Biological Psychology 61 (2002) 293‑319

Patterns of EEG coherence, power, and

contingent negative variation characterize the

integration of transcendental and waking states

Fred Travis, Joe Tecce, Alarik Arenander, R. Keith Wallace

Abstract

Long‑term meditating subjects report that Transcendental Experiences (TE), which first occurred during that Transcendental Meditation (TM) practice, now subjectively co‑exist with waking and sleeping states.

To investigate neurophysiological correlates of correlates of integrated state we recorded EEG in the subjects and in two comparison groups during simple and choice contingent negative variation (CNV) tasks.

In individuals reporting the integration of the transcendent with waking and sleeping, CNV was higher in simple but lower in choice trials, and 6‑12 Hz EEG amplitude and broadband frontal EEG coherence were higher during choice trials. Increased EEG amplitude and coherence characteristic of TM practice, appeared to become a stable EEG trait during CNV tasks in the subjects.

The significant EEG differences may underlie the inverse patterns in CNV amplitude seen between groups. An 'Integration Scale’ constructed from the cortical measures, may characterize the transformation in brain dynamics corresponding to increasing integration of the transcendent with waking and sleeping.