Sanjay Kumar, Nagendra H.R., Naveen K.V., Manjunath N.K. and Shirley Telles.
Indian Council of Medical Research Center for Advanced Research in Yoga and Neurophysiology, SVYASA, Bangalore, India
sanjubliss75@gmail.com

Abstract

Context
Practicing mental repetition of ‘OM’ has been shown to cause significant changes in middle latency auditory evoked potentials which suggests that it facilitates the neural activity in mesencephalic or diencephalic level.
Aim
The aim of the study was to study Brainstem Auditory Evoked Potentials (BAEP) in two meditation states based on of consciousness viz., dharana, and dhyana.
Materials and Methods
Thirty subjects were selected with ages ranging from 20 to 55 years (M = 29.1; ± SD = 6.5 years) who had a minimum of 6 months experience in ‘OM’ meditation. Each subject was assessed in four sessions i.e., two meditation and two control sessions. The two control sessions were: (i) ekagrata, i.e., single topic lecture on meditation and (ii) cancalata, i.e., non-targeted thinking. The two meditation sessions were (i) dharana, i.e., focusing on the symbol ‘OM’ and (ii) dhyana, i.e., effortless single-thought state ‘OM’. All four sessions were recorded on four different days and consisted of three states, i.e., pre, during, and post.
Result
The present results showed that the wave V peak latency significantly increased in cancalata, ekagrata, and dharana but no change occurred during the dhyana session.
Conclusion
These results suggested that information transmission along the auditory pathway is delayed during Cancalata, Ekagrata, and Dharana with no change during Dhyana. It may be said that auditory information transmission was delayed at the inferior collicular level, as the wave V corresponds to the tectum.
Keywords
Cancalata
Ekagrata
Dharana
Dhyana