Systematic Studies on Physiological Changes Accompanying Mind/Body Practice and Energy Therapies

Principal Investigator: Shin Lin PhD

Affiliations: Professor of Cell Biology, Physiology, and Biomedical Engineering, University of California, Irvine

Background: Mind/body practice refers to a diverse family of physical and mental training routines such as meditation and qigong in which vital energy or internal qi is thought to be developed, enhanced and circulated in the body for maintenance of health and self healing. In mind/body therapy, the healer transmits qi to another person with or without touching to help cure disease. Because qi cannot be measured directly, a major problem in this field is the inability to gauge the presence and the progress of bioenergy during both practice and therapy. This is coupled with the lack of objective standards for qualifying mind/body trainers and energy healers. Thus, what is currently absent in this field is a comprehensive and systematic study linking different elements of mind/body practice to specific physiological markers and functions in both the practitioner and patient.

Hypotheses: The pattern and degree of measurable changes in specific physiologic parameters during mind/body practice and therapies reflect the level of previous training of the practitioner/healer, can be correlated to the type of body/respiration/mind regulation involved, and are similar during mind/body practice and during mind/body therapies when the practitioner/healer emits external qi towards a patient.

Methods and materials: The goal of the first year is to begin developing a tool to systematically and comprehensively measure physiologic changes linked to different elements and levels of mind/body practice and therapies. The purpose is to identify key standardized measurements that can be identified as a standard test kit. The potential components include blood pressure, respiratory function, electrocardiography, electroencephalography, local blood flow and local temperature. The sensitivity and specificity of this test kit will be examined on expert qigong masters and novices from various styles or schools. Subsequent research will be focused on revising and refining this standard test kit including advanced electroencephalography, infra-red thermography, functional optical coherence tomography, photon migration spectroscopy, biophoton counting, gas discharge visualization of bioenergy field, and electrodermal measurements of conductance and capacitance of acupoints and meridians, and skin galvanic response. The number of subjects will be expanded for this portion of the project.