The Physiology of Meditation
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Benson showed that Transcendental Meditation and Mindfulness meditation result in physiological changes indicative of heightened parasympathetic activation and lowered sympathetic activity, including decreased oxygen consumption and carbon dioxide elimination, lowered heart and respiratory rates, and decreased arterial blood lactate concentration.
“Benson showed that TM and Mindfulness meditation result in physiological changes indicative of a heightened activation of the parasympathetic nervous system and lowered sympathetic activity, such as decreased oxygen consumption and carbon dioxide elimination, lowering of heart and respiratory rates, and a marked decrease in arterial blood lactate concentration (e.g., [6, 7])”
From The Influence of Buddhist Meditation Traditions on the Autonomic System and Attention (2015) · cites this paper as [7]
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The neurobiology of meditation and its clinical effectiveness in psychiatric disorders
Rubia, K. (2009) · Biological Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.biopsycho.2009.04.003 · Cited by 287 · see citing works
Meditation as an intervention in stress reactivity.
Goleman, D. J., & Schwartz, G. E. (1976) · Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-006x.44.3.456 · Cited by 288 · see citing works
Sudsuang, R., Chentanez, V., & Veluvan, K. (1991) · Physiology & Behavior · doi:10.1016/0031-9384(91)90543-w · Cited by 198 · see citing works
Fear imagery and the startle-probe reflex.
Vrana, S. R., & Lang, P. J. (1990) · Journal of Abnormal Psychology · doi:10.1037/0021-843x.99.2.189 · Cited by 187 · see citing works
Decreased blood pressure in borderline hypertensive subjects who practiced meditation
Benson, H., Rosner, B. A., Marzetta, B. R., & Klemchuk, H. P. (1974) · Journal of Chronic Diseases · doi:10.1016/0021-9681(74)90083-6 · Cited by 137 · see citing works
Self-citationRausch, S. M., Gramling, S. E., & Auerbach, S. M. (2006) · International Journal of Stress Management · doi:10.1037/1072-5245.13.3.273 · Cited by 113 · see citing works
Coupling of respiration and attention via the locus coeruleus: effects of meditation and pranayama.
Melnychuk, M. C., Dockree, P. M., O'Connell, R. G., Murphy, P. R., Balsters, J. H., & Robertson, I. H. (2018) · Psychophysiology · doi:10.1111/psyp.13091 · Cited by 101 · see citing works
A Physiological and Subjective Evaluation of Meditation, Hypnosis, and Relaxation
Morse, D. R., Martin, J. S., Furst, M. L., & Dubin, L. L. (1977) · Psychosomatic Medicine · doi:10.1097/00006842-197709000-00004 · Cited by 100 · see citing works
Effects of paced respiration on anxiety reduction in a clinical population
Clark, M. E., & Hirschman, R. (1990) · Biofeedback and Self-Regulation · doi:10.1007/bf01011109 · Cited by 80 · see citing works
Metabolic and EEG changes during transcendental meditation: An explanation
Fenwick, P. B. C., Donaldson, S., Gillis, P. L., Bushman, J., Fenton, P. G. W., Perry, I., Tilsley, C., & Serafinowicz, H. (1977) · Biological Psychology · doi:10.1016/0301-0511(77)90007-2 · Cited by 74 · see citing works
The Influence of Buddhist Meditation Traditions on the Autonomic System and Attention
Amihai, I., & Kozhevnikov, M. (2015) · BioMed Research International · doi:10.1155/2015/731579 · Cited by 71 · see citing works
“, [6, 7]), as well as psychological outcome measures that indicate relaxation (e.”
BackgroundSympathetic activity and transcendental meditation
Lang, R., Dehof, K., Meurer, K. A., & Kaufmann, W. (1979) · Journal of Neural Transmission · doi:10.1007/bf01252706 · Cited by 52 · see citing works
‘Biochemical Indices Associated with Meditation Practice: A Literature Review’
Delmonte, M. M. (1985) · Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews · doi:10.1016/0149-7634(85)90002-8 · Cited by 46 · see citing works
Changes in EEG of children during brain respiration-training
Kim, Y. Y., Choi, J. M., Kim, S. Y., Park, S. K., Lee, S. H., & Lee, K. H. (2002) · The American Journal of Chinese Medicine · doi:10.1142/s0192415x02000272 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
- Authors
- Wallace, R. K., & Benson, H.
- Affiliations
- Harvard University (US)
- Venue
- Scientific American
- Published
- 1972-02
- Volume
- 226
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 84-90
- ISSN
- 0036-8733 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2033713803
- Cited by
- 354
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 12 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 7 · 2016: 5 · 2015: 6 · 2014: 3 · 2013: 8 · 2012: 6
- FWCI
- 36.50
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Scientific American (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Pain Management and Placebo Effect
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Mind wandering and attention
- Keywords
- meditation, mind-body problem, relaxation
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