A Critical Analysis on Characterizing the Meditation Experience Through the Electroencephalogram

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Cognitive Science
• Psychology

Background:

• Meditation's mental and physical health benefits are gaining scientific interest.
• Studying meditation's brain effects faces challenges in linking neural activity to subjective experiences.
• Standardized signal processing methods for electroencephalogram (EEG) in meditation research are lacking.

Purpose of the Study:

• To discuss electroencephalogram (EEG) as a tool for studying meditation in healthy individuals.
• To review EEG signal processing techniques applied to meditation research up to April 2020.
• To examine limitations, assumptions, and best practices in EEG analysis for meditation.

Main Methods:

• Review of electroencephalogram (EEG) signal processing techniques.
• Analysis of EEG applications in meditation research.
• Examination of methodological challenges and technical specifications.

Main Results:

• EEG is a valuable tool for exploring meditation's neural correlates.
• Inconsistent signal processing approaches hinder result generalization in meditation studies.
• Technical choices significantly influence the interpretation of EEG findings in meditation.

Conclusions:

• Standardizing EEG signal processing is crucial for robust meditation research.
• Addressing technical limitations enhances the scientific evaluation of meditation.
• This work promotes more rigorous EEG-based investigations of meditation.