Is E-Meditation the wave of the future?
January 31, 2017
Neuroscience doctoral student Bashar Badran set up the study so that participants could be alone during their meditation session. Photo by Sarah Pack
The premise is simple. More people might practice and benefit from meditation if it weren’t so hard to do.
That idea, paired with some wires and a 9-volt battery in the hands of neuroscience Ph.D. candidate Bashar Badran, turned into a research study published recently in the journal Brain Stimulation that is the first to look at using transcranial direct current stimulation, known as tDCS, to enhance meditation.
The pilot trial shows the use of tDCS actually could make meditating easier, demonstrating the feasibility and safety of using tDCS paired with a guided mindfulness meditation audio to help subjects achieve a calmer state. Badran calls his novel tDCS-enhanced meditation technique “e-meditation.”