Capitalizing on recent advances in the use of Electroencephalography (EEG) to chart the patterns of neural activity that accompany certain states of consciousness, this project will monitor and map the higher states of consciousness brought about by meditation. It will then use this information to develop a state of consciousness monitoring device which can be further refined into a neurofeedback device to enable people to move more quickly and freely into altered states of consciousness.

Higher states of consciousness (HSC) can be defined as: phenomenal states of awareness where consciousness is experienced in a distinctly different and clearer way from everyday consciousness by the experiencing subject . They have been described as comprising moments of contentless awareness, bliss, broader awareness, all-encompassing compassion and love, awareness of being present and being connected to other beings and/or a transcendent reality, and moments of special insight and knowledge.

This project will follow the long tradition of investigating people in meditative states, or during spiritual practice, using EEG. To extend the findings of previous studies and so develop a deeper understanding of the neurobiological correlates of HSC, we shall focus on developing a more precise phenomenological description of the different HSC, so as to enable the determination of distinct neural activation patterns for distinct states of consciousness. By assessing meditators from a variety of spiritual and religious traditions, we should also develop a view across spiritual traditions and disciplines to enable comparisons between and insights into different meditation techniques.

So far EEG data has been collected from 33 experienced spiritual practitioners (26-65 yrs of age). Each participant had between 2 and 35 years of meditation experience.

We have identified the following parameters that reveal state transitions of the brain during meditation:

(1) Decrease in Delta (1-3.5 Hz) and Theta (4-7.5 Hz) activity in central, parietal, and occipital areas of the brain.

(2) Significant increase in Gamma band activity in frontal brain areas.

(3) Slight decrease in low-Gamma (25.5-47 Hz) coherence in frontal-parietal areas.

(4) Shift of occipital Theta activity towards the left hemisphere.

(5) Gamma activity was highly increased up to three times its resting state power amplitude.

(6) Gamma band power and oscillatory Gamma seem to be completely decoupled during meditation.

(7) Beta and Gamma activity shift to the right hemisphere in central and temporal regions.

With the monitoring device at its current stage of development it is now possible to acquire and learn individual patterns of conscious state changes by comparing those prominent brain state changes with the individual experiences of meditators. With further work this may be used to allow experienced meditators to intensify their experiences by giving real-time neural feedback, or allow novice meditators to develop there skills at a more rapid pace. This will allow therapists and teachers in meditation and clinical hypnosis to trace states of consciousness in order to guide their clients in the process. The aim of future research using the techniques outlined above is to use the system to drive a feedback environment that reacts to changes in brain states to further assist in altering states of consciousness.

This device will enable novice meditators to achieve states normally only reached after years of meditative experience. As meditation is being increasingly used as part of a wide range of therapeutic treatment, this device, which can facilitate and enhance the practice of meditation, could enable the development of a whole new type of treatment, helping patients to restore themselves to health through enhanced meditation. In addition to this, it is hoped that the device could help and encourage more widespread practice of, and benefit from, meditation, thereby promoting increased well-being amongst the non-clinical population.

[Click here to see Dr. Hinterberg's final report of this phase of research]