EEG phase coherence, pure consciousness, creativity, and TM--Sidhi experiences

Abstract

Males (n = 12, M age 25.6 yrs) with clear experiences (CE) of both "pure consciousness" (unbounded inner awareness without thoughts) and the TM--Sidhi techniques (mental procedures derived from Vedic Science to enhance cognitive, perceptual and other abilities) were compared with unclear experience (UE) males (n = 10, M age 25.5 yrs) on creativity (ideational fluency, Torrance, Novel Uses, Verbal) and EEG coherence, a measure of phase stability derived from Fourier series analysis. Multivariate analysis of variance of coherence between four pairs of EEG derivations (F3F4, F3C3, F4C4, C3C4) and a t-test on the creativity variable showed that CE subjects had higher alpha (8--12 Hz) coherence (p = 0.052) and higher creativity (p = 0.011) than UE subjects. Several of the alpha coherence variables were positively correlated with creativity: Bilateral Frontal (F3F4), r = 0.65, p = 0.001; Homolateral Right, r = 0.50, p = 0 .011; mean of the four alpha variables, r = 0.66, p = 0.001; Dominant Alpha (area of highest alpha coherence for each subject) r = 0.64, p = 0.001. It is concluded that: (1) information processing, at least to the extent measured by ideational fluency, is enhanced in those with clear experiences of pure consciousness and the TM--Sidhi techniques, (2) that EEG coherence is a psychophysiological correlate of this subject variable and (3) that the results may be generalizable to the field of information processing and "peak experiences" described in Humanistic psychology.