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

2009 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fred Travis ◽  
David A. F. Haaga ◽  
John Hagelin ◽  
Melissa Tanner ◽  
Alaric Arenander ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Transcendental Meditation ◽  
Brain State ◽  
Meditation Practice ◽  
Eyes Closed

Effect of transcendental meditation on breathing and respiratory control

1984 ◽  
Vol 56 (3) ◽  
pp. 607-612 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Wolkove ◽  
H. Kreisman ◽  
D. Darragh ◽  
C. Cohen ◽  
H. Frank
Keyword(s):  
Transcendental Meditation ◽  
Minute Ventilation ◽  
Respiratory Control ◽  
Respiratory Pattern ◽  
Quiet Breathing ◽  
The Unconscious ◽  
Eyes Closed ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Regulation Of Breathing ◽  
Eyes Open

We studied the effect of transcendental meditation (TM) on breathing using 16 experienced meditators and 16 control subjects. In controls, there was no significant difference in minute ventilation (VE), respiratory pattern, or hypercapnic response, whether breathing with eyes open-awake (CA), or with eyes closed-relaxing (CR). In meditators, VE decreased significantly during quiet breathing from 14.0 +/- 0.7 1/min with eyes open-awake (MA) to 12.4 +/- 0.6 1/min during meditation (MM) (P less than 0.02). The change in VE during meditation was due to a decrease in tidal volume (VT) resulting from a shortened inspiratory time (TI). Meditation was associated with a decreased response to progressive hypercapnia from 3.7 +/- 0.4 to 2.5 +/- 0.21 X min-1 X Torr-1 during MA and MM trials, respectively (P less than 0.01). During meditation VT was smaller at a given alveolar PCO2 than during MA studies because of a decrease in mean inspiratory flow rate (VT/TI). These observations suggest that an alteration in wakefulness, more subtle than sleep or the unconscious state, can significantly affect the chemical and neural regulation of breathing.

fMRI during Transcendental Meditation practice

2018 ◽  
Vol 123 ◽  
pp. 30-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle C. Mahone ◽  
Fred Travis ◽  
Richard Gevirtz ◽  
David Hubbard
Keyword(s):  
Transcendental Meditation ◽  
Meditation Practice

Consciousness-Based Education

2021 ◽  
pp. 144-159
Author(s):  
Frederick Travis ◽  
John Collins
Keyword(s):  
Social Relationships ◽  
Teaching Strategies ◽  
Transcendental Meditation ◽  
Academic Work ◽  
Emotional Stability ◽  
University Education ◽  
Meditation Practice ◽  
Constructive Thinking ◽  
Block System ◽  
Academic Challenge

Consciousness-based education balances academic challenge with students' ability to master the material (1) using a block system to spread academic work across the semester, (2) teaching strategies to connect individual lectures to larger discipline principles, and (3) incorporating Transcendental Meditation practice into the curriculum. Brain integration and constructive thinking were compared in 27 freshman/senior pairs involved in consciousness-based university education. As seniors, these subjects had higher levels of brain integration, associated with emotional stability and success in life, and higher global constructive thinking, associated with work success and stable personal and social relationships. These variables typically do not change during college.

scholarly journals Distinct Montages of Slow Oscillatory Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (so-tDCS) Constitute Different Mechanisms during Quiet Wakefulness

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 324
Author(s):  
Ping Koo-Poeggel ◽  
Verena Böttger ◽  
Lisa Marshall
Keyword(s):  
Slow Wave Sleep ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Electrode Placement ◽  
Brain State ◽  
Electrode Pair ◽  
Alpha Power ◽  
Applied Current ◽  
Large Power ◽  
Quiet Wakefulness ◽  
Eyes Closed

Slow oscillatory- (so-) tDCS has been applied in many sleep studies aimed to modulate brain rhythms of slow wave sleep and memory consolidation. Yet, so-tDCS may also modify coupled oscillatory networks. Efficacy of weak electric brain stimulation is however variable and dependent upon the brain state at the time of stimulation (subject and/or task-related) as well as on stimulation parameters (e.g., electrode placement and applied current. Anodal so-tDCS was applied during wakefulness with eyes-closed to examine efficacy when deviating from the dominant brain rhythm. Additionally, montages of different electrodes size and applied current strength were used. During a period of quiet wakefulness bilateral frontolateral stimulation (F3, F4; return electrodes at ipsilateral mastoids) was applied to two groups: ‘Group small’ (n = 16, f:8; small electrodes: 0.50 cm2; maximal current per electrode pair: 0.26 mA) and ‘Group Large’ (n = 16, f:8; 35 cm2; 0.35 mA). Anodal so-tDCS (0.75 Hz) was applied in five blocks of 5 min epochs with 1 min stimulation-free epochs between the blocks. A finger sequence tapping task (FSTT) was used to induce comparable cortical activity across sessions and subject groups. So-tDCS resulted in a suppression of alpha power over the parietal cortex. Interestingly, in Group Small alpha suppression occurred over the standard band (8–12 Hz), whereas for Group Large power of individual alpha frequency was suppressed. Group Small also revealed a decrease in FSTT performance at retest after stimulation. It is essential to include concordant measures of behavioral and brain activity to help understand variability and poor reproducibility in oscillatory-tDCS studies.

Metabolic rate, respiratory exchange ratio, and apneas during meditation

1989 ◽  
Vol 256 (3) ◽  
pp. R632-R638 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Kesterson ◽  
N. F. Clinch
Keyword(s):  
Metabolic Rate ◽  
Respiratory Exchange Ratio ◽  
Transcendental Meditation ◽  
Interaction Effects ◽  
Co2 Production ◽  
O2 Consumption ◽  
Significant Trial ◽  
Significant Drop ◽  
Eyes Closed ◽  
Marked Decline

We tested the hypothesis that a drop in metabolic rate (MR) causes the apneas observed in some subjects during transcendental meditation (TM). We measured O2 consumption (VO2) and CO2 production (VCO2) in three groups of experienced meditators and one group of nonmeditating controls. Measurements were made before, during, and after TM for the meditators and before, during, and after eyes-closed relaxation for the nonmeditating controls. The three groups of meditators consisted of 1) those showing little change in the frequency of ventilation (f) with meditation, 2) those showing a marked decline in f, and 3) those showing numerous apneas and a marked fall in f. There were significant trial effects but no group or interaction effects for the decline in VO2. Thus we concluded that a drop in MR is not the cause of the apneas. However, there were significant trial and interaction effects for the changes in VCO2 and the respiratory exchange ratio (R), with a significant drop in R for the meditators but not for the controls. We report additional evidence and speculate that the drop in R is a consequence of mild hypoventilation.

scholarly journals Global field synchronization reveals rapid eye movement sleep as most synchronized brain state in the human EEG

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (10) ◽  
pp. 160201 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Achermann ◽  
Thomas Rusterholz ◽  
Roland Dürr ◽  
Thomas König ◽  
Leila Tarokh
Keyword(s):  
Functional Connectivity ◽  
Sleep Deprivation ◽  
Eye Movement ◽  
Rem Sleep ◽  
Nrem Sleep ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Global Field ◽  
Brain State ◽  
Rapid Eye Movement ◽  
Eyes Closed

Sleep is characterized by a loss of consciousness, which has been attributed to a breakdown of functional connectivity between brain regions. Global field synchronization (GFS) can estimate functional connectivity of brain processes. GFS is a frequency-dependent measure of global synchronicity of multi-channel EEG data. Our aim was to explore and extend the hypothesis of disconnection during sleep by comparing GFS spectra of different vigilance states. The analysis was performed on eight healthy adult male subjects. EEG was recorded during a baseline night, a recovery night after 40 h of sustained wakefulness and at 3 h intervals during the 40 h of wakefulness. Compared to non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep, REM sleep showed larger GFS values in all frequencies except in the spindle and theta bands, where NREM sleep showed a peak in GFS. Sleep deprivation did not affect GFS spectra in REM and NREM sleep. Waking GFS values were lower compared with REM and NREM sleep except for the alpha band. Waking alpha GFS decreased following sleep deprivation in the eyes closed condition only. Our surprising finding of higher synchrony during REM sleep challenges the view of REM sleep as a desynchronized brain state and may provide insight into the function of REM sleep.

scholarly journals EEG microstates during different phases of Transcendental Meditation practice

2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 307-314 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pascal L. Faber ◽  
Frederick Travis ◽  
Patricia Milz ◽  
Niyazi Parim
Keyword(s):  
Transcendental Meditation ◽  
Meditation Practice

scholarly journals Study of impact of transcendental meditation on reaction time and cardiovascular parameters in young healthy volunteers

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 1480
Author(s):  
Unaiza Azmi ◽  
Neeta Iyer ◽  
Tanzeem Azmi
Keyword(s):  
Blood Pressure ◽  
Reaction Time ◽  
Stress Reduction ◽  
Transcendental Meditation ◽  
Controlled Study ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Cardiovascular Parameters ◽  
Eyes Closed ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Experimental Group

Background: Transcendental meditation technique is purported to help treat high blood pressure, chronic pain, insomnia, and many other physical ailments. The present study was conducted to evaluate the impact of transcendental meditation on reaction time and cardiovascular parameters in young healthy volunteers.Methods: In this single centre, randomized, controlled study, 120 1st year M.B.B.S and OTPT students were recruited and put into two groups [control (60), experiment (60)]. Simple Auditory Reaction Time (ART) and Visual Reaction Time (VRT), along with Heart Rate (HR) and Blood Pressure (BP), of all subjects were recorded and compared. The experimental group participated in 16 weeks of TM programme and performed TM twice in a day, for 20 minutes, sitting comfortably with eyes closed and chanting OM. Control group were only made to sit with eyes closed during the same time. Keeping all the variables constant, all the parameters were measured again after 16 weeks.Results: There was significant reduction in all parameters (ART, VRT, HR, systolic BP and diastolic BP) in experimental group after 16 weeks of TM as compared to control group. ART was significantly shorter than VRT in both experimental and control groups and this difference was maintained after the intervention also.Conclusions: Transcendental meditation is an effective technique for reducing cardiovascular risk and can be prescribed to pre-hypertensive and hypertensive patients for stress reduction, along with medications for better results.

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