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Browsing by Author "Travis, Fred"

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    EEG correlates of consciousness during sleep: a pilot study
    (1990) Mason, Lynne; Alexander, Charles; Travis, Fred; Gackenbach, Jayne
    Vedic psychology, as presented by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, delineates seven major states of consciousness (Maharishi, 1972). The daily cycle of waking, dreaming, and sleeping constitute the three ordinary changing states of consciousness. In addition, Maharishi's Vedic psychology describes an invariant sequence of higher stages of consciousness. The fourth state of consciousness, termed transcendental consciousness (TC), is characterized as a content-free state of "restful alertness", the ultimate ground state of the mind, pure consciousness (Maharishi, 1969).In this state "... awareness becomes completely 'self-referral' --consciousness has nothing other than itself in its structure" (Maharishi, 1986, p. 27).Maharishi describes TC as follows: This is a state of inner wakefulness with no object of thought or perception, just pure consciousness [TC], aware of its own unbounded nature. It is wholeness, aware of itself, [Self-awareness] devoid of differences, beyond the division of subject and object --transcendental consciousness (Maharishi, 1977, p. 123).TC is held to be as distinct from the ordinary waking state as waking is from dreaming or sleeping. Recent research reviews have identified over twenty physiological correlates distinguishing TC from simple relaxation, sleeping, dreaming and waking (See Alexander and Boyer, 1989; Alexander, Cranson, Boyer and Orme-Johnson, 1986; Wallace, 1986; for a complete review).
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    Electrophysiological correlates of higher states of consciousness during sleep in long-term practitioners of the transcendental meditation program
    (1997) Mason, Lynne; Alexander, Charles; Travis, Fred; Marsh, G.; Orme-Johnson, David; Gackenbach, Jayne; Mason, D.; Rainforth, Maxwell; Walton, Kenneth
    Standard ambulatory night sleep EEG of 11 long-term practitioners of transcendental meditation reporting higher states of consciousness during sleep (the experimental group) was compared with that of 9 short-term practitioners and 11 nonpractitioners (all Ss aged 21–50 yrs). EEG tracings during Stages 3 and 4 sleep show that experimental Ss had theta-alpha activity simultaneously with delta activity and decreased chin EMG during deep sleep compared with short-term controls. In the 1st 3 cycles, experimental Ss had significantly greater theta2 (6–8 Hz)-alpha1 (8–10 Hz) relative power during Stages 3 and 4 than did the combined control groups. There was a graded difference across groups during Stages 3 and 4 in theta2–alpha1 power. Experimental Ss also had increased REM density during REM periods relative to short-term controls.