summary: Experienced meditators can spontaneously induce an unconscious state known as “suspension” without the use of drugs. This ability, observed in Tibetan Buddhist practice, allows meditators to experience a temporary blankness of consciousness, followed by increased mental clarity.
The study was conducted in multiple countries and utilized EEG spectral analysis to objectively measure brain activity during these smoking cessation events. By linking meditators' first-person experiences with neuroimaging data, researchers gained insight into the deep modulations of consciousness that can be achieved through advanced meditation practices.
Important facts:
- Experienced meditators may spontaneously enter a state of suspension and temporarily lose consciousness without outside help.
- This study used EEG spectral analysis to analyze 37 stopping events by one expert meditator over 29 sessions.
- This study opens new avenues for understanding the modulation of consciousness through meditation.
sauce: BIAL Foundation
One study revealed that experienced meditators can spontaneously adjust their state of consciousness while meditating. In other words, they have the rare ability to induce a temporary blackout of consciousness during suspension through large-scale modulation of brain activity, without the use of drugs.
Under what circumstances can a human lose consciousness? Anesthesia, concussion, intoxication, epilepsy, seizures, or other fainting/fainting episodes caused by insufficient blood flow to the brain can cause complete loss of consciousness. There is a gender. But can unconsciousness be induced without drugs?
In an event known as cessation (nirodha in Tibetan Buddhist terminology), the meditator temporarily loses consciousness, but upon reawakening experiences significant changes in the workings of the mind, including a sudden onset of deep spiritual sensations. It is said that it will. and clarity of perception.
Matthew Sachet, along with researchers from Australia, the Netherlands and the United States, argues that the idea that meditators have the ability to “turn off” their consciousness could have far-reaching implications for our understanding of how cognition works. I noticed this, but at the same time I also discovered the following: Previous research on outage has had several limitations. That is, there are very few professional meditators who have reached the level of meditation where cessation occurs, and it is also difficult to predict cessation.
An article published in the same magazine in November, “Investigating the 'stopping' experience of advanced mindfulness meditation using EEG spectral analysis in an intensively sampled case study.'' neuropsychologyIn this intensive case study, the authors address these challenges by recruiting one expert meditator who reported being able to attend to and report multiple discontinuation events that emerged over repeated meditation sessions. It is clear that he has overcome.
The researchers used a neurophenomenological approach that correlated a “first-person” description of the arrest with objective neuroimaging data. In other words, a skilled meditator systematically evaluates the mental and physiological processes experienced (situations, inputs, events, outputs, sequelae), and these evaluations are used for his subsequent EEG-based analysis. was used to group and select events.
Spectral analysis of EEG data for 37 stopping events of participants recorded in 29 sessions allows us to associate stopping with objective and essential measures of brain activity related to consciousness and higher-level psychological functions became.
According to researcher Matthew Sachet, “These results provide the first evidence of the ability of expert meditators to spontaneously and deeply modulate their states of consciousness, using neuroscience and other empirical approaches. “This study lays the foundation for further research into these unique conditions.”
About this awareness survey news
author: press team
sauce: BIAL Foundation
contact: Press Team – BIAL Foundation
image: Image credited to Neuroscience News
Original research: Open access.
“Investigating the “stopping” experience of advanced mindfulness meditation using electroencephalogram spectral analysis in a centrally sampled case study” by Avijit Chowdhury et al. neuropsychology
abstract
Investigating the “stopping” experience of advanced mindfulness meditation using electroencephalogram spectral analysis in a centrally sampled case study
Mindfulness meditation is a Buddhist-based meditative practice aimed at developing present-focused awareness and non-judgment of experience. Interest in mindfulness is rapidly growing, and it has been shown to be effective in improving physical and mental health in clinical and non-clinical settings.
In this report, for the first time, we combine electroencephalography (EEG) with a neurophenomenological approach to examine the neurological characteristics of “stop” events, which are dramatic experiences of complete cessation of consciousness, similar to loss of consciousness. Ta. It is experienced by very experienced meditators and has been proposed to be evidence of mastery of mindfulness meditation.
We intensively sampled these outages experienced by one advanced meditator (with over 23,000 hours of meditation training) and identified 29 outages between November 12, 2019 and March 11, 2020. We analyzed 37 stopping events collected during an EEG session. Upon discontinuation, these events were characterized by a large decrease in alpha power starting approximately 40 s before onset, and this alpha power was shown to be at its lowest immediately after discontinuation.
Examining this finding based on regions of interest (ROIs) revealed that this alpha suppression showed a linear decrease in occipital and parietal regions of the brain during the pre-stop period.
Furthermore, during the pre-pause time window, theta power in the central, parietal, and right temporal ROIs increased slightly, whereas power in the delta and beta frequency bands did not differ significantly from the surrounding pause.
By associating stopping with an objective and essential measure of brain activity associated with consciousness and higher psychological functions (i.e., EEG power), these results demonstrate that experienced meditators can spontaneously enter states of consciousness. We provide evidence of the ability to regulate and lay the foundations for studying these unique conditions using neuroscientific approaches.
