Psychophysiological correlates of meditation.
R L Woolfolk
Archives of General Psychiatry October 1975 DOI: 10.1001/archpsyc.1975.01760280124011 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Review Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Meditation |
| Key findings | Most studies reviewed describe meditation as a wakeful state with lowered cortical and autonomic arousal, though the overall pattern of physiological responses is not fully consistent or easily replicable. Findings for Zen and Transcendental Meditation are the most consistent. The author argues future research needs new methodological perspectives allowing adequate experimental control and testing of theoretically relevant hypotheses. |
Abstract
The scientific research that has investigated the physiological changes associated with meditation as it is practiced by adherents of Indian Yoga, Transcendental Meditation, and Zen Buddhism has not yielded a thoroughly consistent, easily replicable pattern of responses. The majority of studies show meditation to be a wakeful state accompanied by a lowering of cortical and autonomic arousal. The investigations of Zen and Transcendental Meditation have thus far produced the most consistent findings. Additional research into the mechanisms underlying the phenomena of meditation will require a shifting from old to new methodological perspectives that allow for adequate experimental control and the testing of theoretically relevant hypotheses.
Comparable studies
Other narrative reviews on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mindfulness training as a clinical intervention: A conceptual and empirical review. Clinical populations | 2003 | Review | |
| Mindfulness: Theoretical Foundations and Evidence for its Salutary Effects | 2007 | Review | |
| Mindfulness Interventions | 2016 | Review | |
| Mind the Hype: A Critical Evaluation and Prescriptive Agenda for Research on Mindfulness and Meditation | 2017 | Review | |
| Mindfulness and acceptance: expanding the cognitive-behavioral tradition | 2005 | Review |
Citations in the library
Cited by 34
- Short-term autonomic and cardiovascular effects of mindfulness body scan meditation Annals of Behavioral Medicine November 15, 2006
- The psychological and neurophysiological concomitants of mindfulness forms of meditation Acta Neuropsychiatrica April 1, 2007
- Meditation and psychotherapy: a rationale for the integration of dynamic psychotherapy, the relaxation response, and mindfulness meditation American Journal of Psychiatry 1985
- Evaluation of Transcendental Meditation as a Method of Reducing Stress Science June 18, 1976
- Awareness of the passage of time and self-consciousness: What do meditators report? PsyCh Journal March 1, 2019
and 29 more in the library
Cites 4
- Physiological Effects of Transcendental Meditation Science March 27, 1970
- AN ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAPHIC STUDY ON THE ZEN MEDITATION (ZAZEN) Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences December 1, 1966
- MYSTICAL STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease June 1, 1972
- Autonomic Stability and Transcendental Meditation Psychosomatic Medicine July 1, 1973