title: Short-term meditation induces changes in brain resting EEG theta networks.
abstract: Many studies have reported meditation training has beneficial effects on brain structure and function. However, very little is known about meditation-induced changes in brain complex networks. We used network analysis of electroencephalography theta activity data at rest before and after 1-week of integrative body-mind training (IBMT) and relaxation training. The results demonstrated the IBMT group (but not the relaxation group) exhibited significantly smaller average path length and larger clustering coefficient of the entire network and two midline electrode nodes (Fz and Pz) after training, indicating enhanced capacity of local specialization and global information integration in the brain. The findings provide the evidence for meditation-induced network plasticity and suggest that IBMT might be helpful for alterations in brain networks.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroinformatics and Laboratory for Body and Mind, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China; Center for Cognition and Brain Disorders, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 310003, China.
authors.forename: Shao-Wei
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Xue
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79409, USA; Department of Psychology, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403, USA. Electronic address: yiyuan.tang@ttu.edu.
authors.forename: Yi-Yuan
authors.initials: YY
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78705, USA.
authors.forename: Rongxiang
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403, USA.
authors.forename: Michael I
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Posner
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019122:Meditation; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000502:physiology*; D013826:Theta Rhythm; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Brain complex networks; EEG; Integrative body–mind training; Relaxation training