Multimodal Investigation of Meditation with EEG-Hyperscanning in Social and Individual Settings
Progetto Meditation is a mind-body practice developed within specific cultural and religious contexts and recently adapted for psychological interventions due to its clinical benefits [1]. Previous research showed that meditation reduces stress, anxiety, depression, and chronic pain, increases empathy and acceptance, improves cognition, such as attention and emotion regulation, and sleep quality, positively impacting self-regulation [2] [3]. Also, by training self-regulation capacities [4], individuals may be better able to engage in prosocial behaviors [5]. The overall health benefits are supported by changes in the central nervous system (CNS) and autonomic nervous system (ANS), and by an increased synchronization between them [6] [7] [8].
In exploring the effects of meditation and its underlying neurophysiological mechanisms, psychologists and neuroscientists have traditionally focused on single individuals. Although fundamental, this stand-alone perspective neglects the importance of the social component characterizing many meditation programs in both clinical and non-clinical settings [9], such as the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) [10]. A recent study [11] investigated the brain-related benefits of social meditation, suggesting an enhanced activity of the brain regions related to social cognition, empathy and emotion regulation when compared to individual meditation.
Additionally, previous studies in the fields of social psychophysiology and neuroscience have shown that when two or more people interact, their respective neural and physiological activities synchronize, forming a functional unit [12]. These phenomena, known as interpersonal neural and physiological coupling, respectively, are believed to support the execution of social activities at a behavioral level, and to determine their success, possibly mediating the benefits of social meditation.
To the best of our knowledge, very few studies have compared the neurophysiological mechanisms of individual versus group meditation, although focusing on a single-organ (i.e., brain) analysis. To advance current knowledge, future studies should examine both the neural and the ANS-related physiological activity, the interaction between them, and the interpersonal neural and physiological coupling. The goal of this project is to advance the knowledge in this area, in line with recommendations from [9] for expanding the field of contemplative science.
Based on the current state-of-the-art, and considering the importance of the social component in meditation practices in real-world contexts, the present MIMESIS project aims to understand the mechanisms underpinning individual (IM) and social (SM) meditation through several levels of analysis:
-multiple psychophysiological levels: (a) at the neural level, using electroencephalography (EEG) to measure cortical activity; (b) at the cardiac level, using electrocardiography (ECG) to measure heart activity; and (c) at the respiratory level, using piezoelectric bands to measure breathing;
-both single-organ and inter-organ level: using an integrated multimodal EEG system to simultaneously record neural, cardiac, and respiratory signals from one subject;
-both intrapersonal (within the individual) and interpersonal (between individuals) level: using an EEG-hyperscanning multimodal technology previously developed by our research center in collaboration with other institutions [13], which allows the synchronization of two independent multimodal EEG systems, one for each participant.
The following outcomes are expected.
In IM, we expect increased alpha power in frontal and posterior regions, decreased theta power, and variable gamma power, indicating relaxation and cognitive enhancement. In SM, we expect heightened power and coherence in the right temporo-occipital regions associated with social cognition, increased delta activity in the left insula and inferior frontal gyrus supporting empathy, and increased gamma power o