Spatio-temporal pattern of EEG in young brain respiration-training children.
We have evaluated the effect of 'Brain Respiration' training on brain activity using Karhunen-Loeve (KL) decomposition as a method for spatio-temporal analysis of the electroencephalogram (EEG). BR training is a form of breath-work to optimize the function of the brain by concentrating Qi energy in the brain. Recently, BR-training has been reported to improve emotional maturity (i.e., EQ), short-term memory and intuition (Yoo et al., 1998). EEG data were taken during BR-training from 12 young BR-trainees (average age: 9.4 years) who had trained for 4 to 14 months, and during relaxation from age matched non-trained children. Spatio-temporal analysis showed a significant difference of EEG dynamics in right prefrontal, right inferior frontal, posterior temporal, parietal and occipital areas between BR-trainees and the control group. Amplitude of eigenvector components of BR-trainees in the areas of frontal, temporal and occipital cortex was larger than that of non-trained children (values were smaller in parietal cortex), with remarkably high amplitude alpha coherence all over the scalp. These results suggest that BR-training possibly activates brain function through changes in the activity of the frontal association area where higher mental integration and creative activities are mediated.
Kim
H R
HR
Department of Physics, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Taejon.
Kim
S Y
SY
Kim
D J
DJ
Kim
Y Y
YY
Park
S K
SK
Chae
J H
JH
Kim
K S
KS
Lee
K H
KH
Lee
S H
SH
D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D002648:Child; D004569:Electroencephalography; D004594:Electrophysiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019413:Qi