Kevin Voisin and Dr. Michael Larson, Neuroscience

Mindfulness is the process of bringing one’s body functions, attention, feelings and content of consciousness to the experiences of the present. (Greeson, 2009). Mindfulness has been shown to reduce stress in order to improve quality of life along with many other benefits such as reducing blood pressure, anxiety, depression, and anger (Grossman, Niemann, Schmidt, Walach, 2004). We sought to substantiate these claims with EEG and blood pressure data.

The error-related negativity (ERN) is a component of the error-related potential (ERP) that accompanies the commission of errors and conflict. We were able to measure the ERN with the use of a 128 channel EEG. We hypothesized that the participants who are subject to mindfulness will have reduced blood pressure and will show decreased amplitudes in their ERN measurements.

Our study consisted of two groups, one mindfulness group and one control group. 25 of the participants were in the mindfulness group which consisted of 12 females and 13 males. The average age of the mindfulness group was 20.72 with a standard deviation of 2.52. The control group consisted of 28 participants, 14 of which were females. The average age of the control group was 20 with a standard deviation of 1.96.

After placing the net on participants we monitored their ERP’s by having them participate in a modified Erikson flanker. We also took blood pressure measurements at specific intervals throughout the duration of the study so that we could measure the effects of mindfulness on error processing and stress monitoring. We then conducted a within subjects repeated measures ANOVA on time for blood pressure and found that Systolic Blood Pressure significantly changed from mindfulness to flanker task performance F(5, 135) = 11.41, p= .001. (Fig 1) Later we performed an Error-repeated measures ANOVA on ERP amplitudes. 2 Group (Mindfulness, Control) x 2 Accuracy (Correct, Error) repeated measures ANOVA on ERP amplitudes. Groups differed on CRN amplitude , t(112) = 4.47, p

Thus we can conclude that our finding support the hypothesis that mindfulness leads to a lower systolic blood pressure. Findings also suggest that there was a significant decrease in CRN amplitude for the mindfulness group in comparison to the control group. There was no evidence to suggest a difference in ERN amplitude for the mindfulness group.

Our experiment did not run as smoothly as we had expected. We had to redesign the paradigm of the study to fit into one day rather than two weeks because of a lack of commitment to return a second time that was shown in a large number of participants. Other than that we face very little problems and we did find success in the end. We are currently working towards publishing our results. Further research must be done in order to find the overall effects of mindfulness on the body and brain.

Scholarly Sources

 

• Greeson, J. M. (2009). Mindfulness Research Update: 2008. Complementary Health Practice Review, 14(1), 10-18.
• Grossman, P., Niemann, L., Schmidt, S., &Walach, H. (2004). Mindfulness-based stress reduction and health benefits A meta-analysis. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 57, 35-43.