Meditation (Vipassana) and the P3a event-related brain potential.
International journal of psychophysiology : official journal of the International Organization of Psychophysiology April 1, 2009 B Rael Cahn, John Polich
Experienced Vipassana meditators showed reduced brain responses to unexpected sounds during meditation compared to a control thought period. The strongest effect was a smaller P3a wave to distracting white noise, indicating less automatic attentional engagement with irrelevant stimuli. This reduction was strongest in those who meditated more hours daily and absent in those who felt drowsy. The findings suggest meditation can dampen neurophysiologic processes underlying reactivity to distractions, consistent with Vipassana's aim of reducing cognitive and emotional reactivity.