A Methodological Review of Meditation Research
Frontiers in Psychiatry July 1, 2014 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2014.00074 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Psychotherapist |
| Citations | 70 |
| Key points | Proposes that including variables from cultural setting, life situation, practice details, and phenomenology will improve prediction of psychophysiological variables in meditation research. |
Abstract
Despite over 50 years of research into the states of consciousness induced by various meditation practices, no clear neurophysiological signatures of these states have been found. Much of this failure can be attributed to the narrow range of variables examined in most meditation studies, with the focus being restricted to a search for correlations between neurophysiological measures and particular practices, without documenting the content and context of these practices. We contend that more meaningful results can be obtained by expanding the methodological paradigm to include multiple domains including: the cultural setting ("the place"), the life situation of the meditator ("the person"), details of the particular meditation practice ('the practice'), and the state of consciousness of the meditator ("the phenomenology"). Inclusion of variables from all these domains will improve the ability to predict the psychophysiological variables ("the psychophysiology") associated with specific meditation states and thus explore the mysteries of human consciousness.
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 36
- Meditation Increases the Entropy of Brain Oscillatory Activity Neuroscience February 4, 2020
- Spirituality in pain medicine: A randomized experiment of pain perception, heart rate and religious spiritual well-being by using a single session meditation methodology PLoS One September 7, 2018
- Don’t be afraid, try to meditate- potential effects on neural activity and connectivity of psilocybin-assisted mindfulness-based intervention for social anxiety disorder: A systematic review Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews June 6, 2022
- Spontaneous Visual Imagery During Meditation for Creating Visual Art: An EEG and Brain Stimulation Case Study Frontiers in Psychology February 22, 2019
- Respiratory function in healthy long-term meditators: A cross-sectional comparative study Heliyon July 22, 2023
and 31 more in the library
Cites 38
- Long-term meditators self-induce high-amplitude gamma synchrony during mental practice Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences November 8, 2004
- Physiological Effects of Transcendental Meditation Science March 27, 1970
- Psychobiology of Altered States of Consciousness. Psychological Bulletin 2005
- AN ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAPHIC STUDY ON THE ZEN MEDITATION (ZAZEN) Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences December 1, 1966
- Brain sources of EEG gamma frequency during volitionally meditation-induced, altered states of consciousness, and experience of the self Psychiatry Research Neuroimaging November 1, 2001
and 33 more in the library