Objective The present study investigated the neural correlates of cognitive control in youth with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and comorbid learning disability (N = 75, ages 11-17 years) who participated in a 20-week mindfulness martial arts intervention compared to a waitlist control. Method EEG was recorded pre and post intervention during a blocked Go/NoGo task. Peak...
Acceptance, nonjudgmental awareness of the present-moment experiences, is a central component of mindfulness. This study used a pretest-posttest design to examine whether a brief mindfulness intervention (MI) could increase self-reported acceptance and reduce affective reactivity to errors, as indexed by error-related negativity (ERN), error positivity (Pe), and post-error slowing (PES)....
Following investigations into the benefits of meditation on psychological health and well-being, research is now seeking to understand the mechanisms underlying these outcomes. This study aimed to identify natural alpha and theta frequency components during eyes-closed resting and concentrative meditation states and examined their differences within and between two testing sessions. Novice...
Spirituality and religiosity are complex cognitive phenomena; however, the relationship between spiritual experiences and epilepsy continues to be debated. Methods. Data from the daily spiritual experience scale (DSES) were related to EEG data and clinical variables of 100 adult people with epilepsy (PWEs). DSES scores were compared to 51 normal individuals (control group [CG]), with a...
Disruptions in neural oscillations are believed to be one critical mechanism by which cannabinoids, such as delta-9-tetrahyrdrocannabinol (THC; the primary psychoactive constituent of cannabis), perturbs brain function. Here we briefly review the role of synchronized neural activity, particularly in the gamma (30–80 Hz) and theta (4–7 Hz) frequency range, in sensation, perception, and...
Sympathetic activation is required for attention. Separate studies have shown that meditation ( a) improves attention and ( b) reduces sympathetic activity. The present study assessed attention with the P300 and sympathetic activity with heart rate variability (HRV). Forty-seven male subjects (group mean age ± SD, 21.6 ± 3.4 years) were assessed in 4 mental states: ( a) random thinking, ( b)...
The auditory sensory pathway has been studied in meditators, using midlatency and short latency auditory evoked potentials. The present study evaluated long latency auditory evoked potentials (LLAEPs) during meditation. Sixty male participants, aged between 18 and 31 years (group mean ± SD, 20.5 ± 3.8 years), were assessed in 4 mental states based on descriptions in the traditional texts. They...
We normally assess another individual's level of consciousness based on her or his ability to interact with the surrounding environment and communicate. Usually, if we observe purposeful behavior, appropriate responses to sensory inputs, and, above all, appropriate answers to questions, we can be reasonably sure that the person is conscious. However, we know that consciousness can be entirely...
Recent findings indicate that conscious attention is related to large-scale information integration of various brain regions, including both hemispheres, that enables integration of parallel distributed modalities of processed information. There is also evidence that the level of information transference related to integration or splitting among brain regions, and between hemispheres,...
Mid-latency auditory evoked potentials (MLAEPs) were assessed in 60 participants during 4 mental states described in traditional yoga texts. These 4 mental states are random thinking, nonmeditative-focused thinking, meditative focusing, and meditation. Assessments were made before (5 minutes), during (20 minutes), and after (5 minutes) each of the 4 states, on 4 separate days. There were...
Practicing meditation while focusing on a sound or a symbol influenced midlatency auditory evoked potentials (MLAEPs). Cyclic meditation (CM) is a technique combining yoga postures with meditation while supine, which has influenced the P300 event-related potential. The effects of CM on MLAEPs have not been previously studied. The MLAEPs were studied before and after the practice of CM compared...