Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-v9fdk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-05T02:04:30.941Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Meditation and the EEG

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2009

Michael A. West
Michael A. West*
Affiliation:
Social Psychology Research Unit, University of Kent at Canterbury
*
1Address for correspondence: Dr Michael A. West, Social Psychology Research Unit, Beverley Farm, University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Synopsis

Previous research on meditation and the EEG is described, and findings relating to EEG patterns during meditation are discussed. Comparisons of meditation with other altered states are reviewed and it is concluded that, on the basis of existing EEG evidence, there is some reason for differentiating between meditation and drowsing. Research on alpha-blocking and habituation of the blocking response during meditation is reviewed, and the effects of meditation on EEG patterns outside of meditation are described. In conclusion, the need for more precisely formulated research is pointed out.

Type
Research Article
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 10 , Issue 2 , May 1980 , pp. 369 - 375
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1980

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Akers, T. K., Tucker, D. M., Roth, R. S. & Vidiloff, J. S. (1977). Personality correlates of EEG change during meditation. Psychological Reports 40 439–442.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Anand, B. K., Chhina, G. & Singh, B. (1961). Some aspects of electroencephalographic studies in Yogis. Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology 13, 452–456.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bagchi, B. K. & Wenger, M. A. (1957). Electrophysiological correlates of some yogi exercises. Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology Supplement 7, 132–149.Google Scholar
Banquet, J. P. (1972). EEG and mediation. Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology 33, 454.Google Scholar
Banquet, J. P. (1973). Spectral analysis of the EEG in meditation. Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology 35, 143–151.Google Scholar
Banquet, J. P. & Sailhan, M. (1974). Analyse EEG d'états de conscience induits et spontanes. Revue d'EEG et de Neurophysiologie Clinique 4, 445–453.Google Scholar
Benson, H., Klemchuk, H. P. & Graham, J. R. (1974). The usefulness of the relaxation response in the therapy of headache. Headache 14, 49–52.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Carrington, P. (1977). Freedom in Meditation. Anchor/ Doubleday: New York.Google Scholar
Das, N. & Gastaut, H. (1955). Variations de l'activité électrique du cerveau, du couer et des muscles squelettiques au course de la méditation et de l'extase yogique. Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology Supplement 6, 211–219.Google Scholar
Davidson, R., Goleman, D. & Schwartz, G. (1976). Attentional and affective concomitants of meditation: a cross sectional study. Journal of Abnormal Psychology 85, 235–238.Google Scholar
Fehr, T. (1977). A longitudinal study of the effect of the TM program on changes in personality, In Scientific Research on the Transcendental Meditation Program, Collected Papers, Volume 1, (ed. Orme-Johnson, D. W. and Farrow, J. T.), pp. 476–483. MERU Press: West Germany.Google Scholar
Fenwick, P. (1960). Computer analysis of the EEG during mantra meditation.Paper presented at conference on the effects of meditation, concentration and attention on the EEG. University of Marseilles.Google Scholar
Fenwick, P., Donaldson, S., Gillis, L., Bushman, J., Fenton, G., Perry, I., Tilsley, C. & Serafinowicz, H. (1977). Metabolic and EEG changes during transcendental meditation. Biological Psychology 5, 101–118.Google Scholar
Glueck, B. & Stroebel, C. (1975). Biofeedback and meditation in the treatment of psychiatric illnesses. Comparative Psychiatry 16, 303–321.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Goleman, D. & Schwartz, G. (1976). Meditation as an intervention in stress reactivity. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 44, 456–466.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Haynes, C. T., Hebert, J. R., Reber, W. & Orme-Johnson, D. W. (1977). The psychophysiology of advanced participants in the transcendental meditation program: correlations of EEG coherence, creativity, H-reflex recovery, and experience of transcendental consciousness. In Scientific Research on the Transcendental Meditation Program, Collected Papers, Volume 1 (ed. Orme-Johnson, D. W. and Farrow, J. T.), pp. 208–212. MERU Press: West Germany.Google Scholar
Hebert, R. & Lehmann, D. (1977). Theta bursts: an EEG pattern in normal subjects practising the transcendental meditation technique. Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology 42, 397–405.Google Scholar
Hirai, T. (1960). Electroencephalographic study on the Zen meditation (Zazen) – EEG changes during the concentrated relaxation. Folia psychiatrica et neurologica japonica 62, 76–105.Google Scholar
Hirai, T., Izawa, S. & Koga, E. (1959). EEG and Zen Buddhism. Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology Supplement 18, 52.Google Scholar
Hjelle, L. (1974). Transcendental meditation and psychological health. Perceptual and Motor Skills 39, 623–628.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kasamatsu, A. & Hirai, T. (1966). An electroencephalographic study on the Zen meditation (Zazen). Folia psychiatrica et neurologica japonica 20, 315–336.Google Scholar
Kasamatsu, A., Okuma, T., Takenaka, S., Koga, E., Ikeda, K. & Sugiyama, H. (1957). The EEG of‘Zen’ and ‘Yoga’ practitioners. Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology Supplement 9, 51–52.Google Scholar
Kras, D. J. (1977). The transcendental meditation technique and EEG alpha activity. In Scientific Research on the Transcendental Meditation Program, Collected Papers, Volume 1 (ed. Orme-Johnson, D. W. and Farrow, J. T.), pp. 173–181. MERU Press: West Germany.Google Scholar
Levine, P. H. (1976). The coherence spectral array (COSPAR) and its application to the study of spatial ordering in the EEG. Proceedings of the San Diego Biomedical Symposium 15, 237–247.Google Scholar
Levine, P. H., Hebert, J. R., Haynes, C. T. & Strobel, U. (1977). EEG coherence during the transcendental meditation technique. In Scientific Research on the Transcendental Meditation Program, Collected Papers, Volume 1 (ed. Orme-Johnson, D. W. and Farrow, J. T.), pp. 187–207. MERU Press: West Germany.Google Scholar
Miskiman, D. (1977). The effect of the TM program on compensatory paradoxical sleep. In Scientific Research on the Transcendental Meditation Program, Collected Papers, Volume 1 (ed. Orme-Johnson, D. W. and Farrow, J. T.), pp. 292–295. MERU Press: West Germany.Google Scholar
Ornstein, R. E. (1972). The Psychology of Consciousness. W. H. Freeman: San Francisco.Google Scholar
Otis, L. S. (1974). TM and sleep.Paper presented to the American Psychological Association,New Orleans.Google Scholar
Pagano, R. R., Rose, R. M., Stivers, R. M. & Warrenburg, S. (1976). Sleep during transcendental meditation. Science 191, 308–310.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Patel, C. (1977). Biofeedback-aided relaxation and meditation in the management of hypertension. Biofeedback and Self Regulation 2, 1–41.Google Scholar
Schwartz, G. (1973). Pros and cons of meditation: current findings on physiology, anxiety, self-control, drug abuse and creativity.Paper presented at 81st convention of The American Psychological Association,Montreal.Google Scholar
Shafii, M. (1973), Adaptive and therapeutic aspects of meditation. International Journal of Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy 1, 431–443.Google Scholar
Tebecis, A. (1975). A controlled study of the EEG during transcendental meditation: a comparison with hypnosis. Folia psychiatrica et neurologica japonica 29, 305–313.Google Scholar
Vassiliadis, A. (1973). Physiological effects of transcendental meditation: a longitudinal study. In The Psychobiology of Meditation: A Literature Review (ed. Kanellakos, D. and Lukas, J.), p. 8. Stanford Research Institute: California.Google Scholar
Wallace, R. K. (1970). Physiological effects of transcendental meditation. Science 167, 1751–1754.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wallace, R. K., Benson, H. & Wilson, A. F. (1971). A wakeful hypometabolic physiologic state. American Journal of Physiology 221, 795–799.Google Scholar
Watts, A. (1962). The Way of Zen. Pelican: Harmondsworth.Google Scholar
West, M. (1979 a). Meditation: a review. British Journal of Psychiatry 135, 457–467.Google Scholar
West, M. (1979 b). Physiological effects of meditation: a longitudinal study. British Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology 18, 219–226.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
West, M. (1980). Meditation, personality and arousal. Personality and Individual Differences (in the press).Google Scholar
Westcott, M. (1977). Hemispheric symmetry of the EEG during the transcendental meditation technique. In Scientific Research on the Transcendental Meditation Program, Collected Papers, Volume 1 (ed. Orme-Johnson, D. W. and Farrow, J. T.), pp. 160–164. MERU Press: West Germany.Google Scholar
Woolfolk, R. L. (1975). Psychophysiological effects of meditation. Archives of General Psychiatry 32, 1326–1333.Google Scholar
Woolfolk, R. L., Carr-Kaffashan, L. & McNulty, T. (1976). Meditation training as a treatment for insomnia. Behavior Therapy 7, 359–365.Google Scholar
Williams, P. & West, M. (1975). EEG responses to photic stimulation in persons experienced in meditation. Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology 39, 519–522.Google Scholar
Younger, J., Adriance, W. & Berger, R. (1975). Sleep during transcendental meditation. Perceptual and Motor Skills 40, 953–954.Google Scholar