중국 기공 및 쿤달리니 요가 명상이 숙련자의 심박변이율(HRV) 변화에 미치는 영향에 관한 연구

Abstract

Abstract: In this paper, we have investigated effects of two specific meditations (Chinese qigong meditation and Kun-dalini yoga meditation) on the heart rate variability (HRV), which is a well-known quantitative measure of autonomicbalance, of skilled students. To analyze the effects, the MIT/BIH physionet database was utilized. The databaseincludes RR intervals of eight skilled Chinese qigong meditators (5 women and 3 men; age range 26-35) and fourskilled Kundalini yoga meditators (2 women and 2 men; age range 20-52). RR intervals of each subject were measuredbefore and during the meditations. For HRV analysis, we have used typical four HRV parameters - the low frequencyto high frequency power ratio (LF/HF ratio), SD2/SD1 ratio, sample entropy, and fractal dimension. The LF/HF ratiowas calculated by the autoregressive spectrum and the SD2/SD1 ratio was derived from the Poincare plot. The sam-ple entropy was computed from the phase space plot and the fractal dimension was estimated by the Higuchi’s algo-rithm. In the experiments, the Wilcoxon signed rank test was employed because we used small datasets andcompared HRV parameters before and during the meditations. As a result, we have found increment of the LF/HFand SD2/SD1 ratios in both meditations; whereas the sample entropy is decreased during the meditations. In addition,the fractal dimension is increased during the Chinese qigong meditation; whereas it is decreased during the Kundaliniyoga meditation. The results show that the sympathetic nervous system is generally more activated in skilled Chi-nese qigong and Kundalini yoga meditators, but the activation of the parasympathetic nervous tone is suppressed.Key words: Heart rate variability, Chinese qigong meditation, Yoga meditation, Autonomic nervous system.