Research

MindstreamX fosters scientific research on meditation, with an interdisciplinary approach in the areas of AI machine learning, neuroscience, bioengineering and Buddhist psychology etc. 

• Bryant conducted research on meditation's impact on brain computer interface (BCI) analyzed by deep learning models.  

•  Present research at the IEEE conferences.

  • Presented at IEEE 2022 4th International Communication Engineering and Cloud Computing Conference (ICECC) on 10/29/2022 

  • Presented at IEEE 2022 5th International Conference on Computing and Big Data (ICCBD) on 12/17/2022.

• Publication:  "Deep Learning for Meditation's Impact  On Brain Computer Interface Performance"  published by IEEE Xplore.

Research Paper Abstract

Recent studies uncovered mindfulness meditation’s impact on the Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) performance. The traditional predictive method for BCI control requires domain expertise in electroencephalogram (EEG) and complicated and time-consuming processing of EEG data. In this paper, for the first time, deep learning models feed-forward neural network (FFNN) and convolutional neural network (CNN) were developed to classify BCI controls for meditators, using a meditation group and a control group. Both models, when applied to raw data with minimal noise filtering, demonstrated slightly better accuracy rates than the traditional predictive methods. The optimal pre-preprocessing method to obtain fixed-length BCI feedback control data was invented. A novel BCI experiment design was created to fix the length of the BCI feedback control period to better utilize the trial time and EEG data. This research also provides the foundation for further application of deep learning models to meditation’s impact on BCI in more complicated investigations that the traditional methods are incapable of handling due to the large dimensions of both temporal and spatial data.

Award: 2023 Regeneron STS (Science Talent Search) Scholar Top 300. Regeneron STS is the nation’s oldest and most prestigious science and math competition. STS alumni includes 13 Nobel Prize winners.

Mindfulness meditation has been practiced widely for the reduction of stress and promotion of health. Over the past decade, meditation has raised interest in different scientific fields; in particular, the physiological mechanisms underlying the beneficial effects observed in meditators have been investigated. The large amount of data collected thus far allows drawing some conclusions about the neural effects of meditation practice.