Psychophysiological and cognitive effects of Zen meditation in novice and experienced practitioners

Zen meditation has been widely recognized for its psychological and physiological benefits; however, the differential impacts of meditation experience on psychophysiological biomarkers remain underexplored. This study bridges a crucial gap by investigating how Zen meditation influences anxiety, sleep quality, and EEG-derived brain activity in novice and experienced meditators. Over three days, 24 participants (12 novices, 12 experienced) underwent nine guided meditation sessions.

Pre- and post-intervention measures included generalized anxiety disorder scores, Sleep Epworth scores, and EEG-based alpha/beta and theta/alpha ratios, assessing emotional control, cognitive engagement, and relaxation. Findings revealed that experienced meditators exhibited distinct patterns of change in EEG-derived ratios relative to novices, reflecting experience-dependent oscillatory dynamics rather than validated indicators of meditative depth or psychological improvement. These results provide novel insights into meditation proficiency and its psychophysiological effects, offering a foundation for the development of wearable health technologies and personalized meditation-based interventions to optimize mental health strategies.

This work was supported by the Indian Institute of Technology Mandi, who provided the necessary financial and computational resources for this experiment. Also, this project was partially supported by a grant from National Mission on Himalayan Studies with project number IITM/MOEF-NMHS/VD/499 (NMHS), AICTE with project number IITM/IKS-MoE/VD/548, and partially supported by Tata Trusts with project number IITM/DORA/TataTrusts/2025/02. There is no specific funding received for this study.

Applied Cognitive Science Lab, Indian Institute of Technology Mandi, Kamand, HP, India Sakshi Chauhan, Sahil Sankhyan, Arnav Bhavsar & Varun Dutt Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, Lloyd Institute of Engineering and Technology, Greater Noida, UP, India The authors declare no competing interests. This study involved human participants and was conducted in accordance with the ethical standards and guidelines of the Indian Institute of Technology Mandi (IITM/IEC(H)/2025/VD/P2). The study protocol was reviewed and approved by the Institutional Ethics Committee of the Indian Institute of Technology Mandi.

All participants provided informed consent prior to participation. No human tissue samples were involved. Informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the questionnaire-based study.

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