You may find this interesting even though the studies don't have anything to do with AVS induced meditation:
"Three case reports of them metabolic and electroencephalographic changes during advanced Buddhist meditation techniques. Study conducted by the Department of Medicine, New England Deaconess Hospital, Boston. Published in Behav Med 1990 Summer; 16(2):90-5.
... On the EEG, marked asymmetry in alpha and beta activity between the hemispheres and increased beta activity were present."
Another study found that "during meditation, proficient mediators demonstrated increased alpha and theta power, minimal evidence of EEG-defined sleep, and decreased autonomic orienting to external stimulation. An episode of sudden autonomic activation was observed that was characterized by the meditator as an approach to the Yogic ecstatic state of intense concentration. These findings challenge the current "relaxation" model of meditative states." Source: Arch Gen Psychiatry 1978 May;35(5):571-7. Study was "Psycholophysiological correlates of the practice of Tantric Yoga meditation.
Source:
Chapter 1:
Scientific Studies of Contemplative Experience: An Overview
by Michael Murphy
http://www.noetic.org/research/medbiblio/ch1.htm
The Zen teachers and their most experienced students exhibited a typical progression of brain-wave activity during meditation, which Kasamatsu and Hirai divided into four stages:
- Stage 1: Characterized by the appearance of alpha waves in spite of opened eyes.
- Stage 2: Characterized by an increase in amplitude of persistent alpha waves.
- Stage 3: Characterized by a decrease in alpha frequency.
- Stage 4: Characterized by the appearance of rhythmical theta trains (Kasamatsu and Hirai, 1966).
Not all four stages were evident in every Zen practitioner, nor in any of the controls, but a strong correlation existed between the number of stages a given student exhibited and that student's length of time in Zen training. This correlation was supported by a Zen teacher's evaluation of each student's proficiency. The teacher ranked the students in three levels, without seeing their EEG records, and his rankings correlated well with Kasamatsu and Hirai's assessment of their EEGs.
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