagter
, Daniel M. Ingram
, Matthew D. Sacchet^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

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Abstract

Mindfulness meditation is a contemplative practice informed by Buddhism that targets the development of present-focused awareness and non-judgment of experience. Interest in mindfulness is burgeoning, and it has been shown to be effective in improving mental and physical health in clinical and non-clinical contexts. In this report, for the first time, we used electroencephalography (EEG) combined with a neurophenomenological approach to examine the neural signature of “cessation” events, which are dramatic experiences of complete discontinuation in awareness similar to the loss of consciousness, which are reported to be experienced by very experienced meditators, and are proposed to be evidence of mastery of mindfulness meditation. We intensively sampled these cessations as experienced by a single advanced meditator (with over 23,000 h of meditation training) and analyzed 37 cessation events collected in 29 EEG sessions between November 12, 2019, and March 11, 2020. Spectral analyses of the EEG data surrounding cessations showed that these events were marked by a large-scale alpha-power decrease starting around 40 s before their onset, and that this alpha-power was lowest immediately following a cessation. Region-of-interest (ROI) based examination of this finding revealed that this alpha-suppression showed a linear decrease in the occipital and parietal regions of the brain during the pre-cessation time period. Additionally, there were modest increases in theta power for the central, parietal, and right temporal ROIs during the pre-cessation timeframe, whereas power in the Delta and Beta frequency bands were not significantly different surrounding cessations. By relating cessations to objective and intrinsic measures of brain activity (i.e., EEG power) that are related to consciousness and high-level psychological functioning, these results provide evidence for the ability of experienced meditators to voluntarily modulate their state of consciousness and lay the foundation for studying these unique states using a neuroscientific approach.

Original language	English
Article number	108694
Pages (from-to)	1-9
Number of pages	9
Journal	Neuropsychologia
Volume	190
Early online date	28 Sept 2023
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2023.108694
Publication status	Published - 5 Nov 2023

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The authors jointly affirm that this manuscript is an honest, accurate, and transparent account of the study being reported, that no important aspects of the study have been omitted, and that any discrepancies from the study as planned have been explained. The Western Institutional Review Board (WIRB) approved the study, and the participant provided informed consent. Dr. Sacchet and the Meditation Research Program are supported by the National Institute of Mental Health (Project Number R01MH125850), Dimension Giving Fund, Ad Astra Chandaria Foundation, Brain and Behavior Research Foundation (Grant Number 28972), BIAL Foundation (Grant Number 099/2020), Emergence Benefactors, The Ride for Mental Health, Gatto Foundation, and individual donors.Authors AC, RvL, REL, and HAS have no conflict of interest. DMI has authored the book Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha that this paper references. He volunteers to run as Board Chair and Acting CEO of an international research charity, Emergence Benefactors, whose fundraising and public relations campaigns might benefit from the publication of this study. MDS directs the Meditation Research Program at Massachusetts General Hospital, which has received research funding from co-author and case study subject DMI.

Funding Information:
The authors jointly affirm that this manuscript is an honest, accurate, and transparent account of the study being reported, that no important aspects of the study have been omitted, and that any discrepancies from the study as planned have been explained. The Western Institutional Review Board (WIRB) approved the study, and the participant provided informed consent. Dr. Sacchet and the Meditation Research Program are supported by the National Institute of Mental Health (Project Number R01MH125850 ), Dimension Giving Fund, Ad Astra Chandaria Foundation, Brain and Behavior Research Foundation (Grant Number 28972 ), BIAL Foundation (Grant Number 099/2020 ), Emergence Benefactors, The Ride for Mental Health, Gatto Foundation, and individual donors.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 Elsevier Ltd

Funding

The authors jointly affirm that this manuscript is an honest, accurate, and transparent account of the study being reported, that no important aspects of the study have been omitted, and that any discrepancies from the study as planned have been explained. The Western Institutional Review Board (WIRB) approved the study, and the participant provided informed consent. Dr. Sacchet and the Meditation Research Program are supported by the National Institute of Mental Health (Project Number R01MH125850), Dimension Giving Fund, Ad Astra Chandaria Foundation, Brain and Behavior Research Foundation (Grant Number 28972), BIAL Foundation (Grant Number 099/2020), Emergence Benefactors, The Ride for Mental Health, Gatto Foundation, and individual donors.Authors AC, RvL, REL, and HAS have no conflict of interest. DMI has authored the book Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha that this paper references. He volunteers to run as Board Chair and Acting CEO of an international research charity, Emergence Benefactors, whose fundraising and public relations campaigns might benefit from the publication of this study. MDS directs the Meditation Research Program at Massachusetts General Hospital, which has received research funding from co-author and case study subject DMI. The authors jointly affirm that this manuscript is an honest, accurate, and transparent account of the study being reported, that no important aspects of the study have been omitted, and that any discrepancies from the study as planned have been explained. The Western Institutional Review Board (WIRB) approved the study, and the participant provided informed consent. Dr. Sacchet and the Meditation Research Program are supported by the National Institute of Mental Health (Project Number R01MH125850 ), Dimension Giving Fund, Ad Astra Chandaria Foundation, Brain and Behavior Research Foundation (Grant Number 28972 ), BIAL Foundation (Grant Number 099/2020 ), Emergence Benefactors, The Ride for Mental Health, Gatto Foundation, and individual donors.

Funders	Funder number
Gatto Foundation
Ride for Mental Health
National Institute of Mental Health	R01MH125850
National Institute of Mental Health
Brain and Behavior Research Foundation	28972
Brain and Behavior Research Foundation
Massachusetts General Hospital
Fundação Bial	099/2020
Fundação Bial
Ad Astra Chandaria Foundation

Keywords

Alpha activity
Cessation
EEG
Fruition
Meditation
Mindfulness
Nirodha
Theta activity

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10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2023.108694

Investigation of advanced mindfulness meditation cessation experiences using EEG spectral analysis in an intensively sampled case studyFinal published version, 3.7 MBLicence: Article 25fa Dutch Copyright Act

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title = "Investigation of advanced mindfulness meditation “cessation” experiences using EEG spectral analysis in an intensively sampled case study",

abstract = "Mindfulness meditation is a contemplative practice informed by Buddhism that targets the development of present-focused awareness and non-judgment of experience. Interest in mindfulness is burgeoning, and it has been shown to be effective in improving mental and physical health in clinical and non-clinical contexts. In this report, for the first time, we used electroencephalography (EEG) combined with a neurophenomenological approach to examine the neural signature of “cessation” events, which are dramatic experiences of complete discontinuation in awareness similar to the loss of consciousness, which are reported to be experienced by very experienced meditators, and are proposed to be evidence of mastery of mindfulness meditation. We intensively sampled these cessations as experienced by a single advanced meditator (with over 23,000 h of meditation training) and analyzed 37 cessation events collected in 29 EEG sessions between November 12, 2019, and March 11, 2020. Spectral analyses of the EEG data surrounding cessations showed that these events were marked by a large-scale alpha-power decrease starting around 40 s before their onset, and that this alpha-power was lowest immediately following a cessation. Region-of-interest (ROI) based examination of this finding revealed that this alpha-suppression showed a linear decrease in the occipital and parietal regions of the brain during the pre-cessation time period. Additionally, there were modest increases in theta power for the central, parietal, and right temporal ROIs during the pre-cessation timeframe, whereas power in the Delta and Beta frequency bands were not significantly different surrounding cessations. By relating cessations to objective and intrinsic measures of brain activity (i.e., EEG power) that are related to consciousness and high-level psychological functioning, these results provide evidence for the ability of experienced meditators to voluntarily modulate their state of consciousness and lay the foundation for studying these unique states using a neuroscientific approach.",

keywords = "Alpha activity, Cessation, EEG, Fruition, Meditation, Mindfulness, Nirodha, Theta activity",

author = "Avijit Chowdhury and \{van Lutterveld\}, Remko and Laukkonen, \{Ruben E.\} and Slagter, \{Heleen A.\} and Ingram, \{Daniel M.\} and Sacchet, \{Matthew D.\}",

note = "Funding Information: The authors jointly affirm that this manuscript is an honest, accurate, and transparent account of the study being reported, that no important aspects of the study have been omitted, and that any discrepancies from the study as planned have been explained. The Western Institutional Review Board (WIRB) approved the study, and the participant provided informed consent. Dr. Sacchet and the Meditation Research Program are supported by the National Institute of Mental Health (Project Number R01MH125850), Dimension Giving Fund, Ad Astra Chandaria Foundation, Brain and Behavior Research Foundation (Grant Number 28972), BIAL Foundation (Grant Number 099/2020), Emergence Benefactors, The Ride for Mental Health, Gatto Foundation, and individual donors.Authors AC, RvL, REL, and HAS have no conflict of interest. DMI has authored the book Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha that this paper references. He volunteers to run as Board Chair and Acting CEO of an international research charity, Emergence Benefactors, whose fundraising and public relations campaigns might benefit from the publication of this study. MDS directs the Meditation Research Program at Massachusetts General Hospital, which has received research funding from co-author and case study subject DMI. Funding Information: The authors jointly affirm that this manuscript is an honest, accurate, and transparent account of the study being reported, that no important aspects of the study have been omitted, and that any discrepancies from the study as planned have been explained. The Western Institutional Review Board (WIRB) approved the study, and the participant provided informed consent. Dr. Sacchet and the Meditation Research Program are supported by the National Institute of Mental Health (Project Number R01MH125850 ), Dimension Giving Fund, Ad Astra Chandaria Foundation, Brain and Behavior Research Foundation (Grant Number 28972 ), BIAL Foundation (Grant Number 099/2020 ), Emergence Benefactors, The Ride for Mental Health, Gatto Foundation, and individual donors. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2023 Elsevier Ltd",

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Investigation of advanced mindfulness meditation “cessation” experiences using EEG spectral analysis in an intensively sampled case study

Abstract

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Keywords

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