CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 131Mindfulness and Compassion InterventionsParanormal Experiences and BeliefsSleep and Wakefulness Research

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 26 of the 26 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Electrophysiological Correlates of Higher States of Consciousness During Sleep in Long-Term

Mason, L. I., Alexander, C. N., Travis, F. T., Marsh, G., Orme-Johnson, D. W., Gackenbach, J., Mason, D. C., Rainforth, M., Walton, K. G.·1997·Sleep
DOI 10.1093/sleep/20.2.102
Open this paper in CoChat — free account

Abstract

Standard ambulatory night sleep electroencephalograph (EEG) of 11 long-term practitioners of the Transcendental Meditation (TM) program reporting "higher states of consciousness" during sleep (the experimental group) was compared to that of nine short-term practitioners and 11 non-practitioners. EEG tracings during stages 3 and 4 sleep showed the experimental group to have: 1) theta-alpha activity simultaneously with delta activity and 2) decreased chin electromyograph (EMG) during deep sleep (p = 0.002) compared to short-term practitioners. Spectral analysis fast Fourier transform (FFT) data of the first three cycles showed that: 3) the experimental subjects had significantly greater theta 2 (6-8 Hz)-alpha 1 (8-10 Hz) relative power during stages 3 and 4 than the combined control groups [t(30) = 5.5, p = 0.0000008] with no difference in time in delta; 4) there was a graded difference across groups during stages 3 and 4 in theta 2-alpha 1 power, with experimentals having greater power than short-term practitioners, who in turn had greater power than non-practitioners [t(30) = 5.08, p = 0.00002]; and 5) experimentals also had increased rapid eye movement (REM) density during REM periods compared to short-term practitioners (p = 0.04). Previous studies have found increased theta-alpha EEG activity during reported periods of "transcendental consciousness" during the TM technique. In the Vedic tradition, as described by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, transcendental consciousness is the first of a sequence of higher states. The maintenance of transcendental consciousness along with deep sleep is said to be a distinctive criterion of further, stabilized higher states of consciousness. The findings of this study are interpreted as physiological support for this model.

Overview

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.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1093/sleep/20.2.102

Cites

26 of 26 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Verification

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.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

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?

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Citations

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Show all 26 references

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Related

See all

Metadata

Authors
Mason, L. I., Alexander, C. N., Travis, F. T., Marsh, G., Orme-Johnson, D. W., Gackenbach, J., Mason, D. C., Rainforth, M., & Walton, K. G.
Affiliations
  • Maharishi University of Management, Fairfield, Iowa, U.S.A.
  • Duke University (US)
  • University of Alberta (CA)
  • University of Iowa (US)
Corresponding author
Mason, D. C.
ORCID
Venue
Sleep
Publisher
Oxford University Press (OUP)
Published
1997-02-01
Volume
20
Issue
2
Pages
102-110
ISSN
  • 0161-8105 (ISSN-L)
  • 1550-9109
DOI
10.1093/sleep/20.2.102
OpenAlex
W2336592706
Cited by
131
References
26
Citations by year
2026: 1 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 6 · 2016: 5 · 2015: 2 · 2014: 2 · 2013: 11 · 2012: 9
FWCI
5.80
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • SLEEP (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Paranormal Experiences and Beliefs
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Sleep and Wakefulness Research
Keywords
transcendental meditation, higher states of consciousness, slow-wave sleep, REM sleep density, delta oscillations, sleep EEG, Vedic tradition, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
MeSH terms
Adult, Arousal, Consciousness, Electroencephalography, Electromyography, Female, Humans, Male, Sleep, REM, Meditation

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