Case Study of Ecstatic Meditation: fMRI and EEG Evidence of Self-Stimulating a Reward System
We report the first neural recording during ecstatic meditations called jhanas and test whether a brain reward system plays a role in the joy reported. Jhanas are Altered States of Consciousness (ASC) that imply major brain changes based on subjective reports: (1) external awareness dims, (2) intern...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Wiley
2013-01-01
|
| Series: | Neural Plasticity |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2013/653572 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1850157412338630656 |
|---|---|
| author | Michael R. Hagerty Julian Isaacs Leigh Brasington Larry Shupe Eberhard E. Fetz Steven C. Cramer |
| author_facet | Michael R. Hagerty Julian Isaacs Leigh Brasington Larry Shupe Eberhard E. Fetz Steven C. Cramer |
| author_sort | Michael R. Hagerty |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | We report the first neural recording during ecstatic meditations called jhanas and test whether a brain reward system plays a role in the joy reported. Jhanas are Altered States of Consciousness (ASC) that imply major brain changes based on subjective reports: (1) external awareness dims, (2) internal verbalizations fade, (3) the sense of personal boundaries is altered, (4) attention is highly focused on the object of meditation, and (5) joy increases to high levels. The fMRI and EEG results from an experienced meditator show changes in brain activity in 11 regions shown to be associated with the subjective reports, and these changes occur promptly after jhana is entered. In particular, the extreme joy is associated not only with activation of cortical processes but also with activation of the nucleus accumbens (NAc) in the dopamine/opioid reward system. We test three mechanisms by which the subject might stimulate his own reward system by external means and reject all three. Taken together, these results demonstrate an apparently novel method of self-stimulating a brain reward system using only internal mental processes in a highly trained subject. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-397eaa332b734d64be4b24c27b598ee7 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2090-5904 1687-5443 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2013-01-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Neural Plasticity |
| spelling | doaj-art-397eaa332b734d64be4b24c27b598ee72025-08-20T02:24:09ZengWileyNeural Plasticity2090-59041687-54432013-01-01201310.1155/2013/653572653572Case Study of Ecstatic Meditation: fMRI and EEG Evidence of Self-Stimulating a Reward SystemMichael R. Hagerty0Julian Isaacs1Leigh Brasington2Larry Shupe3Eberhard E. Fetz4Steven C. Cramer5University of California, Davis and Wellspring Institute, Davis, CA 95616, USAWellspring Institute, San Rafael, CA 94903, USABarre Center for Buddhist Studies, Barre, MA 01005, USAUniversity of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USAPhysiology & Biophysics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USADepartment of Neurology and Anatomy & Neurobiology, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697, USAWe report the first neural recording during ecstatic meditations called jhanas and test whether a brain reward system plays a role in the joy reported. Jhanas are Altered States of Consciousness (ASC) that imply major brain changes based on subjective reports: (1) external awareness dims, (2) internal verbalizations fade, (3) the sense of personal boundaries is altered, (4) attention is highly focused on the object of meditation, and (5) joy increases to high levels. The fMRI and EEG results from an experienced meditator show changes in brain activity in 11 regions shown to be associated with the subjective reports, and these changes occur promptly after jhana is entered. In particular, the extreme joy is associated not only with activation of cortical processes but also with activation of the nucleus accumbens (NAc) in the dopamine/opioid reward system. We test three mechanisms by which the subject might stimulate his own reward system by external means and reject all three. Taken together, these results demonstrate an apparently novel method of self-stimulating a brain reward system using only internal mental processes in a highly trained subject.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2013/653572 |
| spellingShingle | Michael R. Hagerty Julian Isaacs Leigh Brasington Larry Shupe Eberhard E. Fetz Steven C. Cramer Case Study of Ecstatic Meditation: fMRI and EEG Evidence of Self-Stimulating a Reward System Neural Plasticity |
| title | Case Study of Ecstatic Meditation: fMRI and EEG Evidence of Self-Stimulating a Reward System |
| title_full | Case Study of Ecstatic Meditation: fMRI and EEG Evidence of Self-Stimulating a Reward System |
| title_fullStr | Case Study of Ecstatic Meditation: fMRI and EEG Evidence of Self-Stimulating a Reward System |
| title_full_unstemmed | Case Study of Ecstatic Meditation: fMRI and EEG Evidence of Self-Stimulating a Reward System |
| title_short | Case Study of Ecstatic Meditation: fMRI and EEG Evidence of Self-Stimulating a Reward System |
| title_sort | case study of ecstatic meditation fmri and eeg evidence of self stimulating a reward system |
| url | http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2013/653572 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT michaelrhagerty casestudyofecstaticmeditationfmriandeegevidenceofselfstimulatingarewardsystem AT julianisaacs casestudyofecstaticmeditationfmriandeegevidenceofselfstimulatingarewardsystem AT leighbrasington casestudyofecstaticmeditationfmriandeegevidenceofselfstimulatingarewardsystem AT larryshupe casestudyofecstaticmeditationfmriandeegevidenceofselfstimulatingarewardsystem AT eberhardefetz casestudyofecstaticmeditationfmriandeegevidenceofselfstimulatingarewardsystem AT stevenccramer casestudyofecstaticmeditationfmriandeegevidenceofselfstimulatingarewardsystem |