[AffipgyncDync]

I remember listening to audio of joyful wisdom by Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche. He was asked to take part in an elaborate experiment by being hooked up with all sorts of wires to test brain wave patterns and that sort of thing. The process also called for him to be put in the CT scan machine, just big enough to lie in. Even he noticed that though he was fine in the moments leading up to going inside, once he was inside and unable to move his arms in any way this was when the "itch" began. Of course he had the urge to scratch, but he couldn't.

(BTW Rinpoche is undergoing a 3 year retreat at the moment)

Sorry to be a tiny bit off topic, but I guess this shows that it happens to the best of them. Like others had suggested, when meditating, it is best to make the decision to not scratch those itches, and things like that. It helps to make a firm decision that that particular time is set aside for practice. As one teacher said jokingly to his students during a short meditation session, "You can blink, you can swallow, but that's IT!"

What was the purpose and results of the brain tests? Im curious to know more about science on meditation.