Meditação e música: EEGq e redes funcionais cerebrais

Abstract

Introduction: It is known that different types of meditation induce different responses in brain activity. Among these different types, there are those accompanied by music, however, little is known about the role of this tool in the brain electrical activity during meditation. Objective: To evaluate delta, theta, alpha, beta and gamma power and the functional connectivity pattern of brain networks during Raja Yoga meditation, with and without musical induction, in experienced meditators. Methods: 9 women and 3 men participated, with a mean age (SD) of 48.71 (16.27) years. They were all Raja Yoga meditators, at Brahma Kumaris institution, Salvador-BA-Brazil. The data collection was performed using EEG with 22 channels and divided into 4 stages: relaxation (RL), meditation without music (MD), meditation with specific music (SM) and meditation with unspecific music (UM). The data were filtered, and the power frequencies were extracted. The frequencies that presented significant differences on the power evaluation were selected for the frequency brain network construction and extraction of the weighted degree (Kp), using the motifs method. Results: ANOVA results showed an increase in frontal gamma power during meditations with music (SM and UM) compared to meditation without music (MD), as well as an increase in frontal beta power during UM compared to MD. For beta network, an increase in cortical connectivity was observed in the right hemisphere, during UM compared to SM and MD, and in the frontal area during UM in comparison to MD and SM. For gamma network, there was an increase in connectivity in the frontal area during UM compared to MD. Effect size analyzes demonstrated greater magnitude in the left frontal (LF) than in the right frontal (RF) area for UM x MD comparison, and greater magnitude in RF than in LF for MD x SM comparison. Conclusion: Frontal power and cortical connectivity of beta and gamma frequencies seem to be involved in musical processing during meditation, with differences of activation pattern according to the type of music.