Evaluating the feasibility of a consumer grade wearable EEG headband to aid assessment of state and trait mindfulness.
OBJECTIVES Measures from wearable devices could be a valuable supplement to mindfulness assessment and intervention. This observational study evaluated measures from a consumer grade EEG headband (Muse, InteraXon, Inc. as novel correlates of state mindfulness during focused attention meditation. METHODS Adult participants (N 68, Mage 22.66, SDage 7.35) completed a task based measure of state mindfulness and thought probe measures of subjective mind wandering while meditating with the EEG headband. A subset completed 14 days of home practice (n 29) RESULTS Device measures were sensitive to attention lapses within participants in the state mindfulness task (d 0.56) and had large between participants associations for the same task (r 0.50) Mean device metrics from home practice together explained approximately 30% of variance in self reported trait mindfulness, attentional control, nonattachment, and decentering. CONCLUSION EEG biomarkers show potential as correlates of mindfulness with distinct benefits over existing assessment methods.
Journal of clinical psychology