HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Young, J. D.-E Articles by Taylor, E. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Young, J. D.-E Articles by Taylor, E.

Meditation as a Voluntary Hypometabolic State of Biological Estivation

John Ding-E Young and Eugene Taylor

J. D.-E Young is Adjunct Professor, Laboratory of Cellular Physiology and Immunology, Rockefeller University, and President of Inteplast Corp., Livingston, NJ, USA. E. Taylor is Lecturer on Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, and Core Faculty member, Saybrook Graduate School.
Meditation, a wakeful hypometabolic state of parasympathetic dominance, is compared with other hypometabolic conditions, such as sleep, hypnosis, and the torpor of hibernation. We conclude that there are many analogies between the physiology of long-term meditators and hibernators across the phylogenetic scale. These analogies further reinforce the idea that plasticity of consciousness remains a key factor in successful biological adaptation.