Power Spectral Analysis of R-R Interval Variability during Zazen 


Author: Minegishi Y 1//Watanabe T 2//Higuchi Y 3 

Affiliation: Jichi Medical School, School of Nursing (Tochigi, Japan) [1]//Kokushikan University (Tokyo, Japan) [2]//Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo, Japan) [3]
Conference/Journal: J Intl Soc Life Info Science
Date published: 2000
Other:
 Volume ID: 18   ,  Issue ID: 2   ,  Pages: 379-380   ,  Word Count: 127  
    This study was designed to evaluate the influence on autonomic nervous activity caused by 'zazen' which is one kind of mental and physical traing method. Seven monks belonging to the Soto-shu Sect rested for 40 min. and practiced zazen for 40min. in one day. Then R-R interval variability was evaluated by power spectral analysis. In the two tests, the power spectrum in the high frequency band (HF) during zazen was higher than resting but not significantly The ratio of the low frequency band to the high frequency band (LF/HF) during resting was higher than during zazen but not significantly. The slope of 1/f fluctuation during zazen was significantly more gentle than resting. These results indicated the parasympathetic nervous system was more activated during zazen than during resting.