Michael C. Dillbeck

Short-Term Longitudinal Effects of the Transcendental Meditation Technique on EEG Power and Coherence

EEG alpha coherence and slow alpha power were recorded from frontal and occipital derivations during relaxation or the Transcendental Meditation (TM) technique in fifteen subjects. Subjects were tested before and after a two-week baseline period in which half practiced twice daily relaxation and half did not change their schedule. All subjects were then instructed in the TM technique and retested after a two-week period of twice daily practice of the technique. During the first two-week period there were no group differences or group by session interactions, but there was a significant effect of repeated measurement, indicating a decrease in occipital power independent of group. After the two-week TM technique period, subjects showed a significant increase in frontal alpha coherence above a 0.95 threshold. Frontal alpha coherence was found to be a more sensitive discriminator of the TM technique than alpha power, which may clarify previously reported nonsignificant EEG differences between the TM technique and general relaxation.

Transcendental meditation and improved performance on intelligence-related measures: A longitudinal study

This two-year longitudinal study investigated the effect of participation in a special university curriculum, whose principal innovative feature is twice-daily practice of the Transcendental Meditation (TM) and TM-Sidhi program, on performance on Cattells Culture Fair Intelligence Test (CFIT) and Hicks reaction time. These measures are known to be correlated with general intelligence. One hundred college men and women were the subjects—45 from Maharishi International University (MIU) and 55 from the University of Northern Iowa (UNI). The experimental group (MIU) improved significantly on the CFIT (t=2.79, P<0.005); choice reaction time (t=9.10, P<0.0001); SD of choice reaction time (t=11.39, P<0.0001), and simple reaction time (t=2.11, P<0.025) over two years compared to the control group, which showed no improvement. Possible confounds of subjects age, education level, level of interest in meditation, fathers education level, and fathers annual income were controlled for using analysis of covariance and stepwise regression. The results replicate the findings of previous longitudinal studies on intelligence test scores at MIU, and indicate that participation in the MIU curriculum results in improvements in measures related to general intelligence.

systolic Blood Pressure and Long-term Practice of the Transcendental Meditation® and Tm-sidhi Program: Effects of Tm on Systolic Blood Pressure

&NA; Systolic blood pressure was measured in 112 subjects practicing the Transcendental Meditation (TM) and TM‐Sidhi programs. The subjects were between the ages of 35 and 64 years. A significant difference was found between the systolic blood pressures of subjects (matched for sex, race, and general educational background) practicing the TM and TM‐Sidhi programs and norms for the general population. This difference was independent of diet and exercise patterns but related to length of time meditating. A significant difference was also found between short‐term (under 5 years) and long‐term (over 5 years) participants of the TM program, covarying for age. No previous reports exist concerning the long‐term effects of the TM program on blood pressure. Despite methodological problems associated with cross sectional data, the findings suggest the beneficial effects of the long‐term practice of the TM and TM‐Sidhi programs on systolic blood pressure. Even if self‐selection plays a role, the characteristics of an easily identifiable group already showing traits beneficial to the general population deserves further study.

Elevated serum dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate levels in practitioners of the Transcendental Meditation (TM) and TM-Sidhi programs

Serum dehydroepiandosterone sulfate (DHEA-S) levels were measured in 270 men and 153 women who were experienced practitioners of the Transcendental Meditation (TM) and TM-Sidhi programs, mental techniques practiced twice daily, sitting quietly with the eyes closed. These were compared according to sex and 5-year age grouping to 799 male and 453 female nonmeditators. The mean DHEA-S levels in the TM group were higher in all 11 of the age groups measured in women and in 6 of 7 5-year age groups over 40 in men. There were no systematic differences in younger men. Simple regression using TM-group data revealed that this effect was independent of diet, body mass index, and exercise. The mean TM-group levels measured in all women and in the older men were generally comparable to those of nonmeditator groups 5 to 10 years younger. These findings suggest that some characteristics of TM practitioners are modifying the age-related deterioration in DHEA-S secretion by the adrenal cortex.

Meditation and flexibility of visual perception and verbal problem solving

This study investigates the effects of the regular practice of the Transcendental Meditation (TM) technique on habitual patterns of visual perception and verbal problem solving. The study’s predictions were expressed in the context of Norman’s model, which suggests that meditation reduces conceptually driven processes. It was specifically hypothesized that the TM technique involves a reduction of habitual patterns of perceptual and conceptual activation, resulting in (1) more effective application of schemata to new information and (2) less distracting mental activity during performance. This was predicted to result in improved task performance on task conditions in which either (1) habitual patterns of performance hinder or do not aid performance or (2) habitual patterns aid performance. Subjects began the TM technique, relaxed, or added nothing to their daily schedule for 2-week periods. In addition to generalized effects of the interventions, the immediate effects of the TM technique, relaxation, and reading were compared on a letter perception task. The general hypothesis was supported for tasks of tachistoscopic identification of card and letter-sequence stimuli, but not for the verbal problem solving task of anagram solution.

Frontal EEG Coherence, H-Reflex Recovery, Concept Learning, and the TM-Sidhi Program

This study investigated the relationship between frontal bilateral EEG coherence, H-reflex recovery (an index of CNS flexibility), and solution of a concept learning problem on which the correct concept is reversed during the task. It also assessed the longitudinal effect of the TM-Sidhi program on concept learning among the same sample of college students. Frontal EEG coherence and H-reflex recovery were significantly correlated with flexible performance on the concept learning task following the reversal. Instruction in the TM-Sidhi program significantly improved efficiency of concept-learning performance before the concept was reversed, although not afterward.

The effects of the transcendental meditation and tm-sidhi program on the aging process

To evaluate the effects of the Transcendental Meditation (TM) and TM-Sidhi program on the aging process, a standardized test of biological aging, utilizing auditory threshold, near point vision, and systolic blood pressure, was given to a cross-sectional group (N = 84) with a mean age of 53 years. There were 11 controls, 33 short-term TM and TM-Sidhi participants, and 40 long-term participants. The mean biological age of the controls was 2.2 years younger than for the general population; of the short-term TM subjects, 5.0 years younger; of the long-term TM subjects, 12.0 years younger. The difference between the groups was significant covarying for a diet factor. Also, there was a significant correlation between length of time practicing the TM program and biological age (r = -0.46). Together with numerous physiological and psychological studies conducted on the TM and TM-Sidhi program, this study suggests that the TM program may affect certain neural mechanisms which in turn influence age correlated physiological variables.

Longitudinal Effects of the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi Program on Cognitive Ability and Cognitive Style

50 college students practicing the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi program were administered the Culture Fair Intelligence Test and Group Embedded Figures Test. Significant longitudinal increases over a 3- to 5-yr. period were found in performance on both measures. In the context of normative data, these findings indicate that the practices contribute to an increase in the effectiveness of cognitive ability and cognitive style. The results are consistent with previous findings on the positive effect of the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi program on these variables in an educational setting.

Intersubject Eeg Coherence: Is Consciousness a Field?

EEG coherence was measured between pairs of three different subjects during a one-hour period practice of the Transcendental Meditation (TM) program. Coherence between subjects was evaluated for two sequential fifteen minute periods. On six experimental days, these periods preceded and then coincided with a fifteen minute period during which 2500 students participated in the TM-Sidhi program at a course over 1000 miles away. After the course had ended coherence was evaluated on six control days. It was found that intersubject coherence was generally low, between 0.35 and 0.4, with coherence in the alpha (8-12 Hz) and beta (16-20 Hz) frequencies significantly higher than at other frequencies. On the experimental days, intersubject EEG coherence increased during the experimental period relative to the fifteen minute baseline period immediately preceding the experimental period. Coherence increased significantly from baseline to experimental periods on experimental days compared with control days (p = 0.02). This effect was particularly evident in the alpha and beta frequencies. The results reinforce previous sociological studies showing decreased social disorder in the vicinity of TM and TM-Sidhi participants and are discussed in terms of a field theoretic view of consciousness.

Participation in the transcendental meditation program and frontal EEG coherence during concept learning

This study assesses variation in frontal bilateral EEG coherence among normal subjects during trials of a concept learning task; the task used a concept-reversal paradigm found from prior research to distinguish frontal lobe patients from normal adults. Subjects were either participants in the Transcendental Meditation (TM) program or controls matched for age, sex, and intellectual ability, and additional experimental factors were whether or not the subject gained information on a given trial and whether or not the trial occurred before, during, or after the shift of concept. It was hypothesized that: (1) higher frontal EEG coherence (alpha and beta frequencies) would be associated with trials on which information was gained; (2) higher coherence in the same frequencies would be found in the two concept-solution periods in contrast to the concept-reversal period that divided them; and (3) these patterns would be more clearly expressed among TM program participants. Each hypothesis received partial support. The first hypothesis was true only for TM program participants for alpha coherence, and only during the first concept-solution period for beta coherence. The second hypothesis was true for alpha coherence only, and the third hypothesis received support for alpha coherence. Results were not attributable to muscle or eye artifacts. However, a different response style was found to the change in concept among the two groups; control subjects displayed greater arousal (muscle artifact) during the concept-reversal period, while TM program participants displayed less arousal.