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Quantitative Assessment of Heart Rate Dynamics during Meditation: An ECG Based Study with Multi-Fractality and

Anirban Bhaduri1, Dipak Ghosh2

  • 1Deepa Ghosh Research Foundation Kolkata, India.

Frontiers in Physiology
|February 25, 2016
PubMed

Insights

Meditation alters heart rate complexity. Quantitative analysis using multi-fractal detrended fluctuation analysis and visibility network analysis revealed significant changes in cardiac dynamics during Kundalini Yoga and Chi meditation.

Area of Science:

  • Cardiology
  • Neuroscience
  • Computational Biology

Background:

  • Meditation practices like Kundalini Yoga and Chi are known to influence physiological states.
  • Understanding the quantitative changes in cardiac dynamics during meditation can provide insights into its physiological effects.
  • Non-linear analysis techniques offer novel ways to assess complex physiological data.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To quantitatively explore the cardiac dynamics during meditation using advanced non-linear techniques.
  • To investigate the changes in heart rate complexity during specific meditation practices.
  • To assess the potential of these techniques in measuring the physiological impact of meditation.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized instantaneous heart rate data from subjects practicing Kundalini Yoga and Chi meditation, sourced from PhysioNet.
  • Applied two chaos-based non-linear techniques: multi-fractal detrended fluctuation analysis (MF-DFA) and visibility network analysis (VNA).
  • Compared quantitative parameters derived from both MF-DFA and VNA to analyze cardiac dynamics.

Main Results:

  • Consistent differences were observed in the quantitative parameters obtained from MF-DFA and VNA.
  • These findings indicate a measurable change in the complexity of cardiac dynamics during meditation.
  • The study provides preliminary evidence for the effectiveness of these techniques in quantifying meditation's physiological impact.

Conclusions:

  • Non-linear analysis techniques, specifically MF-DFA and VNA, can quantitatively characterize changes in cardiac dynamics during meditation.
  • Meditation practices are associated with alterations in heart rate complexity.
  • These methods show promise as objective measures for assessing the physiological effects of meditation practices.

Keywords:
ECGMF-DFAfractalmeditationvisibility graph

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