[Buddha-l] buddhism and brain studies

[Richard Hayes]

On Wed, 2008-11-05 at 18:00 -0800, Gary Gach wrote:

> am finishing my revision of section in my book on cognitive science
> 
> anyone remember the experiment (mid1970s?) (ekg?):
> 
> Hindu (TM) and Zen practitioners went into a meditative state, then were
> surprised by the sound of a bell.  The Hindu meditators' brain waves
> remained constant (Alpha? )))).  The brain-wave chart for
> the Zen meditators, showed their Alpha suddenly going into beta (?),
> registering the fact of the bell, and then dipping right back down into
> alpha.

A version of some experiment that I regaled my students with in the
1970s had seasoned Zen practitioners and a control group connected to an
electrode. A bell rang, after which an electric shock was administered.
This routine was repeated several times. The mad scientists discovered
that the control group showed signs of anxiety after the bell rang, as
they anticipated getting a shock, while the Zen people showed no such
anxiety. I asked my students what conclusions they reached from the
experiment. The most common (and therefore the correct) answer:
meditation destroys one's ability to learn from one's experience.

Does that experiment ring a bell? Do you find it shocking?

-- 
Richard Hayes
Department of Philosophy
University of New Mexico