title: EEG paroxysmal gamma waves during Bhramari Pranayama: a yoga breathing technique.
abstract: Here we report that a specific form of yoga can generate controlled high-frequency gamma waves. For the first time, paroxysmal gamma waves (PGW) were observed in eight subjects practicing a yoga technique of breathing control called Bhramari Pranayama (BhPr). To obtain new insights into the nature of the EEG during BhPr, we analyzed EEG signals using time-frequency representations (TFR), independent component analysis (ICA), and EEG tomography (LORETA). We found that the PGW consists of high-frequency biphasic ripples. This unusual activity is discussed in relation to previous reports on yoga and meditation. It is concluded this EEG activity is most probably non-epileptic, and that applying the same methodology to other meditation recordings might yield an improved understanding of the neurocorrelates of meditation.
authors.affiliation: RIKEN Brain Science Institute, Laboratory for Advanced Brain Signal Processing, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako-Shi, Saitama-Ken 351-0198, Japan. fvialatte@brain.riken.jp
authors.forename: François B
authors.initials: FB
authors.lastname: Vialatte
authors.forename: Hovagim
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bakardjian
authors.forename: Rajkishore
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Prasad
authors.forename: Andrzej
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cichocki
mesh_terms: D001931:Brain Mapping; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D004292:Dominance, Cerebral / Q000502:physiology; D004569:Electroencephalography; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000503:physiopathology; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000502:physiology*; D005583:Fourier Analysis; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional; D015225:Magnetoencephalography; D019122:Meditation / Q000523:psychology*; D012119:Respiration; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted; D012984:Software; D015013:Yoga / Q000523:psychology*