title: Short Meditation Trainings Enhance Non-REM Sleep Low-Frequency Oscillations.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We have recently shown higher parietal-occipital EEG gamma activity during sleep in long-term meditators compared to meditation-naive individuals. This gamma increase was specific for NREM sleep, was present throughout the entire night and correlated with meditation expertise, thus suggesting underlying long-lasting neuroplastic changes induced through prolonged training. The aim of this study was to explore the neuroplastic changes acutely induced by 2 intensive days of different meditation practices in the same group of practitioners. We also repeated baseline recordings in a meditation-naive cohort to account for time effects on sleep EEG activity.
  
  
  METHODS
  High-density EEG recordings of human brain activity were acquired over the course of whole sleep nights following intervention.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sound-attenuated sleep research room.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-four long-term meditators and twenty-four meditation-naïve controls.
  
  
  METHODS
  Two 8-h sessions of either a mindfulness-based meditation or a form of meditation designed to cultivate compassion and loving kindness, hereafter referred to as compassion meditation.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We found an increase in EEG low-frequency oscillatory activities (1-12 Hz, centered around 7-8 Hz) over prefrontal and left parietal electrodes across whole night NREM cycles. This power increase peaked early in the night and extended during the third cycle to high-frequencies up to the gamma range (25-40 Hz). There was no difference in sleep EEG activity between meditation styles in long-term meditators nor in the meditation naïve group across different time points. Furthermore, the prefrontal-parietal changes were dependent on meditation life experience.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This low-frequency prefrontal-parietal activation likely reflects acute, meditation-related plastic changes occurring during wakefulness, and may underlie a top-down regulation from frontal and anterior parietal areas to the posterior parietal and occipital regions showing chronic, long-lasting plastic changes in long-term meditators.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin Madison, 6001 Research Park Blvd, Madison, WI, 53719, United States of America.|Waisman Center for Brain Imaging and Behavior, University of Wisconsin Madison, Madison, WI, 53705, United States of America.|Center for Healthy Minds, University of Wisconsin Madison, Madison, WI, 53705, United States of America.
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Dentico
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin Madison, 6001 Research Park Blvd, Madison, WI, 53719, United States of America.
authors.forename: Fabio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ferrarelli
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin Madison, 6001 Research Park Blvd, Madison, WI, 53719, United States of America.
authors.forename: Brady A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Riedner
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin Madison, 6001 Research Park Blvd, Madison, WI, 53719, United States of America.
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin Madison, 6001 Research Park Blvd, Madison, WI, 53719, United States of America.
authors.forename: Corinna
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zennig
authors.affiliation: Lyon Neuroscience Research Center, INSERM U1028, CNRS UMR5292, Lyon 1 University, Lyon, 69500, France.|Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin Madison, Madison, WI, 53706, United States of America.
authors.forename: Antoine
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lutz
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin Madison, 6001 Research Park Blvd, Madison, WI, 53719, United States of America.
authors.forename: Giulio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Tononi
authors.affiliation: Waisman Center for Brain Imaging and Behavior, University of Wisconsin Madison, Madison, WI, 53705, United States of America.|Center for Healthy Minds, University of Wisconsin Madison, Madison, WI, 53705, United States of America.|Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin Madison, Madison, WI, 53706, United States of America.
authors.forename: Richard J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Davidson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019122:Meditation; D008603:Mental Health; D008875:Middle Aged; D057566:Self Report; D012890:Sleep / Q000502:physiology; D012894:Sleep Stages; D012923:Social Class; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors