Bridging Psychological Science and Transpersonal Spirit a primer of Transpersonal Psychology



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Behavioral and Physiological Assessments



Physiological Measurements of Experienced Meditators. Physiological assessments of experienced Buddhist meditators have demonstrated a capacity for heightened awareness (i.e., enhanced perceptual processing speeds and visual sensitivity) during the waking state compared with non-meditating control subjects as measured by detection and discrimination thresholds of tachistoscopic presented light flashes (Brown, Forte, & Dysart, 1984a, 1984b).
Meditation enhances perceptual processing speed and visual sensitivity. Brown, Forte, & Dysart (1984a, 1984b) summarize the design and results of their research in the following way.
Practitioners of the mindfulness form of Buddhist meditation were tested for visual sensitivity before and immediately after a three-month retreat during which they practiced mindfulness meditation for sixteen hours each day. A control group composed of the staff at the retreat center was similarly tested. Visual sensitivity was defined in two ways: by a detection threshold based on the duration of simple light flashes and a discrimination threshold based on the interval between successive simple light flashes. All light flashes were presented tachistoscopically and were of fixed luminance. After the retreat, practitioners could detect shorter single-light flashes and required a shorter interval to differentiate between successive flashes correctly. The control group did not change on either measure. Phenomenological reports indicate that mindfulness practice enables practitioners to become aware of some of the usually preattentive processes involved in visual detection. The results support the statements found in Buddhist texts on meditation concerning the changes in perception encountered during the practice of mindfulness. (Quoted in Murphy & Donovan, 1997, p. 82)




Imagery Effects on White Blood Cells. Transpersonal psychologist Jeanne Achterberg’s (1985) book Imagery in Healing describes research demonstrating that mental imagery can be used to control very specific physiological processes, including the electrical activity of neurons and the number of particular types of white blood cells in the body that combat cancer (e.g., neutrophils or T-cells).
Imagery in the laboratory. In one study conducted at Michigan State University, eight male and eight female healthy medical and psychology students who believed they would be able to use their conscious mind to affect their immune system were selected for six training sessions in relaxation and the creative visualization of the shape, form and function of neutrophils as “garbage collectors that picked up trash and dumped it outside the body” (Achterberg, 1985, p. 200).
Images are the language of the body. Total white blood cell count for all 16 participants subsequently decreased significantly from pretest to posttest sessions (p<.0001) with almost the entire drop in blood cell count attributable to a decrease in circulating neutrophils. The count for all other white blood cells remained the same. Achterberg (1985) concluded: “Images… are the language the body understands, particularly with regards to the autonomic or involuntary nervous system” (p. 99). As far as the body is concerned, there is no relevant difference between an imagined reality (as in placebo effect) and a purely physical one (active chemotherapy).



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