Occipital gamma activation during Vipassana meditation
Open accessAbstract
Long-term Vipassana meditators sat in meditation vs. a control rest (mind-wandering) state for 21 min in a counterbalanced design with spontaneous EEG recorded. Meditation state dynamics were measured with spectral decomposition of the last 6 min of the eyes-closed silent meditation compared to control state. Meditation was associated with a decrease in frontal delta (1-4 Hz) power, especially pronounced in those participants not reporting drowsiness during meditation. Relative increase in frontal theta (4-8 Hz) power was observed during meditation, as well as significantly increased parieto-occipital gamma (35-45 Hz) power, but no other state effects were found for the theta (4-8 Hz), alpha (8-12 Hz), or beta (12-25 Hz) bands. Alpha power was sensitive to condition order, and more experienced meditators exhibited no tendency toward enhanced alpha during meditation relative to the control task. All participants tended to exhibit decreased alpha in association with reported drowsiness. Cross-experimental session occipital gamma power was the greatest in meditators with a daily practice of 10+ years, and the meditation-related gamma power increase was similarly the strongest in such advanced practitioners. The findings suggest that long-term Vipassana meditation contributes to increased occipital gamma power related to long-term meditational expertise and enhanced sensory awareness.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Cahn et al. described increased gamma activity over parieto-occipital electrodes during open-monitoring Vipassana meditation that focuses on somatic sensation.
“Cahn et al. [17] have described increased gamma activity over parieto-occipital electrodes during open-monitoring Vipassana meditation that focuses on somatic sensation”
From Increased Gamma Brainwave Amplitude Compared to Control in Three Different Meditation Traditions (2017) · cites this paper as [17]
No significant differences were found between alpha amplitude during meditation and the control mind-wandering task in the Vipassana group.
“In line with previous findings [17], no significant differences were found between alpha amplitude during meditation and the control mind-wandering task in the Vipassana group.”
From Increased Gamma Brainwave Amplitude Compared to Control in Three Different Meditation Traditions (2017) · cites this paper as [17]
The study contrasts with other EEG studies finding state effects in the EEG power spectrum in various meditation practices.
“As such, our study contrasts with other EEG studies finding state effects in the EEG power spectrum in various meditation practices [16–18, 72].”
From Increased Gamma Brainwave Amplitude Compared to Control in Three Different Meditation Traditions (2017) · cites this paper as [17]
Other studies have reported higher baseline and state-related increases in gamma power in long-term Tibetan Buddhist practitioners, Vipassana meditators, and meditators in other traditions, indicative of a more highly alert and aware brain state.
“Other studies have reported higher baseline (trait) and state-related increases in gamma power in long-term Tibetan Buddhist practitioners,124 Vipassana meditators,146 as well as meditators in other traditions,150 which are indicative of a more highly alert and aware brain state.”
From Awakening is not a metaphor: the effects of Buddhist meditation practices on basic wakefulness (2014) · cites this paper as [146]
Localized frontal midline theta increases have been more consistently obtained in meditators, especially during focused attention practices, indicative of concentrated cognitive engagement.
“Instead, localized frontal midline theta increases have been more consistently obtained in meditators,145–147 especially during FA practices, indicative of the concentrated cognitive engagement indexed by frontal midline theta.148,149”
From Awakening is not a metaphor: the effects of Buddhist meditation practices on basic wakefulness (2014) · cites this paper as [146]
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
The citation lists haven’t been fetched yet
References 90 · Cited by 300
Research works printed but not linked: 62
- Aftanas LI Golocheikine SA Human anterior and frontal midline theta and lower alpha reflect emotionally positive state and internalized attention: high-resolution EEG investigation of meditation Neurosci Lett 2001 310 57 60 10.1016/S0304-3940(01)02094-8 11524157 · DOI · Paper page
- Aftanas LI Golocheikine SA Changes in cortical activity in altered states of consciousness: the study of meditation by high-resolution EEG Hum Physiol 2003 29 143 151 10.1023/A:1022986308931 12751217 · DOI
- Aftanas L Golosheykin S Impact of regular meditation practice on EEG activity at rest and during evoked negative emotions Int J Neurosci 2005 115 893 909 10.1080/00207450590897969 16019582 · DOI
- Anand BK Chhina GS Singh B Some aspects of electroencephalographic studies in yogis Electroencephal Clin Neurophysiol 1961 13 452 456 10.1016/0013-4694(61)90015-3 · DOI
- Anand BK Chhina GS Singh B Studies on Shri Ramanand yogi during his stay in an air-tight box Indian J Med Res 1961 49 82 89 23168716
- Babiloni C Frisoni G Steriade M Bresciani L Binetti G Del Percio C Geroldi C Miniussi C Nobili F Rodriguez G Zappasodi F Carfagna T Rossini PM Frontal white matter volume and delta EEG sources negatively correlate in awake subjects with mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease Clin Neurophysiol 2006 117 1113 1129 10.1016/j.clinph.2006.01.020 16564740 · DOI
- Banquet JP Spectral analysis of the EEG in meditation Electroencephalogr Clin Neurophysiol 1973 35 143 151 10.1016/0013-4694(73)90170-3 4124606 · DOI
- Basar E Basar-Eroglu C Karakas S Schurmann M Gamma, alpha, delta, and theta oscillations govern cognitive processes Int J Psychophysiol 2001 39 241 248 10.1016/S0167-8760(00)00145-8 11163901 · DOI
- Basar E Schurmann M Sakowitz O The selectively distributed theta system: functions Int J Psychophysiol 2001 39 197 212 10.1016/S0167-8760(00)00141-0 11163897 · DOI
- Basar-Eroglu C Struber D Schurmann M Stadler M Basar E Gamma-band responses in the brain: a short review of psychophysiological correlates and functional significance Int J Psychophysiol 1996 24 101 112 10.1016/S0167-8760(96)00051-7 8978437 · DOI
- Benjamini Y Yekutieli D The control of the false discovery rate in multiple testing under dependency Ann Stat 2001 29 1165 1188 10.1214/aos/1013699998 · DOI · Paper page
- Cantero JL Atienza M The role of neural synchronization in the emergence of cognition across the wake-sleep cycle Rev Neurosci 2005 16 69 83 15810655
- Cantero JL Atienza M Madsen JR Stickgold R Gamma EEG dynamics in neocortex and hippocampus during human wakefulness and sleep Neuroimage 2004 22 1271 1280 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2004.03.014 15219599 · DOI
- Christoff K Gordon AM Smallwood J Smith R Schooler JW Experience sampling during fMRI reveals default network and executive system contributions to mind wandering Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2009 106 8719 8724 10.1073/pnas.0900234106 19433790 PMC2689035 · DOI · Paper page
- Comon P Independent component analysis: a new concept? Signal Process 1994 36 287 314 10.1016/0165-1684(94)90029-9 · DOI
- Darvas F Pantazis D Kucukaltun-Yildirim E Leahy RM Mapping human brain function with MEG and EEG: methods and validation Neuroimage 2004 23 1 S289 S299 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2004.07.014 15501098 · DOI
- de Jongh A de Munck JC Baayen JC Jonkman EJ Heethaar RM van Dijk BW The localization of spontaneous brain activity: first results in patients with cerebral tumors Clin Neurophysiol 2001 112 378 385 10.1016/S1388-2457(00)00526-5 11165544 · DOI
- de Lange FP Jensen O Bauer M Toni I Interactions between posterior gamma and frontal alpha/beta oscillations during imagined actions Front Hum Neurosci 2008 2 7 18958208 PMC2572199
- Delorme A Webster JG Statistical methods Encyclopedia of medical device and instrumentation 2006 Hoboken, NJ, USA Wiley Interscience 240 264
- Delorme A Makeig S EEGLAB: an open source toolbox for analysis of single-trial EEG dynamics including independent component analysis J Neurosci Methods 2004 134 9 21 10.1016/j.jneumeth.2003.10.009 15102499 · DOI · Paper page
- Delorme A Sejnowski T Makeig S Enhanced detection of artifacts in EEG data using higher-order statistics and independent component analysis Neuroimage 2007 34 1443 1449 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2006.11.004 17188898 PMC2895624 · DOI · Paper page
- Dimigen O Valsecchi M Sommer W Kliegl R Human microsaccade-related visual brain responses J Neurosci 2009 29 12321 12331 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0911-09.2009 19793991 PMC6666125 · DOI
- Dunn BR Hartigan JA Mikulas WL Concentration and mindfulness meditations: unique forms of consciousness? Appl Psychophysiol Biofeedback 1999 24 147 165 10.1023/A:1023498629385 10652635 · DOI
- Fell J Fernandez G Klaver P Elger CE Fries P Is synchronized neuronal gamma activity relevant for selective attention? Brain Res Brain Res Rev 2003 42 265 272 10.1016/S0165-0173(03)00178-4 12791444 · DOI
- Fries P Neuenschwander S Engel AK Goebel R Singer W Rapid feature selective neuronal synchronization through correlated latency shifting Nat Neurosci 2001 4 194 200 10.1038/84032 11175881 · DOI
- Fries P Womelsdorf T Oostenveld R Desimone R The effects of visual stimulation and selective visual attention on rhythmic neuronal synchronization in macaque area V4 J Neurosci 2008 28 4823 4835 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4499-07.2008 18448659 PMC3844818 · DOI · Paper page
- Gaylord C Orme-Johnson D Travis F The effects of the transcendental meditation technique and progressive muscle relaxation on EEG coherence, stress reactivity, and mental health in black adults Int J Neurosci 1989 46 77 86 10.3109/00207458908991618 2670798 · DOI
- Gross J Schnitzler A Timmermann L Ploner M Gamma oscillations in human primary somatosensory cortex reflect pain perception PLoS Biol 2007 5 e133 10.1371/journal.pbio.0050133 17456008 PMC1854914 · DOI
- Hebert R Lehmann D Theta bursts: an EEG pattern in normal subjects practising the transcendental meditation technique Electroencephalogr Clin Neurophysiol 1977 42 397 405 10.1016/0013-4694(77)90176-6 65275 · DOI
- Hyvärinen A Oja E Independent component analysis: algorithms and application Neural Netw 2000 13 411 430 10.1016/S0893-6080(00)00026-5 10946390 · DOI
- Jung TP Makeig S Humphries C Lee TW McKeown MJ Iragui V Sejnowski TJ Removing electroencephalographic artifacts by blind source separation Psychophysiology 2000 37 163 178 10.1017/S0048577200980259 10731767 · DOI
- Jung TP Makeig S Westerfield M Townsend J Courchesne E Sejnowski TJ Removal of eye activity artifacts from visual event-related potentials in normal and clinical subjects Clin Neurophysiol 2000 111 1745 1758 10.1016/S1388-2457(00)00386-2 11018488 · DOI
- Kasamatsu A Hirai T An electroencephalographic study on the Zen meditation (Zazen) Folia Psychiatr Neurol Jpn 1966 20 315 336 6013341
- Kinoshita K A study on response of EEG during Zen meditation–alpha-blocking to name calling (in Japanese) Seishin Shinkeigaku Zasshi 1975 77 623 658 1243181
- Lachaux JP George N Tallon-Baudry C Martinerie J Hugueville L Minotti L Kahane P Renault B The many faces of the gamma band response to complex visual stimuli Neuroimage 2005 25 491 501 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2004.11.052 15784428 · DOI
- Lehmann D Faber PL Achermann P Jeanmonod D Gianotti LR Pizzagalli D Brain sources of EEG gamma frequency during volitionally meditation-induced, altered states of consciousness, and experience of the self Psychiatry Res 2001 108 111 121 10.1016/S0925-4927(01)00116-0 11738545 · DOI
- Lehrer PM Schoicket S Carrington P Woolfolk RL Psychophysiological and cognitive responses to stressful stimuli in subjects practicing progressive relaxation and clinically standardized meditation Behav Res Ther 1980 18 293 303 10.1016/0005-7967(80)90088-1 7002148 · DOI
- Lutz A Dunne JD Davidson RJ Zelazo PD Moscovitch M Thompson E Meditation and the neuroscience of consciousness The Cambridge handbook of consciousness 2007 Cambridge, UK Cambridge University Press
- Maloney KJ Cape EG Gotman J Jones BE High-frequency gamma electroencephalogram activity in association with sleep-wake states and spontaneous behaviors in the rat Neuroscience 1997 76 541 555 10.1016/S0306-4522(96)00298-9 9015337 · DOI
- Mitchell DJ McNaughton N Flanagan D Kirk IJ Frontal-midline theta from the perspective of hippocampal “theta” Prog Neurobiol 2008 86 156 185 10.1016/j.pneurobio.2008.09.005 18824212 · DOI · Paper page
- Niedermeyer E Alpha rhythms as physiological and abnormal phenomena Int J Psychophysiol 1997 26 31 49 10.1016/S0167-8760(97)00754-X 9202993 · DOI
- Pagnoni G Cekic M Guo Y “Thinking about not-thinking”: neural correlates of conceptual processing during Zen meditation PLoS One 2008 3 e3083 10.1371/journal.pone.0003083 18769538 PMC2518618 · DOI
- Pan W Zhang L Xia Y The difference in EEG theta waves between concentrative and non-concentrative qigong states–a power spectrum and topographic mapping study J Tradit Chin Med 1994 14 212 218 7799657
- Penolazzi B Spironelli C Angrilli A Delta EEG activity as a marker of dysfunctional linguistic processing in developmental dyslexia Psychophysiology 2008 45 1025 1033 10.1111/j.1469-8986.2008.00709.x 18803600 · DOI
- Polich J Updating P300: an integrative theory of P3a and P3b Clin Neurophysiol 2007 118 2128 2148 10.1016/j.clinph.2007.04.019 17573239 PMC2715154 · DOI · Paper page
- Polich J Kok A Cognitive and biological determinants of P300: an integrative review Biol Psychol 1995 41 103 146 10.1016/0301-0511(95)05130-9 8534788 · DOI
- Reva NV Aftanas LI The coincidence between late non-phase-locked gamma synchronization response and saccadic eye movements Int J Psychophysiol 2004 51 215 222 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2003.09.005 14962573 · DOI
- Rodriguez E George N Lachaux JP Martinerie J Renault B Varela FJ Perception’s shadow: long-distance synchronization of human brain activity Nature 1999 397 430 433 10.1038/17120 9989408 · DOI · Paper page
- Sauve K Gamma-band synchronous oscillations: recent evidence regarding their functional significance Conscious Cogn 1999 8 213 224 10.1006/ccog.1999.0383 10448003 · DOI
- Segal ZV Williams JMG Teasdale JD Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for depression: a new approach to preventing relapse 2002 New York Guilford Press
- Singer W Synchronization of cortical activity and its putative role in information processing and learning Annu Rev Physiol 1993 55 349 374 10.1146/annurev.ph.55.030193.002025 8466179 · DOI · Paper page
- Slagter HA Lutz A Greischar LL Nieuwenhuis S Davidson RJ Theta phase synchrony and conscious target perception: impact of intensive mental training J Cogn Neurosci 2009 21 1536 1549 10.1162/jocn.2009.21125 18823234 PMC2698032 · DOI · Paper page
- Smallwood J McSpadden M Schooler JW The lights are on but no one’s home: meta-awareness and the decoupling of attention when the mind wanders Psychon Bull Rev 2007 14 527 533 17874601
- Smallwood J Beach E Schooler JW Handy TC Going AWOL in the brain: mind wandering reduces cortical analysis of external events J Cogn Neurosci 2008 20 458 469 10.1162/jocn.2008.20037 18004943 · DOI
- Tei S Faber PL Lehmann D Tsujiuchi T Kumano H Pascual-Marqui RD Gianotti LR Kochi K Meditators and non-meditators: EEG source imaging during resting Brain Topogr 2009 22 158 165 10.1007/s10548-009-0107-4 19653090 · DOI
- Thomson DJ Spectrum estimation and harmonic analysis Proceed IEEE 1982 70 1055 1096 10.1109/PROC.1982.12433 · DOI
- Travis F Pearson C Pure consciousness: distinct phenomenological and physiological correlates of “consciousness itself” Int J Neurosci 1999 100 77 89 10.3109/00207450008999678 10938552 · DOI
- Travis F Tecce J Arenander A Wallace RK Patterns of EEG coherence, power, and contingent negative variation characterize the integration of transcendental and waking states Biol Psychol 2002 61 293 319 10.1016/S0301-0511(02)00048-0 12406612 · DOI
- Varela FJ Resonant cell assemblies: a new approach to cognitive functions and neuronal synchrony Biol Res 1995 28 81 95 8728823
- Wenger MA Bagchi BK Studies of autonomic functions in practitioners of yoga in India Behav Sci 1961 6 312 323 14006122
- Wilcox RR Introduction to Robust estimation and hypothesis testing 2005 2 San Diego, CA, USA Elsevier Academic Press
- Yuval-Greenberg S Deouell LY The broadband-transient induced gamma-band response in scalp EEG reflects the execution of saccades Brain Topogr 2009 22 3 6 10.1007/s10548-009-0077-6 19234781 · DOI
- Authors
- Cahn, B. R., Delorme, A., & Polich, J.
- Affiliations
- University of California San Diego (US)
- Scripps Research Institute (US)
- Corresponding author
- Cahn, B. Rael
- Polich, John
- Venue
- Cognitive Processing
- Published
- 2009-12-16
- Volume
- 11
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 39-56
- ISSN
- 1612-4782 (ISSN-L)
- 1612-4790
- PMC
- PMC2812711
- OpenAlex
- W2124612756
- Cited by
- 300
- References
- 90
- Citations by year
- 2026: 20 · 2025: 23 · 2024: 30 · 2023: 20 · 2022: 23 · 2021: 22 · 2020: 18 · 2019: 19 · 2018: 10 · 2017: 15 · 2016: 15 · 2015: 17 · 2014: 25 · 2013: 16 · 2012: 8
- FWCI
- 8.86
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Cognitive Processing (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- HAL (submittedVersion)
- eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Fetzer Institute
- Universität Zürich
- National Institutes of Health (AA006420)
- National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (AA006420, P50AA006420)
- National Institute of Mental Health (T32MH019934)
- National Institute on Drug Abuse (R01DA018262, DA018262)
- National Institute of General Medical Sciences (T32-GM07198, T32GM007198)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural dynamics and brain function
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Mind wandering and attention
- Keywords
- Vipassana meditation, EEG spectral power, long-term meditators, frontal theta power, alpha power, sleepiness, sensory awareness, mind wandering
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Analysis of Variance, Brain Mapping, Buddhism, Electroencephalography, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Occipital Lobe, Self Concept, Spectrum Analysis, Negotiating, Principal Component Analysis, Young Adult
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
