The physiology of meditation: a review. A wakeful hypometabolic integrated response.
R Jevning, R K Wallace, M Beidebach
Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews 1992 DOI: 10.1016/s0149-7634(05)80210-6 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Intervention | Transcendental meditation |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Humans Relaxation therapy |
| Key points | The authors hypothesize that meditation is an integrated response in which peripheral circulatory and metabolic changes support increased central nervous activity. They cite findings during TM such as increased cardiac output, probable increased cerebral blood flow, apparent cessation of muscle CO2 generation, fivefold plasma AVP elevation, and EEG synchrony as consistent with a state that is both very relaxed and very alert. |
Abstract
While for centuries a wakeful and tranquil state or experience variously called "samadhi," "pure awareness," or "enlightenment" had been said to be a normal experience and the goal of meditation in Vedic, Buddhist, and Taoist traditions, there was little known about this behavior until recently, when the practice of "transcendental meditation" (TM) became available for study in Western scientific laboratories. Derived from the Vedic tradition, TM is unique because it requires no special circumstances or effort for practice. Based upon a wide spectrum of physiological data on TM, we hypothesize that meditation is an integrated response with peripheral circulatory and metabolic changes subserving increased central nervous activity. Consistent with the subjective description of meditation as a very relaxed but, at the same time, a very alert state, it is likely that such findings during meditation as increased cardiac output, probable increased cerebral blood flow, and findings reminiscent of the "extraordinary" character of classical reports: apparent cessation of CO2 generation by muscle, fivefold plasma AVP elevation, and EEG synchrony play critical roles in this putative response.
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 84
- Self-awareness, self-regulation, and self-transcendence (S-ART): a framework for understanding the neurobiological mechanisms of mindfulness Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 2012
- Mindfulness meditation training alters cortical representations of interoceptive attention Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience June 11, 2012
- Functional neuroanatomy of altered states of consciousness: The transient hypofrontality hypothesis Consciousness and Cognition May 19, 2003
- Functional brain mapping of the relaxation response and meditation Neuroreport May 1, 2000
- Short-term autonomic and cardiovascular effects of mindfulness body scan meditation Annals of Behavioral Medicine November 15, 2006
and 79 more in the library
Cites 41
- Physiological Effects of Transcendental Meditation Science March 27, 1970
- AN ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAPHIC STUDY ON THE ZEN MEDITATION (ZAZEN) Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences December 1, 1966
- Meditation as an intervention in stress reactivity. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 1976
- MYSTICAL STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease June 1, 1972
- The Physiology of Meditation and Mystical States of Consciousness Perspectives in biology and medicine March 1, 1976
and 36 more in the library