A Methodological Review of Meditation Research
Frontiers in Psychiatry July 1, 2014 John W. Thomas, Marc Cohen 70 citations
After more than 50 years of research, no clear neurophysiological signatures have been found for states of consciousness induced by meditation practices. The failure is largely due to the narrow range of variables examined, with most studies focusing only on correlations between neurophysiological measures and specific practices while ignoring content and context. The authors argue that more meaningful results require expanding the methodological paradigm to include the cultural setting, the meditator's life situation, details of the practice, and the meditator's state of consciousness. Including all these domains will improve predictions of psychophysiological variables associated with specific meditation states and help explore the mysteries of human consciousness.