Can hyper-synchrony in meditation lead to seizures? Similarities in meditative and epileptic brain states.
Shane Lindsay
Medical Hypotheses October 2014 DOI: 10.1016/j.mehy.2014.07.015 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Meditation |
| Key points | Argues that meditation-induced altered states of consciousness correspond to brain states associated with epileptic simple partial seizures, both characterized by high excitability and high gamma-band neuronal synchrony. The author contends that meditation practice is linked to high-power gamma activity and discusses diagnostic challenges in claiming meditation produces seizure-like states, seeking to clarify pathological and non-pathological outcomes of a hyper-excited, hyper-synchronous brain. |
Abstract
Meditation is used worldwide by millions of people for relaxation and stress relief. Given sufficient practice, meditators may also experience a variety of altered states of consciousness. These states can lead to a variety of unusual experiences, including physical, emotional and psychic disturbances. This paper highlights the correspondences between brain states associated with these experiences and the symptoms and neurophysiology of epileptic simple partial seizures. Seizures, like meditation practice, can result in both positive and negative experiences. The neurophysiology and chemistry underlying simple partial seizures are characterised by a high degree of excitability and high levels of neuronal synchrony in gamma-band brain activity. Following a survey of the literature that shows that meditation practice is also linked to high power gamma activity, an account of how meditation could cause such activity is provided. This paper discusses the diagnostic challenges for the claim that meditation practices lead to brain states similar to those found in epileptic seizures, and seeks to develop our understanding of the range of pathological and non-pathological states that result from a hyper-excited and hyper-synchronous brain.
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
Cites 28
- Effectiveness of a meditation-based stress reduction program in the treatment of anxiety disorders American Journal of Psychiatry July 1, 1992
- Long-term meditators self-induce high-amplitude gamma synchrony during mental practice Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences November 8, 2004
- Out‐of‐body experience and autoscopy of neurological origin Brain January 15, 2004
- Mindfulness meditation training alters cortical representations of interoceptive attention Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience June 11, 2012
- Functional brain mapping of the relaxation response and meditation Neuroreport May 1, 2000
and 23 more in the library