Travis et al., 2000
Travis, Frederick; Tecce, Joseph J.; and Guttmann, Julia. Cortical plasticity, contingent negative variation, and transcendent experiences during practice of the Transcendental Meditation technique. Biological Psychology 55: 41–55, 2000.
This cross-sectional study evaluated differences in CNV (contingent negative variation)—the brain response between a preparatory stimulus and a subsequent stimulus requiring a response. The three subject groups (nonmeditators, short-term, and longer-term participants in the Transcendental Meditation program) differed in terms of their frequency of self-reported Transcendental Consciousness experiences. Increased frequency of transcendent experience were associated with increased cortical preparatory responses (higher CNV amplitude) on simple reaction time trials and fewer CNV distraction effects on divided-attention reaction time trials.
- Year
- 2000
- Journal
- Biological Psychology
- Publication type
- Journal
- Paper type
- Empirical
- Collected Papers
- Vol. 7, pp. 4641–4649
- Section
- Electrophysiological and Electroencephalographic Changes
Findings (2)
Electroencephalographic
Higher Cortical Preparatory Response (Heightened Late CNV Amplitude during Simple Reaction Time Trials) Associated with Stabilized Experience of Transcendental Consciousness
Transcendental Meditation · Cross-sectional comparison of groups
More Effective Executive Functioning (Diminished CNV Distraction Effects) Associated with Stabilized Experience of Transcendental Consciousness
Transcendental Meditation · Cross-sectional comparison of groups
Authors
- Joseph J. Tecce, PhD
Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA, USA
- Julia K. Guttmann, PhD
Iowa Weslyan College, Mt. Pleasant, IA, USA
- Frederick Travis, PhD
Maharishi University of Management, Fairfield, IA, USA