Improved emotional stability in experienced meditators with concentrative meditation based on electroencephalography and heart rate variability.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether emotional stability distinguishes how experienced and novice meditators react to visual stimuli.
DESIGN: PARTICIPANTS practiced concentrative meditation and then responded to visual stimuli while continuing to meditate. PARTICIPANTS: Ten experienced and 10 novice meditators responded to sequences of visual stimuli after concentrative meditation.
RESULTS: As predicted, both groups had increased parasympathetic activities during concentrative meditation. Experienced meditators had increased low-frequency electroencephalography (EEG) rhythms in response to visual stimulation, whereas novices had increased high-frequency EEG rhythms. Correlational analyses revealed that novice meditators changed from a meditative state to a nonrelaxed state when the visual stimuli were presented, whereas experienced meditators maintained the meditative state.
CONCLUSION: The study provides evidence that regular concentrative meditation can improve emotional stability and that recording physiologic responses to visual stimuli can be a good method for identifying the effects of long-term concentrative meditation practice.