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Default mode network activation and Transcendental Meditation practice: Focused Attention or Automatic Self-transcending?

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Check out this Knowledge Base article from StressTherapy Solutions: Default mode network activation and Transcendental Meditation practice: Focused Attention or Automatic Self-transcending?

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Study at a glance

Area
QEEG, Methods & Mechanisms
Study type
Observational study
Authors
Travis F, Parim N
Journal
Brain and Cognition
Year
2017
Participants
87
Protocol
eLORETA comparison of eyes-closed rest, TM practice and a task

Key findings

  • Self-reported transcending did not grow with years of practice (r = .07)
  • Rest and TM both showed theta/alpha activation in posterior cingulate and precuneus (default mode network)
  • The task showed beta2/beta3 activation in anterior cingulate and prefrontal executive areas
  • TM showed more orbitofrontal theta than rest, unlike the gamma and default-network deactivation of focused-attention styles

DOI 10.1016/j.bandc.2016.08.009 → PubMed 27816783 →

An EEG study of 87 Transcendental Meditation practitioners, with one month to five years of experience, asking whether TM works by focusing attention. Reports of 'transcending' during meditation were about the same whether people had practised for a month or five years. eLORETA source imaging showed theta and alpha activity in the default mode network during both rest and TM, and executive-network beta activity during a task. The authors conclude that TM should not be grouped with focused-attention meditations, and that studies mixing meditation types blur their effects.