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Students learn EEG research, make interesting discoveries In the course, titled “EEG, Brain, and Enlightenment” and taught by Fred Travis, the students learned how to apply EEG sensors, record and analyze EEG data, and conduct their own research. Their research topics included: 1) the effects of listening to Vishnu Sahastranam, 2) brain patterns during pranayama, 3) effects of noise on practice of the Transcendental Meditation® technique, and 4) whether other people’s thoughts affect a person during the Transcendental Meditation technique and during rest. “The students functioned like graduate students,” Dr. Travis said. “They were self-motivated and self-sufficient. They designed the studies, and conducted and analyzed their research like professional scientists. With more subjects any of these studies could be published. We’re going to be following up.” The group that researched listening to Vishnu Sahastranam after practicing the Transcendental Meditation technique found there was global EEG coherence while listening. Alpha coherence was similar to that during the Transcendental Meditation technique. In addition, there was gamma coherence, gamma being the frequency of dynamic focused activity. The pranayama group found that the practice led to higher global gamma coherence, suggesting heightened alertness. The group researching the effect of noise reported that meditation is deeper when there is silence, and that long-term practitioners of the Transcendental Meditation technique were able to maintain more of the EEG of transcendence, even while noise was going on. The last group looked at effects of people’s thoughts on another person. The subject sat with his or her eyes closed for 14 minutes, did a brief task, and then meditated. During both the eyes-closed period and meditation, two of the researchers thought specific thoughts for two, two-minute periods for each thought: very anxious thoughts; very happy thoughts; neutral thoughts; or no specific thoughts. During the happy thoughts, there was higher alpha power in the person meditating or sitting with his or her eyes closed. In contrast, when the two experimenters thought anxious thoughts, there was visibly lower alpha power, and coherence was higher in the gamma frequency during eyes-closed rest. When experimenters thought anxious thoughts during the Transcendental Meditation technique, the subjects had higher coherence in all frequencies. Dr. Travis said this finding may be similar to the Meissner Effect in that the increase of coherence allows the brain to neutralize negative effects from the environment. “While these are pilot studies, the designs were strong, and they should be further researched,” Dr. Travis said. © Copyright 2009 Maharishi University of Management
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