Appendix Two
Gamma
Waves in Advanced Meditators
David
Center
Researchers
at the University of Bonn in Germany say they have an explanation for
the states of consciousness that arise as a result of meditation.
They indicate that gamma wave states, associated with expert-level
meditation, assist in the reshaping of brain structures. Gamma wave
activity is thought to be associated with “neuroplasticity” or
the ability of the brain to form new connections and build on
structures already present. Data show that expert meditators often
exhibit increased cortical thickness and more gray matter in specific
parts of their brains, indicating physical changes from extended
experience in meditation. These brain changes produce effects that
are evident even when one isn't meditating.
Brain
researchers, Jürgen Fell, Nikolai Axmacher, and Sven Haupt at the
University of Bonn in Germany, report in the journal Medical
Hypotheses
that beginning meditators' EEG readings show alpha wave states and
that theta wave activity is also often increased. EEG readings for
experts show high-frequency gamma waves, which distinguishes expert
meditators from novices. In fact, gamma wave activity is higher even
when the experts aren’t meditating. Advanced meditators apparently
experience the world in a fundamentally different way from
non-meditators and beginners and appear to experience novel states of
consciousness.
Richard
Davidson at the University of Wisconsin, in cooperation with the Dalai
Lama, undertook a study of Buddhist monks in India who had between
10,000 and 50,000 hours of meditation practice. In this study the
monks and inexperienced controls were asked to meditate with a focus
on "unconditional compassion." The results from this study
of monks, published in the Proceedings
of the National Academy of Sciences,
reported that the monks exhibited significantly more gamma band
activity, and some of the monks produced gamma wave activity more
powerful than any previously recorded in a healthy person. The longer
a monk had been meditating the stronger was the gamma activity
recorded. The kind of gamma activity seen in these monks has been
linked to the networking of separated brain circuits and to
heightened awareness. Much of the activity was associated with the
left prefrontal cortex, a region previously associated with happiness,
positive thoughts and positive emotions. Given that the monks
exhibited greater gamma activity than controls even when not
meditating suggests to Davidson that meditation probably produces
permanent changes in the brain. He said, "What we found is that
the trained mind, or brain, is physically different from the
untrained one."
In
an article in Scientific
American,
Terry Sejnowski and Tobi Delbruck report that Robert Desimone, at MIT,
has shown that attention to a specific stimulus increases the number
of cortical neurons that fire in synchronized spikes in the gamma
band (30 to 80 hertz), which appears to emphasize the importance of
whatever is passing through conscious awareness. Further, Pascal
Fries of the Ernst Strungmann Institute of Neuroscience in Frankfurt,
Germany, has found evidence that the gamma band is involved in
signaling between widely separated cortical areas. Synchronized
firing of spikes in the gamma band have also been found to strengthen
the connection between synapses in the cortex. Research also
indicates that gamma band activity seems to be deficient in certain
disorders such as schizophrenia and autism.
Finally,
William Bengston, an academic sociologist, conducts research on
energy healing using both animal and human subjects. He describes one
of the techniques that he has developed for training people to do
energy healing. He thinks this technique may have its affect by
increasing gamma band activity. His hypothesis is based on brain wave
data collected on a gifted healer who introduced him to energy
healing and described himself as using a technique that Bengston now
calls "cycling." Some years ago, the healer's brain wave
activity was recorded by the American Society for Psychical Research.
They recorded activity that today would be classified as in the gamma
band but at the time was attributed to equipment malfunction, because
gamma wave activity was not recognized. If he is correct, cycling may
be a short-cut to significantly increasing gamma band activity.
Bengston says that cycling requires a lot of practice to master.
However, it doesn't take the thousands of hours reported in the
studies of the Buddhist monks described above.
Bengston's
technique is described in his book The Energy Cure and is essentially
a visualization technique. He says the purpose of the technique is to
completely occupy the ego and get it out of the way. He says one must
use a minimum of twenty images, and each image should be of something
that the ego wants. He cautions against the use of ideals and says to
focus on ego gratification or ego desires. World peace is not
suitable but a new sports car is suitable. Each image should be
envisioned as already attained, not merely as a wish. Don't imagine
the sports car in the showroom window but imagine yourself blazing
down the highway driving it. Once you've created and memorized your
set of images, he instructs you to practice cycling through them as
rapidly as possible until you can go so fast they are a mere blur.
You should also reach a point where you can cycle them in mixed order
rather than a fixed order. Especially important, he says, is getting
to where you can effectively cycle while in a state of emotional
arousal. An experimental test of this hypothesis remains to be done.