title: Meditation as a Voluntary Hypometabolic State of Biological Estivation.
abstract: Meditation, a wakeful hypometabolic state of parasympathetic dominance, is compared with other hypometabolic conditions, such as sleep, hypnosis, and the torpor of hibernation. We conclude that there are many analogies between the physiology of long-term meditators and hibernators across the phylogenetic scale. These analogies further reinforce the idea that plasticity of consciousness remains a key factor in successful biological adaptation.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Cellular Physiology and Immunology, Rockefeller University, and President of Inteplast Corp., Livingston, NJ, USA.
authors.forename: John Ding-E
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Young
authors.forename: Eugene
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Taylor