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EEG Dynamics of Mindfulness Meditation Versus Alpha Neurofeedback: a Sham-Controlled Study

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Abstract

Mindfulness meditation (MM) and EEG-alpha neurofeedback (NFB) have both been shown to improve attentional performance and increase full 8–12-Hz EEG alpha amplitude, but no studies have compared MM and NFB on their effects for modulating EEG alpha or attentional control. Sixty-one university students were randomized to a 15-min single-session MM (n = 24), NFB (n = 17), or sham-NFB (SHAM; n = 20) intervention and were compared on EEG alpha full and sub-band amplitudes during completion of a single 15-min session of either intervention across 5 successive 3-min epochs, as well as during performance of the Stroop test. MM and NFB participants demonstrated higher global full-band alpha amplitude when compared with SHAM participants during the final intervention epoch, whereas no group differences were observed for sub-band amplitudes. In the absence of group differences in behavioral performance, MM participants exhibited a lower ERD of the upper alpha-band within frontal cortex 200–400 ms post-stimulus on the Stroop task, an effect that correlated with upper alpha amplitudes demonstrated during the intervention. Future research directions are discussed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Psychiatry and Psychology, University of Western Ontario, University Hospital, 339 Windermere Rd (Room B3-264), London, ON, N6A 5A5, Canada

    Theodore Chow, Tanaz Javan, Tomas Ros & Paul Frewen

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  1. Theodore Chow
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  2. Tanaz Javan
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  3. Tomas Ros
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  4. Paul Frewen
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Correspondence to Paul Frewen.

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Funding

This study was funded by the Ontario Mental Health Foundation and the Lawson Health Research Institute.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Chow, T., Javan, T., Ros, T. et al. EEG Dynamics of Mindfulness Meditation Versus Alpha Neurofeedback: a Sham-Controlled Study. Mindfulness 8, 572–584 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-016-0631-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-016-0631-8

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