Patricia Milz

2 papers in the library · publishing 2015-2017

Papers

EEG microstates during different phases of Transcendental Meditation practice.

Cognitive processing August 1, 2017 Pascal L Faber, Frederick Travis, Patricia Milz et al.

During Transcendental Meditation, two distinct phases—transcending and undirected mentation—show different patterns of brain electrical activity compared to ordinary rest. EEG microstate analysis of 20 TM practitioners revealed that resting and transcending both showed less prominence of Class A microstates and more prominence of Class D microstates than undirected mentation. Transcending also showed less prominence of Class C microstates than undirected mentation. These patterns suggest that during resting and transcending, there is increased reference to reality and decreased visualization, while transcending involves less saliency of internally generated thoughts, reflecting more detached and less evaluative processing. The cycling between these phases during TM may train flexible modulation of microstate parameters relevant to psychiatric disorders.

DOI: 10.1007/s10339-017-0812-y Full text Attention Brain mapping Cognition Electroencephalography +1

Zazen meditation and no-task resting EEG compared with LORETA intracortical source localization.

Cognitive processing February 1, 2015 Pascal L Faber, Dietrich Lehmann, Lorena R R Gianotti et al.

During Zazen meditation, experienced practitioners show increased alpha-1 and alpha-2 brain wave activity in a right-lateralized cluster spanning prefrontal areas, insula, somatosensory, motor, and temporal cortices compared to resting without a task. Decreased alpha and beta-2 activity occurs in the left angular gyrus, and decreased beta-1 and beta-2 activity in a large bilateral posterior cluster including visual cortex, posterior cingulate cortex, and parietal cortex. These patterns involve parts of the default mode network and suggest enhanced automatic memory and emotion processing alongside reduced conceptual thinking and self-reference, supporting a more detached moment-to-moment awareness during Zazen.

DOI: 10.1007/s10339-014-0637-x Full text