A Candidate EEG Spectral Index of Internally Oriented Attention: An Exploratory Comparison of Prayer and Relaxation
Brain Sciences March 14, 2026 Cristian Manea, Corina Costache Colareza, Dana Rad et al.
Higher scores on an EEG-derived Transcendence Index were associated with oscillatory patterns consistent with internally oriented attention and reflective self-processing, particularly in theta–alpha dynamics with lower beta contribution. In a within-subject design with 39 participants, prayer and relaxation showed descriptively distinct oscillatory patterns, suggesting prayer engages internal-focus processes not fully captured by relaxation alone. The findings are exploratory and support the feasibility of using scalp EEG spectral activity to examine candidate internally oriented attentional dynamics potentially related to transcendence.