title: Effortless Attention as a Biomarker for Experienced Mindfulness Practitioners.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The present study aimed at comparing frontal beta power between long-term (LTM) and first-time meditators (FTM), before, during and after a meditation session. We hypothesized that LTM would present lower beta power than FTM due to lower effort of attention and awareness.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty one participants were recruited, eleven of whom were long-term meditators. The subjects were asked to rest for 4 minutes before and after open monitoring (OM) meditation (40 minutes).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The two-way ANOVA revealed an interaction between the group and moment factors for the Fp1 (p<0.01), F7 (p = 0.01), F3 (p<0.01), Fz (p<0.01), F4 (p<0.01), F8 (p<0.01) electrodes.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We found low power frontal beta activity for LTM during the task and this may be associated with the fact that OM is related to bottom-up pathways that are not present in FTM.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We hypothesized that the frontal beta power pattern may be a biomarker for LTM. It may also be related to improving an attentive state and to the efficiency of cognitive functions, as well as to the long-term experience with meditation (i.e., life-time experience and frequency of practice).
authors.affiliation: Institute of Applied Neuroscience (INA), Rio de Janeiro,Brasil; Mente Aberta, Brazilian Center for Mindfulness and Health Promotion, Federal University of Sao Paulo (UNIFESP), São Paulo, Brasil; Neurophysiology and Neuropsychology of Attention, Institute of Psychiatry of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (IPUB/UFRJ), Rio de Janeiro, Brasil.
authors.forename: Guaraci Ken
authors.initials: GK
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Human Sciences, Medical School Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Tolou
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Maslahati
authors.affiliation: Brain Mapping and Sensory Motor Integration, Institute of Psychiatry of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (IPUB/UFRJ), Rio de Janeiro, Brasil.
authors.forename: Mariana
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gongora
authors.affiliation: Institute of Applied Neuroscience (INA), Rio de Janeiro,Brasil; Neurophysiology and Neuropsychology of Attention, Institute of Psychiatry of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (IPUB/UFRJ), Rio de Janeiro, Brasil; Veiga de Almeida University, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil.
authors.forename: Juliana
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bittencourt
authors.affiliation: Behavioral Ecology and Psychobiology Laboratory, Department of Systematics and Ecology, Universidade Federal da Paraiba (UFPB), Paraíba, Brasil.
authors.forename: Luiz Carlos Serramo
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Lopez
authors.affiliation: Mente Aberta, Brazilian Center for Mindfulness and Health Promotion, Federal University of Sao Paulo (UNIFESP), São Paulo, Brasil.
authors.forename: Marcelo Marcos Piva
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Demarzo
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Human Sciences, Medical School Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany; Sport Science, Reykjavik University, Reykjavik, Iceland.
authors.forename: Henning
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Budde
authors.affiliation: Brain Mapping and Plasticity Laboratory, Federal University of Piauí (UFPI), Piaui, Brasil.
authors.forename: Silmar
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Teixeira
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Psychophysiology, Faculdade da Saúde, UMESP, São Paulo, Brazil; Division of Neurosurgery, Department of Neurology, University of São Paulo Medical School, São Paulo, Brasil.
authors.forename: Luis Fernando
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Basile
authors.affiliation: Migue Servet University Hospital, Aragonese Institute of Health Sciences, University of Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain.
authors.forename: Javier Garcia
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Campayo
authors.affiliation: Biomedical Engineering Program, COPPE, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil.
authors.forename: Mauricio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cagy
authors.affiliation: Brain Mapping and Sensory Motor Integration, Institute of Psychiatry of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (IPUB/UFRJ), Rio de Janeiro, Brasil; Institute of Applied Neuroscience (INA), Rio de Janeiro,Brasil; Bioscience Department, School of Physical Education of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Rio de Janeiro, Brasil.
authors.forename: Pedro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ribeiro
authors.affiliation: Institute of Applied Neuroscience (INA), Rio de Janeiro,Brasil; Bioscience Department, School of Physical Education of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Rio de Janeiro, Brasil; Neurophysiology and Neuropsychology of Attention, Institute of Psychiatry of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (IPUB/UFRJ), Rio de Janeiro, Brasil.
authors.forename: Bruna
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Velasques
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D015415:Biomarkers; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019122:Meditation / Q000523:psychology; D064866:Mindfulness; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers