Abstract
ObjectivesAlthough mindfulness meditation is the familiar and researched form of mental training derived from Buddhism, it represents but one form of practice. Monastic debate is an interactive and dyadic analytical meditation practice that originates from the Tibetan Buddhist tradition where monastics seek to jointly deepen their understanding of complicated philosophical issues. To date, monastic debate and analytic meditation have yet to be examined in the context of scientific investigation.MethodsIn the current study, we examined the neural correlates of this analytical meditation practice by means of hyperscanning electroencephalography, a method well-suited for examining social interactions.ResultsConsistent with the idea that analytical meditation helps to train concentration, we observed that over the course of the debate, mid-frontal theta oscillations—a correlate of absorption—increased significantly. This increase was stronger for more experienced monks as compared with monks at the beginning of their education. In addition, we found evidence for increases in synchrony in frontal alpha oscillations between paired debaters during moments of agreement as compared with disagreement on a set of premises.ConclusionsTogether, these findings provide an initial understanding of Tibetan monastic debate and analytical meditation using neuroscientific methods.
Highlights
To examine the process of debate in more detail, electroencephalography (EEG) investigations of this practice are needed that leverage what we know about the role of different brain oscillations in cognition as well as phenomenological descriptions by the monastic part of the team
We focused our investigation on the most common configuration for debate, which involves two monastics: a “challenger” whose role is to put forth a thesis related to canonical Buddhist principles and find contradictions in the logical argument of his opponent, known as the “defender,” whose role is to try to interpret the thesis proposed by the challenger and to respond from the perspective of logic and consistency with the canonical texts from Buddhism
We observed a statistically significant increase in frontal alpha inter-brain synchronization for agreement relative to disagreement (linear mixed effects χ2(1) = 3.94, p = 0.05, BF10 = 1.14, Fig. 3)
Summary
Differences in Inter-brain Synchronization Between Agreement and Disagreement Periods. The interaction of role and experience did not add to the prediction of mid-frontal theta power (χ2(1) = 0.69, p = 0.40, BF10 = 2.29) In this first study consisting of heterogeneous debate dyads, we tried out many theoretically and hypothesis-driven configurations to assess the influence of different factors on the progression of the debate and associated brain activity. We asked whether this increase in mid-frontal theta was larger for more experienced monks than beginner monks, whether it depended on whether they were challenger or defender, and whether it differed between counting and logic debates. We observed a trend towards a significant effect of experience (χ2(1) = 3.58, p = 0.058, BF10 = 1.16), with a larger increase in theta power for more experienced monks compared with beginner monks (post hoc t test t = 2.58, p = 0.011).
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
