Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40611081›Full record

ArticleBMC complementary medicine and therapies2025

Can heart rate variability demonstrate the effects and the levels of mindfulness? A repeated-measures study on experienced and novice mindfulness practitioners.

Yanping Wei, Yifei Xu, Wanlin Chen, Jing Zheng, Hang Chen, Shulin Chen

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Article in BMC complementary medicine and therapies, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

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4citing papers in PubMed
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1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

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3 · Its place in the literature

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4 citing papers in PubMed.

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Yanping Wei *Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
Yifei Xu *College of Biomedical Engineering & Instrument Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
Wanlin ChenSchool of Medicine, Hangzhou City University, Hangzhou, China.
Jing ZhengCollege of Biomedical Engineering & Instrument Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
Hang ChenCollege of Biomedical Engineering & Instrument Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China. ch-sun@263.net.
Shulin ChenDepartment of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China. chenshulin@zju.edu.cn.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundHeart rate variability (HRV) is a potential biomarker that might demonstrate the effects of mindfulness, but it might be influenced by practice experiences. This study wanted to elucidate the possibility of using HRV metrics to reveal the effects of mindfulness and examine its variation between novice and experienced mindfulness practitioners.

methodsForty-six participants (20 experienced practitioners, 26 novices) were enrolled to practice 14-day mindfulness training. HRV data were collected during three phases (20 min baseline, T1; 20 min mindfulness, T2; 20 min post-mindfulness, T3) using Holter monitoring. The linear mixed model was conducted to explore the effects of group and time based on standardized data.

resultsThe experienced group had higher full-scale scores of FFMQ both in the pre-test (t = -3.34, df = 44, p = 0.002) and the post-test (t = -2.35, df = 44, p = 0.025). Both groups showed significant changes in HRV indices (e.g., RMSSD, SDNN, LnHF) from T1 to T2 or T3 (p < 0.05). In the experienced group, significant fluctuations (p < 0.05) were observed at T2, followed by recovery at T3, in SD1/SD2, Sample Entropy, normalized High Frequency (HFn), DFA_α1, and DFA_α2. In contrast, the novice participants only showed monotonic changes in SD1/SD2 and DFA_α1.

conclusionsThis study revealed significant HRV changes during mindfulness practice, with distinct patterns observed between novice and experienced practitioners.

Indexed as

Heart RateMindfulnessAdultFemaleHumansMaleMeditationMiddle AgedYoung AdultAutonomic activityHeart rate variabilityImmediate effectMindfulnessPractice experience

Identifiers

PMID40611081
PMCPMC12225205

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.