|
Dear list members,
Our next seminar will be at 6:00-7:30pm on Wednesday October 7 in
the Common Room (N480) of the John Woolley Building, University of
Sydney.
We hope you can attend.
Kind regards,
AABS Executive
Relaxation vs. arousal: A comparison of the
neurophysiological responses between Theravada and Vajrayana meditative
practices
Based on evidence of parasympathetic activation, early research defined
meditation as a relaxation response. Later research categorized
meditation either involving focused or distributed attentional
systems. Neither of these hypotheses received strong empirical support,
and most of the studies investigated Theravada style meditative practices
only. We collected Electrocardiographic (EKG) and
Electroencephalographic (EEG) responses using a participant pool of
experienced Theravada practitioners from Thailand (Yannawa Temple,
Bangkok) and Nepal (the International Buddhist Meditation Center, New
Baneshwor) and Vajrayana practitioners from Nepal (Shechen monastery,
Kathmandu). Both focused (Shamatha) and distributed (Vipassana) attention
meditations of the Theravada tradition produced enhanced parasympathetic
activation, indicative of a relaxation response. Both focused
(Deity) and distributed (Rigpa) meditations of the Vajrayana tradition
produced sympathetic activation, indicative of the state of arousal (the
state of being awake and responsive to stimuli). Consistent with Tibetan
tests, which describe Shamatha and Vipassana techniques as calming and
relaxing the mind, and Vajrayana techniques as requiring wakefulness, we
show that Theravada and Vajrayana meditations are based on different
neurophysiological mechanisms.
Maria Kozhevnikov received her
PhD from Technion (Israel) jointly with UC Santa Barbara. Since
2001, she has held faculty positions at Rutgers and George Mason
Universities. Her current primary appointment is as an Association
Professor of Psychology at the National University of
Singapore. Maria’s research focuses on examining neural and
cognitive mechanisms underlying individual differences in visual
imagery. She explores attentional and visualization processes during
different meditative practices and is particularly interested in
neurocognitive processes underlying Vajrayana meditative practices and
how they are different from other meditative traditions (e.g.,
Theravada), for which she devoted more than 10 years of travelling and
conducting field studies in Nepal, India and Tibet.
|
