Physiological Responses to Clicks during Zen, Yoga, and TM Meditation
David E. Becker, David Shapiro
Psychophysiology November 1, 1981 DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-8986.1981.tb01846.x (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Replication and extension Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Very experienced Zen, Yoga, and TM meditators with average lengths of experience of 7.5 years, 5 years, and 7 years, respectively, and two groups of controls |
| Intervention | meditation |
| Topics | Meditation Buddhism |
| Keywords | N100 Habituation Audiology Skin conductance Electroencephalography Event-related potential |
| Citations | 55 |
| Key points | EEG alpha suppression and skin conductance response showed clear habituation that did not differ among groups, failing to replicate earlier studies. |
Abstract
ABSTRACT Two studies have been widely quoted as indicating the differing states of consciousness in Zen vs Yoga meditation. A replication and extension were attempted. Very experienced Zen, Yoga, and TM meditators with average lengths of experience of 7.5 yrs, 5 yrs, and 7 yrs, respectively, and two groups of controls were presented with auditory clicks during meditation. EEG alpha suppression and skin conductance response both showed clear habituation which did not differ among groups, thus failing to replicate the earlier studies. The N100, P200, and P300 components of the EEG average evoked potential were also measured.