Our failure in devising effective clinical measures for different sleep disorders results from the fact that we don’t really understand the role and functioning of sleep in maintaining the body to its extent. Within this context, we share a possible connection between meditation and sleep and discuss how the study of one may help in understanding the other better. Such a correlation and connection can give us novel insights in knowing the fundamental nature and purpose of sleep in one’s life. The possible influence of the practice of meditation on sleep quality also gives a promising hope for different sleep problems. From this viewpoint, meditation may serve as a non-invasive and preventive sleep medicine

Reddy, J Shashi Kiran

Roy, Sisir

NIAS Repository

NeuroQuantology | November 2018 | Volume 16 | Issue 11 | Page 100-103 | doi: 10.14704/nq.2018.16.11.1457 Reddy J.S.K., Meditation as a Preventive Sleep Medicine eISSN 1303-5150                                                                                       www.neuroquantology.com 100      Meditation as a Preventive Sleep Medicine   J. Shashi Kiran Reddy1*, Sisir Roy2 ABSTRACT Our failure in devising effective clinical measures for different sleep disorders results from the fact that we don’t really understand the role and functioning of sleep in maintaining the body to its extent. Within this context, we share a possible connection between meditation and sleep and discuss how the study of one may help in understanding the other better. Such a correlation and connection can give us novel insights in knowing the fundamental nature and purpose of sleep in one’s life. The possible influence of the practice of meditation on sleep quality also gives a promising hope for different sleep problems. From this viewpoint, meditation may serve as a non-invasive and preventive sleep medicine.    Key Words: Sleep, Meditation, Sleep Medicine, Neural Noise DOI Number: 10.14704/nq.2018.16.11.1457 NeuroQuantology 2018; 16(11):100-103  Introduction While we don’t have a precise definition and understanding of what being a life means, still there are few aspects that we usually relate to a living experience. The subjective experience of one’s existence is what we typically consider as the essence of life (Hodgson, 1898; Reddy and Pereira, 2016, 2017b). The sense of Self being a core experiential element constitutes the so-called first-person perspective of one’s living experience. Only through this awareness of the individual Self can one differentiate oneself from the other (or external surroundings) (Hodgson, 1898; Reddy, 2017a, b; Reddy and Roy, 2018a, b; Reddy et al., 2018d). Apart from some transpersonal experience cases (known to involve mystical and spiritual components) and abnormal conditions (like neurological disorders) (Tsoukalas, 2010; Ananthaswamy, 2015; Reddy and Roy, 2018a), there exists only one state during which an individual doesn't retain this sense of Self – deep sleep (non-REM) state (Travis, 2011: Sharma, 2004; Reddy and Roy, 2018a,b,d). Although the former conditions are treated as the altered states of experience, the latter one is considered as a quite normal and healthy condition. Sleep is one such enigmatic phenomenon which makes an essential and integral part of one’s living experience (Sharma, 2004; Krueger et al., 2016). Here, one interesting thing is that during some phases of the sleep cycle, though the fundamental sense of one’s Self is not retained and the awareness of the external world is absent, we nevertheless consider it as a part of the living experience (in contradiction to the very definition of living). As part of our living process, we spend approximately one-third of our lifetime dedicated to sleep (Raven et al., 2017). Although we now know a few benefits of sleep in maintaining the functions of the brain and body, the essential role of sleep is still not very clear (Krueger et al., 2016). Through this work, we would like to share a possible connection between meditation and sleep and discuss how the study of one may help in understanding the other better. Such a correlation and connection can give us novel insights in knowing the fundamental nature and purpose of sleep in one’s life.   Meditation and Sleep The fact that both meditation and sleep play a constructive part in preserving the structural plasticity and resilience of the brain, and also the   Corresponding author: J. Shashi Kiran Reddy  Address: 1 Research Scholar, Bengaluru-560064, 2National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS), Bangalore, India   e-mail  jumpal_shashi@yahoo.com, jumpalreddy@live.com   Relevant conflicts of interest/financial disclosures: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial  or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.  Received: 12 April 2018; Accepted: 5 September 2018 NeuroQuantology | November 2018 | Volume 16 | Issue 11 | Page 100-103 | doi: 10.14704/nq.2018.16.11.1457 Reddy J.S.K., Meditation as a Preventive Sleep Medicine eISSN 1303-5150                                                                                       www.neuroquantology.com 101 synaptic strength, suggests a possible connection between them (Braboszcz et al., 2010; Travis, 2011; Nagendra et al., 2012; Dahl et al., 2015; Tang et al., 2015; Parrino and Vaudano, 2017; Raven et al., 2017). We lack the detailed knowledge of sleep for one reason that we cannot have a conscious subject giving us a constant feedback of the experiential states of awareness. In addition to this, various aspects and stages of sleep makes it more difficult to conduct a rigorous investigation. All the knowledge that we have on sleep is based on the analysis of the data collected during sleep from different subjects (ranging from healthy individuals to those suffering from sleep disorders). Sleep again is equally personal and individual dependent as the practice of meditation. Just like various factors affect the practice and progress of meditation, there are numerous factors that affect the quality of sleep (Travis, 2011; Krueger et al., 2016; Reddy and Roy, 2018b,c). While meditation has to be practiced, sleep happens naturally in a healthy condition. In general, the presence of awareness seems to be central to any type of meditation practiced across different cultures and traditions of the globe (Schmidt, 2014; Tang et al., 2015; Reddy and Roy, 2018a,b,c). The essential practice in almost all these cases involves a sustained internal awareness, and sometimes depending on the type of meditation, one may need to retain the external awareness as well (Travis, 2011; Schmidt, 2014). To an extent, one’s state of awareness during the REM-sleep can be understood in comparison to the concept of internal awareness during a particular meditation (where the subject is asked to witness the flow of random thoughts without being identified with them) (Travis, 2011; Mota-Rolim and Araujo, 2013). During this sleep phase, although an individual doesn't have an external awareness of the surroundings, one is internally aware and accessing one’s own contents of consciousness (as in meditation), and this is what the dreams constitute (Voss et al., 2009; Mota-Rolim and Araujo, 2013). There is a subject witnessing the dream content, though one may not be spontaneously aware of these happenings to oneself (because of the absence of one’s bodily Self). Some reported studies also suggest that one can retain such awareness during the conditions of lucid dreaming (Voss et al., 2009; Mota-Rolim and Araujo, 2013; Voss et al., 2014). Nevertheless, in deep sleep, there is no awareness in the sense we described above. On the other hand, it is interesting to know that some ancient cultures were aware of such a connection between sleep and meditation and recommended techniques that use sleep as a tool to reach a deeper meditative state called Samadhi; which may finally result in one’s inner awakening (Sharma, 2004; Saraswati, 2008; Travis, 2011; Nagendra et al., 2012; Reddy and Roy, 2018b,c). Following this, some experienced meditators are known to transcend the normal states of awareness during sleep by the process called Yoga Nidra (Saraswati, 2008; Mota-Rolim and Araujo, 2013) and can consciously monitor the contents of awareness. It would be highly beneficial if one can conduct research studies on these subjects (like in the case of meditation) to create a better understanding of sleep in terms of the different levels of awareness. Thus, one can acquire the knowledge of the states of awareness during different sleep phases from meditation studies. Besides, since we are not certain as to what neural patterns corresponds to the presence of internal awareness (Braboszcz et al., 2017; Reddy and Roy, 2018b,c); the comparative studies on different phases of sleep over progressive stages of meditation are needed.  Some believe that one physiological and functional role of sleep is to flush out the toxic metabolites accumulated in the brain during one’s wakeful state (Xie et al., 2013; Krueger et al., 2016). The glymphatic system that controls the flow of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) becomes active during sleep and it is responsible for the clearance of toxic wastes which may otherwise result in various neurodegenerative conditions. Alternatively, there are studies which report that the practice of meditation enhances the sleep quality by influencing various functional mechanisms in the brain and the body (Schulze, 2004; Winbush et al., 2007; Travis, 2011; Nagendra et al., 2012; Mota-Rolim and Araujo, 2013; Hubbling et al., 2014; Xie et al., 2013; Black et al., 2015; Dentico et al., 2016; Wang et al., 2016). In light of these studies and an existing similarity between both meditation and sleep in terms of retaining only the internal awareness (with the absence of motor activity), it would make an interesting study as to how the glymphatic function is connected to the practice of meditation. Whether it gets active as in sleep during deeper states of meditation? Is there a change in the functional operation of the NeuroQuantology | November 2018 | Volume 16 | Issue 11 | Page 100-103 | doi: 10.14704/nq.2018.16.11.1457 Reddy J.S.K., Meditation as a Preventive Sleep Medicine eISSN 1303-5150                                                                                       www.neuroquantology.com 102 glymphatic system in experienced meditators in comparison to a novice? Such studies would help in unveiling a deeper connection between meditation and sleep, and may alternatively suggest the practice of meditation for the efficient functioning of the glymphatic system and thereby reduce the effects caused by sleep loss or deprivation (Brower and Perron, 2010; Krause et al., 2017). This may propose a new implication where meditation can serve as a preventive sleep medicine. One can also look at both the meditation and sleep in terms of neural noise. Since we now know the role played by noise in different aspects of the brain function (McDonnell, 2011; Roy and Llinás, 2012; Dinstein et al., 2015; Roy, 2016), it is obvious to ask as to what extent noise contributes to meditation and sleep. In some practices of meditation, a higher degree of brain wave coherence and reduced neural noise are observed (Travis et al., 2010; Dissanayaka et al., 2015). Some view that this reduction in noise and the brain wave synchronization could result from the fact that during the process of meditation one will have a reduced amount of cognitive content and thoughts (Travis et al., 2010; Bærentsen, 2015). If this is the case, then healthy sleep should also result in the reduced neural noise and higher coherence. Any deviation from natural sleep rhythms may increase the noise levels which in turn result in various neural disorders. Within this context, it would be interesting to study the role of noise in sleep, and see how one can characterize meditation and sleep with respect to noise. Such studies may also shed a new light on understanding neural disorders and aid in devising new clinical methodologies.  Conclusions Since we lack an effective sleep medicine to reduce the functional defects caused by sleep disorders, we want to bring about the connection between sleep and meditation, and recommend the practice of meditation in these cases. Our failure in devising such clinical measures results from the fact that we don’t really understand the role and functioning of sleep in maintaining the body to its extent. Even in this context, meditation research may offer helpful insights on the phenomenon of sleep both from physiological and psychological perspectives. The possible influence of the practice of meditation on sleep quality gives a promising hope for different sleep problems. There is a need to understand sleep via meditation research because they have a close connection in terms of the physiological mechanisms influencing the functioning of the brain and body. In this connection, meditation (and also the practice of meditative movements) may serve as a non-invasive and preventive sleep medicine.  Acknowledgments Prof. Sisir Roy would like to acknowledge Homi Bhabha Trust, Mumbai for their Support.  References Ananthaswamy A. The man who wasn’t there: Investigations into the strange new science of the self. Dutton; 2015.  Bærentsen KB. Patanjali and neuroscientific research on meditation. Frontiers in Psychology 2015; 6: 915. Black DS, O’reilly GA, Olmstead R, Breen EC, Irwin MR. Mindfulness meditation and improvement in sleep quality and daytime impairment among older adults with sleep disturbances: a randomized clinical trial. JAMA İnternal Medicine 2015;175(4): 494-501. Braboszcz C, Hahusseau S, Delorme A. Meditation and neuroscience: from basic research to clinical practice. Integrative clinical psychology, psychiatry and behavioral medicine: Perspectives, practices and research. Springer 2010:1910-29.  Braboszcz, C., Cahn, B. R., Levy, J., Fernandez, M., and Delorme, A. Increased Gamma Brainwave Amplitude Compared to Control in Three  Different Meditation Traditions,  PLoS ONE 2017; 12(1): 1-27. Brower KJ, Perron BE. Sleep disturbance as a universal risk factor for relapse in addictions to psychoactive substances. Medical Hypotheses 2010; 74(5): 928-33.  Dahl CJ, Lutz A, Davidson RJ. Reconstructing and deconstructing the self: cognitive mechanisms in meditation practice. Trends in Cognitive Sciences 2015; 19(9): 515-23. Dentico D, Ferrarelli F, Riedner BA, Smith R, Zennig C, Lutz A, Tononi G, Davidson RJ. Short meditation trainings enhance non-REM sleep low-frequency oscillations. PLoS One 2016; 11(2): e0148961. Dinstein I, Heeger DJ, Behrmann M. Neural variability: friend or foe?. Trends in Cognitive Sciences 2015; 19(6): 322-28. Dissanayaka C, Ben-Simon E, Gruberger M, Maron-Katz A, Sharon H, Hendler T, Cvetkovic D. Comparison between human awake, meditation and drowsiness EEG activities based on directed transfer function and MVDR coherence methods. Medical & Biological Engineering & Computing 2015; 53(7): 599-607. Hodgson SH. The metaphysic of experience. London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1898.  Hubbling A, Reilly-Spong M, Kreitzer MJ, Gross CR. How mindfulness changed my sleep: Focus groups with chronic insomnia patients. BMC complementary and Alternative Medicine 2014; 14(1): 50. Krause AJ, Simon EB, Mander BA, Greer SM, Saletin JM, Goldstein-Piekarski AN, Walker MP. The sleep-deprived human brain. Nature Reviews Neuroscience 2017; 18(7): 404-18. Krueger JM, Frank MG, Wisor JP, Roy S. Sleep function: toward elucidating an enigma. Sleep Medicine Reviews 2016; 28: 46-54. NeuroQuantology | November 2018 | Volume 16 | Issue 11 | Page 100-103 | doi: 10.14704/nq.2018.16.11.1457 Reddy J.S.K., Meditation as a Preventive Sleep Medicine eISSN 1303-5150                                                                                       www.neuroquantology.com 103 McDonnell MD, Ward LM. The benefits of noise in neural systems: bridging theory and experiment. Nature Reviews Neuroscience 2011; 12(7): 415-26. Mota-Rolim SA, Araujo JF. Neurobiology and clinical implications of lucid dreaming. Medical Hypotheses 2013; 81(5): 751-56. Nagendra RP, Maruthai N, Kutty BM. Meditation and its regulatory role on sleep. Frontiers in Neurology 2012; 3: 54. Parrino L, Vaudano AE. The resilient brain and the guardians of sleep: New perspectives on old assumptions. Sleep Medicine Reviews 2018; 39: 98-107. Raven F, Van der Zee EA, Meerlo P, Havekes R. The role of sleep in regulating structural plasticity and synaptic strength: Implications for memory and cognitive function. Sleep Medicine Reviews 2017. Reddy JSK, Pereira C. On Science & the perception of Reality. Journal of Consciousness Exploration & Research 2016; 7(7): 584-87  Reddy JSK. A novel subject-object model of consciousness. NeuroQuantology 2017a; 15(1): 79-85.  Reddy JSK. Subjective Science and Absolute Reality. Journal of Consciousness, 2017b; 18 (60) - 663-674. Reddy JSK, Roy S. Consciousness as an Inhibited Manifestation and Quantum Physics. Integrative  Physiological and Behavioral Science 2018a; 52(4): 694-701.  Reddy JSK,  Roy  S.  Issues, Possibilities and the role of neural noise in Meditation  Research.  Rev. Simbio-Logias 2018b; 10 (13). 10.32905/19833253.2018.13.10p149  Reddy JSK, Roy S. Commentary:  Patanjali  and  neuroscientific research on meditation. Front. Psychol. 2018c; 9:248. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00248 Reddy JSK, Roy S, Pereira A Jr and Edilene SL. The ‘Self’ Aspects: The Sense of Presence, Identification, and Location. Integrative Physiological and Behavioral Science 2018d (Accepted). Roy S, Llinás R. The role of noise in brain function. InScience: Image In Action. Singapore: World Scientific Publishers, 2012: 34-44. Roy S. Decision Making and Modelling in Cognitive Science. Springer India, 2016. Sharma A. Sleep as a state of consciousness in Advaita Vedanta. State University of New York Press, Albany, 2004. Saraswati SS. Yoga Nidra. Bihar: Yoga Publications Trust,  2008. Schmidt S. Opening Up Meditation for Science: The Development of a Meditation Classification System. In: Schmidt S, Walach H, editors. Meditation - Neuroscientific Approaches and Philosophical Implications. Switzerland: Springer International Publishing, 2014:137-52. Schulze G. Sleep protects excitatory cortical circuits against oxidative damage. Medical Hypotheses 2004; 63(2): 203-07. Tang YY, Hölzel BK, Posner MI. The neuroscience of mindfulness meditation. Nature Reviews Neuroscience 2015; 16(4): 213-25. Travis F, Haaga DA, Hagelin J, Tanner M, Arenander A, Nidich S, Gaylord-King C, Grosswald S, Rainforth M, Schneider RH. A self-referential default brain state: patterns of coherence, power, and eLORETA sources during eyes-closed rest and Transcendental Meditation practice. Cognitive Processing 2010; 11(1): 21-30. Travis F. States of Consciousness Beyond Waking, Dreaming and Sleeping: Perspectives from Research on Meditation Experiences. In: Cvetkovic D, Cosic I, editors. States of consciousness: Experimental insights into meditation, waking, sleep and dreams. New York: Springer; 2011: 257-72. Tsoukalas I. Conceiving God: Perversions and Brainstorms: A Thesis on the Origins of Human Religiosity. Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2010. Voss U, Holzmann R, Tuin I, Hobson AJ. Lucid dreaming: a state of consciousness with features of both waking and non-lucid dreaming. Sleep 2009; 32(9): 1191-200. Voss U, Holzmann R, Hobson A, Paulus W, Koppehele-Gossel J, Klimke A, Nitsche MA. Induction of self awareness in dreams through frontal low current stimulation of gamma activity. Nature Neuroscience 2014; 17(6): 810-12. Wang F, Lee OE, Feng F, Vitiello MV, Wang W, Benson H, Fricchione GL, Denninger JW. The effect of meditative movement on sleep quality: a systematic review. Sleep medicine Reviews 2016; 30: 43-52. Winbush NY, Gross CR, Kreitzer MJ. The effects of mindfulness-based stress reduction on sleep disturbance: a systematic review. EXPLORE: the Journal of Science and Healing 2007; 3(6): 585-91. Xie L, Kang H, Xu Q, Chen MJ, Liao Y, Thiyagarajan M, O’Donnell J, Christensen DJ, Nicholson C, Iliff JJ, Takano T. Sleep drives metabolite clearance from the adult brain. Science 2013; 342(6156): 373-77.  

Meditation as a Preventive Sleep Medicine

http://eprints.nias.res.in/460/1/2018-NeuroQuantology-SisirRoy.pdf

Meditation as a Preventive Sleep Medicine

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

NIAS Repository