Neuroscientists reveal results of their research conducted over many years. In an experiment the researchers injected a radioactive dye through a long tube into a person's vein at the precise moment that he indicated having reached his “peak moment of meditation”. After that, they took SPECT (Single Photo Emission Computed Tomography) scans of his brain. The dye that flowed into his brain remained there for hours. The SPECT scans freeze-framed the brain’s activity before and during his peak moment. The results showed that in the usually active area known as the orientation area (OA) there was decreased neurological activity . This was also the finding in several other meditators. The researchers reasoned that although the OA was as active as normal, the inflow of information had been blocked. This explained the decreased activity in the area. They further proposed that without information flowing in from the senses, the brain would fail to find the boundary between the self and the external world. As such, the brain would perceive the self as limitless and interwoven with everyone and everything the mind sensed, and this experience would feel undoubtedly real.
In reality, this is how Hindu mystics have described their peak meditative or mystical moments.
Other researchers have studied the Hindu meditation known as Transcendental Meditation (TM). They report of its benefits, that long term practitioners of TM have significantly lower blood pressure than those who do not practice TM.
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