Review Focused attention, open monitoring and automatic self-transcending: Categories to organize meditations from Vedic, Buddhist and Chinese traditions Fred Travis a,b,*, Jonathan Shear c a Center for the Brain, Consciousness, and Cognition, Maharishi University of Management, 1000 North 4th Street, Fairfield, IA 52557, United States b Maharishi University of Management Research Institute, Maharishi Vedic City, IA 52557, United States c Department of Philosophy, Virginia Commonwealth University, 817 West Franklin Street, Richmond, VA 23284-9002, United States a r t i c l e i n f o Article history: Received 29 March 2008 Available online 18 February 2010 Keywords: Meditation Mindfulness TM Transcendental Meditation Coherence Zen Tibetan Buddhism Gamma Alpha a b s t r a c t This paper proposes a third meditation-category���automatic self-transcending��� to extend the dichotomy of focused attention and open monitoring proposed by Lutz. Automatic self- transcending includes techniques designed to transcend their own activity. This contrasts with focused attention, which keeps attention focused on an object and open monitoring, which keeps attention involved in the monitoring process. Each category was assigned EEG bands, based on reported brain patterns during mental tasks, and meditations were categorized based on their reported EEG. Focused attention, characterized by beta/gamma activity, included meditations from Tibetan Buddhist, Buddhist, and Chinese traditions. Open monitoring, characterized by theta activity, included meditations from Buddhist, Chi- nese, and Vedic traditions. Automatic self-transcending, characterized by alpha1 activity, included meditations from Vedic and Chinese traditions. Between categories, the included meditations differed in focus, subject/object relation, and procedures. These findings shed light on the common mistake of averaging meditations together to determine mechanisms or clinical effects. �� 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Meditation practices are embedded in different cultures, worldviews, and traditions, which confounds discussions be- tween meditation traditions. Neuroscience provides the language of brain functioning to discuss meditation practices. Brain patterns reflect the cognitive processes used in meditation practices (attention, feeling, reasoning, visualization), the way these processes are used (minimal- to highly-controlled cognitive processing), and the objects of meditation (thoughts, images, emotions, breath) (see Shear, 2006). Thus, brain patterns could provide an objective ������language��� to discuss proce- dures and experiences resulting from different meditation practices. Lutz has divided meditation practices into two categories: focused attention meditation, which entails voluntary and sustained attention on a chosen object, and open monitoring meditation, which involves non-reactive monitoring of the moment-to-moment content of experience (Lutz, Slagter, Dunne, & Davidson, 2008). We suggest a third category of meditation practice, automatic self-transcending, which includes techniques designed to transcend their own activity. 1053-8100/$ - see front matter �� 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.concog.2010.01.007 * Corresponding author. Address: Center for the Brain, Consciousness, and Cognition, Maharishi University of Management, 1000 North 4th Street, Fairfield, IA 52557, United States. E-mail address: ftravis@mum.edu (F. Travis). Consciousness and Cognition 19 (2010) 1110���1118 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Consciousness and Cognition journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/concog

The category of automatic self-transcending is marked by the absence of both (a) focus and (b) individual control or effort. Focus on a single object of experience and an orientation to monitoring changing objects of experience keeps the meditator involved with the procedures of the technique���these practices are not designed to transcend their activity. Focus and mon- itoring experience are active mental processes, which keep the brain engaged in specific processing���individual activity keeps the mind from transcending. Thus, automatic self-transcending appears to define a class of meditations distinct from both focused attention and open monitoring. These three categories are not mutually exclusive within a single session or over the course of a life-time of meditation prac- tice. Focusedattention and openmonitoring arecombinedinZen,VipassanaandTibetanBuddhismmeditationtraditions(Austin, 2006 Gyatso & Jinpa, 1995 Lutz et al., 2008). Also, with diligent practice over many years, focused attention meditations may lead to reduced cognitive control and could result in ������effortless��� concentration (Lutz et al., 2008 Wallace, 1999). Each meditation-category can be distinguished by its associated cognitive processes. Since different cognitive processes are associatedwithactivityindifferentfrequencybands(von Stein& Sarnthein,2000), eachcategorycanbe assignedcharacteristic EEG frequency band(s). The brainwave patterns reported during each meditations technique could be used to assign medita- tions to categories. These grouping of meditations will allow us to understand these three categories in terms of differences in attentional control, subject/object relation, and the nature of different meditation procedures. The purpose of this categori- zation is to appreciate the nature of different practices and not to assign a ������grade��� or value judgment to each one. 2. Cognitive processing and EEG frequency bands Different processing modules work in parallel during information processing (Varela, Lachaux, Rodriguez, & Martinerie, 2001). Low frequency rhythms (theta and alpha) reflect top-down information processing involving attention and working- memory retention, whereas high frequency rhythms (beta2 and gamma) reflect bottom-up processing of the contents of experience (Razumnikova, 2007). While all frequencies work in concert, individual frequencies can be associated with spe- cific cognitive processes (von Stein & Sarnthein, 2000). 2.1. Gamma bands (30���50 Hz) and Beta 2 (20���30 Hz) Gamma activity reflects local processing within short-range connections responsible for object recognition and so con- struction of the content of experience (Lubar, 1997 Singer, 1999). Synchronized gamma serves as a gain control for mental processing (Salinas & Sejnowski, 2001), enabling postsynaptic potentials to integrate and so direct downstream networks to bind the elements of sensory processing into a perceptual object (von Stein & Sarnthein, 2000). Gamma band activity closely follows local changes in brain blood flow and increases synaptic plasticity important for long term memories (Niessing et al., 2005). Gamma activity is higher when actively maintaining abstract visual shapes in short-term memory, and is higher in attended compared to unattended stimuli (Jensen, Kaiser, & Lachaux, 2007). Beta2 activity also is reported during focused executive processing. For instance, EEG patterns during Remote Associate Tasks in comparison to Simple Associate Tasks���Remote Associate Tasks require more attention���are characterized as wide- spread increases of beta2 activity and decreases of frontal alpha1 coherence (Razumnikova, 2007). Consequently, meditation practices that involve highly focused attention to a specific object in the experiential field might lead to higher activity in the beta2 and gamma bands. It should be noted, that gamma activity reported during meditation practice might be confounded by EMG artifacts. Researchers recorded EEG during an auditory oddball task on two subjects in the presence (one subject) and absence (other subject) of complete neuromuscular blockade, sparing the dominant arm. The recordings were conducted in a Faraday cage to eliminate external sources of high frequency EEG. EEG rhythms in the paralyzed subject had six times less power in the 25���30 Hz band, and 100 times less power in the 40���100 Hz band (Whitham et al., 2007). Thus, muscle contamination of the EEG is an important consideration in the interpretation of gamma EEG during meditation practices. 2.2. Beta1 band (13���20 Hz) Cortico-thalamic feedback loops modulating attention operate in the beta1 frequency. Beta1 bursts shift the system to an attention state that consequently allows for gamma synchronization and perception (Wrobel, 2000). Beta1 activity arises from ������regional��� processes that develop between nearby macrocolumns (Lubar, 1997). Beta1 activity has been associated with binding of sensory qualities into a unified perception, such as the integration of visual and auditory information (Han- slmayr et al., 2007 von Stein, Rappelsberger, Sarnthein, & Petsche, 1999 von Stein & Sarnthein, 2000). Increase of temporal and parietal 13���18 Hz beta1 coherence was seen across recognition tasks involving pictures, spoken words and written words. Consequently, beta1 activity during meditation practices may play a role in creating the unity of meditation experi- ences and could be part of all three categories. 2.3. Alpha band (8���12 Hz) Alpha power has been considered a sign of cortical idling (Pfurtscheller, Stancak, & Neuper, 1996). High alpha activity in sensory and motor areas has been correlated with lower thalamic activity and lower posterior cerebral metabolic rate during F. Travis, J. Shear / Consciousness and Cognition 19 (2010) 1110���1118 1111