ABSTRACT
The majority of studies show meditation to be a wakeful state accompanied by a lowering of cortical and autonomic arousal. The Investigations of Zen and Transcendental Meditation have thus far produced the most consistent findings. The search for psychophysiological correlates of meditation has centered essentially on three groups: Yogis and students of Yoga in India, adherents of Transcendental Meditation in the United States, and practitioners of Zen Buddhism in Japan. Yoga has been an integral feature of the Hindu culture. During meditation, high-frequency electrocortical activity replaced slower premeditation rhythms and remained until meditation was terminated. Although the predominant electrocortical activity observed during meditation was in the alpha frequency range, this was also the case during control periods. B. K. Bagchi and M. A Wegner found that during meditation the rate of respiration tended to decline relative to levels set during control periods.
