The Electroencephalographic Brainwave Spectrum, Mindful Meditation, and Awareness: Hypothesis.
International Journal of Yoga 2023 DOI: 10.4103/ijoy.ijoy_34_23 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Bio-synergy Body-mind-world homeostasis Electroencephalographic brainwave spectrum Global alpha synchrony Insular cortex Optimal flow state |
| Citations | 7 |
| Key points | Proposes that mindful awareness is a spontaneous, effortless state characterized by synchronized alpha rhythms across specific brain regions, associated with stillness, silence, and freedom from ego, contrasting with dualistic conscious experience. |
Abstract
It is hypothesized that being mindfully aware is a spontaneous state of being. It is imbued with joy, peace and happiness. Such a state is periodically revealed during restful attentiveness or presence. It is also associated with spontaneous brain alpha activity of 8-13 Hz. In deep nonrapid eye movement sleep, there is synchronous delta activity at a coherent frequency of 0.1 Hz. Both of these brainwave ground states are spontaneous, calm and effortless. When any physical or mental effort is made, the alpha rhythm is desynchronized, and it is superposed by faster brain waves of beta (13-30 Hz) and gamma frequencies (30-150 Hz). This is associated with a stream of dualistic conscious experiences with contents. During deep sleep, delta activity is superposed by beta and gamma activity with microarousals resulting in dream experiences. During effortless, meditative awareness, the whole family of alpha rhythm is synchronized including (a) Occipital-parietal alpha with visual clarity, formless color, and the absence of visual imagery (b) Frontal eye-field alpha with relatively motionless eyes, and the absence of voluntary actions or plans to move the eyes in some direction, along with nonactive working memory, (c) Somatosensory alpha or Mu rhythm from the somatic motor-sensory cortex with the resultant stillness of the body including head, face, larynx, spine, hands and legs, (d) Mid-temporal auditory alpha with vocal quietness and internal verbal silence (Maunam) with a feeling of spontaneous silence and serenity, (e) Cingulate and precuneus alpha resulting in freedom from autobiographical memories and the sense of agency or ego. The insular cortex serves as a gatekeeper, a hierarchical controller to switch between conscious engagement or disengagement from the internal or the external world. It switches between the default mode network and the executive frontoparietal networks, between the sequential and the parallel modes of functioning. Mindful consciousness is local and dualistic, whereas mindful awareness is nonlocal and nondual.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mindfulness: A proposed operational definition. | 2004 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Mechanisms of mindfulness | 2005 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| How Does Mindfulness Meditation Work? Proposing Mechanisms of Action From a Conceptual and Neural Perspective | 2011 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for depression | 2006 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Self-awareness, self-regulation, and self-transcendence (S-ART): a framework for understanding the neurobiological mechanisms of mindfulness | 2012 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
Citations in the library
Cited by 3
- Awesome Holistic Presence! A Novel Meditative Synchrony Journal of Applied Consciousness Studies 2024
- Brief Mantra Meditation Increases Theta Power in Frontal Regions 2025 3rd International Conference on Intelligent Systems, Advanced Computing and Communication February 27, 2025
- The Impact of Mindfulness on Cognitive Functioning and Mood in Pre-Service Elementary Teachers
Cites 9
- Review of the Neural Oscillations Underlying Meditation Frontiers in Neuroscience March 26, 2018
- Differential effects of non-dual and focused attention meditations on the formation of automatic perceptual habits in expert practitioners Neuropsychologia July 21, 2018
- First few seconds for flow: A comprehensive proposal of the neurobiology and neurodynamics of state onset. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews December 1, 2022
- Consciousness, Awareness, and Presence: A Neurobiological Perspective International Journal of Yoga May 1, 2022
- Anterior insula as a gatekeeper of executive control. Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews June 1, 2022
and 4 more in the library