title: EEG source imaging during two Qigong meditations.
abstract: Experienced Qigong meditators who regularly perform the exercises "Thinking of Nothing" and "Qigong" were studied with multichannel EEG source imaging during their meditations. The intracerebral localization of brain electric activity during the two meditation conditions was compared using sLORETA functional EEG tomography. Differences between conditions were assessed using t statistics (corrected for multiple testing) on the normalized and log-transformed current density values of the sLORETA images. In the EEG alpha-2 frequency, 125 voxels differed significantly; all were more active during "Qigong" than "Thinking of Nothing," forming a single cluster in parietal Brodmann areas 5, 7, 31, and 40, all in the right hemisphere. In the EEG beta-1 frequency, 37 voxels differed significantly; all were more active during "Thinking of Nothing" than "Qigong," forming a single cluster in prefrontal Brodmann areas 6, 8, and 9, all in the left hemisphere. Compared to combined initial-final no-task resting, "Qigong" showed activation in posterior areas whereas "Thinking of Nothing" showed activation in anterior areas. The stronger activity of posterior (right) parietal areas during "Qigong" and anterior (left) prefrontal areas during "Thinking of Nothing" may reflect a predominance of self-reference, attention and input-centered processing in the "Qigong" meditation, and of control-centered processing in the "Thinking of Nothing" meditation.
authors.affiliation: The KEY Institute for Brain-Mind Research, Clinic for Affective Disorders and General Psychiatry Zurich East, University Hospital of Psychiatry, 8032 Zurich, Switzerland. pfaber@key.uzh.ch
authors.forename: Pascal L
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Faber
authors.forename: Dietrich
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lehmann
authors.forename: Shisei
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tei
authors.forename: Takuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tsujiuchi
authors.forename: Hiroaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kumano
authors.forename: Roberto D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Pascual-Marqui
authors.forename: Kieko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kochi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000098:blood supply / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D058256:Brain Waves / Q000502:physiology*; D001945:Breathing Exercises; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007092:Imagination / Q000502:physiology*; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D019122:Meditation; D008875:Middle Aged; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood; D012146:Rest / Q000502:physiology; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D010100:Oxygen