Mediative Brain States

[juju]

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This is a SPECT brain scan of a Tibetan Monk during during deep meditation.

From the Institute for the Scientific Study of Meditation webpage:

<i>The figure below was obtained during an ongoing study of the neurophysiological correlates of meditation. Briefly, we have been studying highly experienced Tibetan Buddhist meditators using a brain imaging technology called single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). SPECT imaging allows us to image the brain and determine which areas are active by measuring blood flow. The more blood flow an area has, the more active it is. The image below shows the results from a baseline scan on the left (i.e. at rest) and during a "peak" of meditation shown on the right.

Two sets of images were taken, showing slightly different parts of the brain. The first image (above) shows that the front part of the brain, which is usually involved in focusing attention and concentration, is more active during meditation. This makes sense since meditation requires a high degree of concentration. The second image shows that there is decreased activity in the parietal lobe. This area of the brain is responsible for giving us a sense of our orientation in space and time. We hypothesized that blocking all sensory and cognitive input into this area during meditation results in the sense of no space and no time which is so often described in meditation. </i>


I'm pretty sure these are the same guys that were on Nightline about a week ago.