Neural Pathways to Attention Enhancement: EEG Spectral Ratio Analysis of CM-II Meditation's Effect on Student Attention

This research-to-practice paper describes the development of an innovative practice aimed at addressing the global surge in student stress and related mental health challenges, particularly in engineering education. Student well-being is foundational to academic success, with studies indicating that dropout rates for students with stress are more than 50% and mental health problems can range as high as 83% in engineering education. Stress and elevated levels of inattention are associated with decreased academic interest, decision-making, self-efficacy, study skills, and GPA. Research has shown that stress levels can be reduced by meditation techniques and they induce attention. In this research, a three-stage guided meditation called ChakraMarmaKosha Meditation II (CM-II) was developed to improve the attention level of students. It involves past emotional cleansing, reviewing the day, visualizing the future components, and is accompanied by flute music that is composed based on a chosen Raga. In this study, a data analysis pipeline was developed for detailed spectral analysis to measure variations in attention due to meditation. In an in-person EEG experiment, a study group of 15 college students underwent this CM-II meditation process in a lab setting. The EEG spectral analysis underscored an enhancement in attentional focus post-meditation, as evidenced by key shifts in spectral ratios such as the notable decrease in Theta to Beta Ratio (TBR) and the surge in Theta to Gamma Ratio (TGR). The observed results were validated using attention scores from tests on the TestMyBrain tool. This study underscores the potential benefits of the CM-II meditation technique in fostering enhanced attention, reduced stress, and consequently improved academic performance in engineering education. While the current study provides promising results with CM-II meditation in enhancing attention, cognition, and relaxation, it's essential to acknowledge the limitations, such as the confinement to a single lab setting and a small sample size. Future research could explore larger, more diverse cohorts and investigate the long-term benefits of CM-II, potentially incorporating it into regular academic curricula.