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From: lian sidorov
Date: 9/25/2000
Time: 11:55:02 PM
Remote Name: 165.166.44.14
A very interesting hypothesis has been put forth by Peter Fox (see Arch 8 - "Feasibility of macroscopic mechanisms in the brain", by Hameroff), regarding the oxygen requirements of consciousness itself.
Based on evidence from brain-imaging thechniques which show large increases in blood flow accompanied by little or no increse in oxygen uptake in areas of high cognitive activity, the theory suggests that the normal stream of consciousness is in fact phasic, consisting of rapidly alternating aerobic and anaerobic processes; the aerobic, dissipative phase involves extero-/proprioceptive/output interactions, while the act of consciousness itself represents the anaerobic, non-dissipative phase.
Beyond the support offered to quantum models of the brain (which require consciousness to be a non-dissipative process), this theory raises another interesting question: could it be the case that the meditative emphasis on reducing the breathing rate and prolonging the relative duration of expiration not only quiets the firing activity of the brain (as Austin shows in "Zen and the brain"), but actually produces a shift in the balance of aerobic/anaerobic processes? Could it be that the act of pure consciousness (as perhaps only an advanced meditator experiences) is, under normal circumstances, infinitesimally short-lasting, acting more like a ligand between the moments of stimulus processing? And in that case, could meditation be the process by which one learns to reduce both internal and external stimuli and allow these split-second, undetectable moments of pure consciousness to coalesce into an experience that is now perceivable?
Note 1: on this background, it is interesting to recall those rare but persistent accounts (e.g see "Sleeping, dreaming and dying" in the bibliography section) of yogis being able to suspend their breath for 8-9 minutes or even more at a time; this is done presumably not to break the world diving record, but in the context of meditative practice, to enhance the depth of absorption.
Note 2: there is a meditative practice analogy to the "pumping coherence" mentioned in the article - and that is the process of going from constantly reinforcing attention to sudden, effortless absorption into a state of stable, high energy, very low breathing rate and non-discoursive, non-imagistic mentation (samadhi). Although this could be simply a matter of chaotic behaviour and shifting into a new neural configuration equilibrium, the possiblity that perhaps we are witnessing some sort of quantum tunneling into a large scale, coherent anaerobic state is certainly intriguing.