Why the study?
Standard HRV metrics like RMSSD preferentially weight higher-frequency Fourier modes, making them unsuitable biosignals during mindful breathing meditation encouraging slow breathing.
Does mindful breathing meditation increase the autonomic balance index compared to other meditation techniques?
Does mindful breathing meditation increase the autonomic balance index compared to other meditation techniques?
The newly proposed autonomic balance index (ABI) may serve as a better biofeedback signal than RMSSD during mindful breathing meditation.
RMSSD unsuitable for slow-breathing meditation; leaves open validation of frequency-appropriate HRV metrics in mindfulness studies.
In this article, we discuss Heart Rate Variability (HRV) measured during mindful breathing meditation. We provide a pedagogical computation of 2 commonly used HRV metrics, i.e. the root mean square of successive differences (RMSSD) and the standard deviation of RR intervals (SDRR), in terms of Fourier components. It is shown that the RMSSD preferentially weights higher frequency Fourier modes, making it unsuitable as a biosignal for mindful breathing meditation which encourages slow breathing. We propose a new metric called the autonomic balance index (ABI) which uses Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia to quantify the fraction of HRV contributed by the parasympathetic nervous system. We apply this metric to HRV data collected during two different meditation techniques, and show that the ABI is significantly elevated during mindful breathing, making it a good signal for biofeedback during meditation sessions.
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Aravind Natarajan (2022) studied this question.
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