Meditation alters perceptual rivalry in Tibetan Buddhist monks

Abstract

Neuroscientific studies of the mind are likely to benefit from the insights and skills of Tibetan Buddhist monks who have practiced the historic tradition of meditative training over many years — a point made recently at a forum between a selection of Buddhist leaders and distinguished scientists. Perceptual rivalries, such as binocular rivalry and motion induced blindness, are being used to study the neural mechanisms underlying consciousness and attention, as they involve fluctuations in conscious awareness despite unchanging external stimulation. Tapping into the ability of Tibetan Buddhist monks to control the flow of items being attended to and accessing consciousness, we found that meditation alters the inherent fluctuations in conscious state associated with perceptual rivalry.