Mid-latency auditory evoked potentials in 2 meditative states.
Shirley Telles, Bhat Ramachandra Raghavendra, Kalkuni Visweswaraiah Naveen, Nandi Krishnamurthy Manjunath, Pailoor Subramanya
Clinical EEG and Neuroscience April 1, 2012 DOI: 10.1177/1550059412439963 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational cohort Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 60 |
| Population | Human participants |
| Duration | 4 separate days with 5-minute pre, 20-minute during, and 5-minute post assessments for each of 4 mental states |
| Key findings | Meditation prolonged latencies of Na and Pa waves of MLAEPs, indicating delayed auditory information transmission at the medial geniculate and primary auditory cortex. |
Abstract
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 prolonged latencies of 2 MLAEPs components, the Na and Pa waves during meditation (P < .05, post hoc analyses following analysis of variance [ANOVA]), suggesting that auditory information transmission at the level of the medial geniculate and primary auditory cortex (ie, the neural generators corresponding to the Na and Pa waves) was delayed. Hence, meditation influenced MLAEPs, while meditative focusing did not.