Modulating Consciousness through Awareness Training Program and Its Impacts on Psychological Stress and Age-Related Gamma Waves

Aging often leads to awareness decline and psychological stress. Meditation, a method of modulating consciousness, may help individuals improve overall awareness and increase emotional resilience toward stress. This study explored the potential influence of the Awareness Training Program (ATP), a form of consciousness modulation, on age‐related brain wave changes and psychological stress in middle‐aged adults. Eighty‐five participants with mild stress were recruited and randomly assigned to ATP (45.00 ± 8.00 yr) or control (46.67 ± 7.80 yr) groups, matched by age and gender. Ten‐minute resting‐state EEG data, obtained while the participants’ eyes were closed, were collected using a 128‐channel EEG system (EGI). A strong positive Pearson correlation was found between fast‐wave (beta wave, 12–25 Hz; gamma wave, 25–40 Hz) EEG and age. However, after the 7‐week ATP intervention, this correlation became insignificant in the ATP group. Furthermore, there was a significant reduction in stress levels, as measured by the Chinese version of the 10 item Perceived Stress Scale (PSS‐10), in the ATP group. These results suggest that ATP may help modulate age‐related effects on fast brain waves, as evidenced by the reduced correlation magnitude between age and gamma waves, and lower psychological stress. This suggests that ATP, as a form of consciousness modulation, may improve stress resilience and modulate age‐related gamma wave changes.