Intracerebral source generators characterizing concentrative meditation.

Previous researchers have studied meditation practices as a means to understand consciousness as well as altered states of consciousness. Various meditation techniques, such as Transcendental Meditation (TM) and Qigong, have been explored with source localization tools; however, the concentrative meditation technique has yet to be fully studied in this manner. The current study demonstrates findings, which outline differential activation in a self-referential default network during meditation in participants who espouse themselves as regular concentrative meditation practitioners, as well as comparisons with a control group practicing a modified version of the relaxation response. The results are compared with other putative experimental findings employing other meditation techniques, and the findings outlined in the current study are discussed with respect to changes in perceptual awareness often reported by meditators.

Cogn Process. 2011 May;12(2):141-50. Epub 2011 Feb 25. Lavallee CF, Hunter MD, Persinger MA. Psychology Department, Laurentian University, Sudbury, ON, Canada. cx_lavallee@laurentian.ca