The Physiology of Meditation and Mystical States of Consciousness
Perspectives in biology and medicine March 1, 1976 DOI: 10.1353/pbm.1976.0042 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Review Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Intervention | Meditation |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Citations | 130 |
| Key findings | Consciousness has not yet found a place in the life sciences due to the dominant physicalist-reductionist paradigm, but growing interest has led to physiological studies of meditation and altered states of consciousness. |
Abstract
If the proper study of mankind is man, it is a paradox worth pondering that consciousness, the receptacle of all that is truly human, has not yet found a place in the life sciences. This is not to imply that neuroscientists are uninterested in physiological correlates and mechanisms of sleep and wakefulness, or that psychopharmacologists are not intensively investigating psychoactive drugs, and so forth. Rather, the experimentalist feels compelled to limit himself to considering physical or behavioral variables in order to comply with the dominant physicalistreductionist paradigm of modern science. As far as scientific practice is concerned, consciousness is still regarded, at best, as an epiphenomenon. Similarly, if we had a science of consciousness, biochemical, physiological, and behavioral data might appear to it to be epiphenomena, for we have not even an inkling of how physical phenomena are linked to the subjectively manifested activity of consciousness. There is no denying the very real philosophical and practical difficulties impeding the scientific investigation of psycho-physical interactions. But despite these difficulties and the past neglect of the subject, the current unprecedented public interest in the varieties of conscious experience is reflected in a number of research papers and theoretical analyses attempting to deal with physiological correlates of altered states of consciousness (ASCs). This survey is primarily concerned with one subset of this group: studies directed at physiological events during meditation. The specific questions on which I hope to shed some light are: (1) What conclusions can be drawn from existing physiological studies on meditating subjects? (2) How do these findings and other current concepts relate to mystical experience? (3) What, if
Comparable studies
Other narrative reviews on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mindfulness training as a clinical intervention: A conceptual and empirical review. Clinical populations | 2003 | Review | |
| Mindfulness: Theoretical Foundations and Evidence for its Salutary Effects | 2007 | Review | |
| Mindfulness Interventions | 2016 | Review | |
| Mind the Hype: A Critical Evaluation and Prescriptive Agenda for Research on Mindfulness and Meditation | 2017 | Review | |
| Mindfulness and acceptance: expanding the cognitive-behavioral tradition | 2005 | Review |
Citations in the library
Cited by 44
- Meditation and psychotherapy: a rationale for the integration of dynamic psychotherapy, the relaxation response, and mindfulness meditation American Journal of Psychiatry 1985
- Visual Sensitivity and Mindfulness Meditation Perceptual and Motor Skills June 1, 1984
- Physiological Responses to Clicks during Zen, Yoga, and TM Meditation Psychophysiology November 1, 1981
- Rhythmic Chanting and Mystical States across Traditions. Brain Sciences January 13, 2021
- Examining The Content and Context of Meditation Journal of Humanistic Psychology October 1, 1994
and 39 more in the library
Cites 9
- Physiological Effects of Transcendental Meditation Science March 27, 1970
- Altered States of Consciousness Archives of General Psychiatry September 1, 1966
- MYSTICAL STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease June 1, 1972
- Transcendental Meditation and Psychological Health Perceptual and Motor Skills October 1, 1974
- Influence of Transcendental Meditation upon Autokinetic Perception Perceptual and Motor Skills December 1, 1974
and 4 more in the library