Electrophysiologic Characteristics of Respiratory Suspension Periods Occurring During the Practice of the Transcendental Meditation Program

Abstract

In a study designed to identify the electrophysiologic characteristics of the Transcendental Meditation Program, 52 periods of spontaneous respiratory suspension (RS) were observed in 18 subjects during the practice of this program. These periods were correlated with some but not all the subjective experiences of pure consciousness. Nineteen RS periods (belonging to 11 subjects) free from any artifact were selected for EEG analysis. The mean total EEG coherence over all frequencies and over nine derivations for TM subjects showed a significant increase during the RS periods as compared to pre- and post-RS control periods. There was no significant change in mean total EEG coherence in a control group of 30 subjects voluntarily holding their breath. The heart rate showed a significant decrease during the RS periods in both the experimental and control groups, whereas there was no significant change in EEG alpha power in either group. These findings extend those of previous studies and help characterize the physiologic correlates of the state of pure consciousness during the TM program.

Changes in Autonomic Variables Following Two Meditative States Described in Yoga Texts

“…30 Breath suspension periods when experiencing pure consciousness in TM were correlated with increased total EEG coherence with implications for functional integration and better mind-body health, along with reduced heart rate and phasic skin conductance responses. 31 In summary, the present results show that when meditation is divided as two traditionally described stages, meditative focusing (dharana) and meditative defocusing (dhyana), the changes in the autonomic nervous system are distinct and different. The present findings make it apparent that studying yoga practices using present-day scientific methods may be made more meaningful if the techniques are understood based on the descriptions in the traditional texts.…”

A self-referential default brain state: patterns of coherence, power, and eLORETA sources during eyes-closed rest and Transcendental Meditation practice

“…TM practice is characterized by periods of spontaneous respiratory suspension of 10 sec or longer (Farrow and Hebert 1982;Badawi et al 1984;Travis and Wallace 1997), reduced sympathetic activation (Dillbeck and Orme-Johnson 1987;Travis et al 2009) and increased parasympathetic activation (Travis 2001) along with increased frontal and central alpha1 power (Banquet 1973;Hebert and Lehmann 1977;Orme-Johnson and Haynes 1981) and frontal alpha coherence during TM practice compared to eyes-closed rest (Dillbeck and Bronson 1981;Gaylord et al 1989;Travis and Wallace 1999;Travis and Arenander 2006). MEG Localization algorithms identify sources in medial prefrontal and anterior cingulate cortices during TM practice, corresponding to higher alpha frontal power during the practice (Yamamoto et al 2006).…”

Individual Trait Anxiety Levels Characterizing the Properties of Zen Meditation

“…Shapiro [5] described three broad groupings of internalized attentional strategies in meditation: focussing on the whole field as in mindfulness meditation, focussing on a specific object within a field as in concentrative meditation, and shifting back and forth between the two as in integrated meditation (such as in transcendental meditation, Zen meditation). Thus, one reason that some think that meditation is a relaxation response [6] while others regard it a unique state of consciousness [7] is that in many meditation practices participants are required to relax and combine both concentration and mindfulness strategies [4].…”