R. Keith Wallace

A Controlled Study of the Effects of the Transcendental Meditation® Program on Cardiovascular Reactivity and Ambulatory Blood Pressure

Cardiovascular responses to stress reactivity has been proposed as a risk factor for hypertension. In this study, we evaluated the effects of stress reduction on both laboratory cardiovascular reactivity and ambulatory blood pressure in real life on 39 normotensive male subjects who were pretested for ambulatory blood pressure and cardiovascular reactivity to stress using a battery of laboratory stressors. Thereafter, subjects were randomly assigned to practice either the Transcendental Meditation (TM) technique or a cognitive-based stress education control (SEC) for four months. After 4 months, there was no change in cardiovascular response to stressors between the TM and control groups. However, the subjects regularly practicing TM demonstrated a significant reduction of 9 mm Hg (p < .04) in average ambulatory DBP compared to controls. Since ambulatory BP monitoring has been shown to be a better predictor of cardiovascular complications of hypertension than clinic BP, this finding may have important implications for primary prevention of CVD in normotensive subjects.

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.

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.

Beta-adrenergic receptor sensitivity in subjects practicing transcendental meditation

Several studies suggest that behavioral techniques such as meditation and relaxation may be associated with reduced end organ adrenergic receptor sensitivity. Thus far the evidence supporting this hypothesis has been indirect. We present preliminary findings showing reduced beta-adrenergic receptor sensitivity in a group of subjects practicing Transcendental Meditation. The meditation group (N = 10), compared to controls (N = 10), had a lower percentage of functional lymphocyte beta-adrenergic receptors (p = 0.009), but showed no difference in total receptor number or plasma catecholamines. There were no differences between the groups in Type A behavior, the Type A components, exercise, or family history of hypertension. The results provide some support for studies postulating that meditation is associated with reduced sympathetic adrenergic receptor sensitivity, and provide encouragement for the efficacy of receptor measurement in psychophysiology research.

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.

Anger expression correlates with platelet aggregation

Potential relationships between increased platelet aggregability and such psychological characteristics as hostility and anger were investigated as part of a larger intervention study investigating the potential efficacy of stress-reduction treatments. Participants performed 6-minute mental arithmetic tests under time pressure. Blood was sampled during the first minute of the task and whole blood platelet aggregation was measured in an aggregometer, using collagen and ADP. To assess anger and hostility, the authors used Spielbergers State-Trait Anger and Anger Expression scales together with the Cook-Medley Hostility Scale. The authors found positive correlations between collagen-induced platelet aggregation and outwardly expressed anger, as measured by the Anger Expression Scale. The findings suggested that modes of anger expression may be associated with increased platelet aggregation. If confirmed by future studies, this finding could provide a mechanism for the putative connection between anger/hostility and coronary heart disease.

Modification of the paired H reflex through the transcendental meditation and TM-Sidhi program.

The paired H reflex, considered to be the electrically evoked counterpart of the monosynaptic stretch reflex, provides a measure of motoneuron excitability under a variety of experimental and clinical conditions. This study investigated the longitudinal effects of an advanced meditation program (the TM-Sidhi program) on the paired H reflex at nine delay intervals (50, 70, 100, 150, 200, 250, 333, 500, and 1000 ms). An experimental group of 14 subjects with no mental or motor disorders was instructed in an advanced TM program known as the TM-Sidhi program and the control group (N = 8) practiced the TM technique only. The amplitude of the paired H reflex was significantly facilitated in the experimental male subjects at intervals 100 through 250 ms, whereas the experimental female subjects and controls showed no significant change. These results extend previous studies showing distinct physiologic differences between subjects practicing these two programs and are of additional interest because they show that the H reflex can be modified in normal subjects.

Academic Achievement and the Paired Hoffman Reflex in Students Practicing Meditation

The paired H reflex, considered to be the electrically evoked counterpart of the monosynaptic stretch reflex, provides a measure of motoneuron excitability under a variety of experimental and clinical conditions. It also offers a potentially useful tool in examining the neurophysiologic basis of alterations in reflex response in different states of awareness. This study investigated the relationship between the paired H reflex and academic achievement in students practicing the Transcendental Meditation program. The paired H reflex correlated significantly with grade point average, but not with SAT scores or any of three IQ measurements. These results suggest that the facilitation period of the paired H-reflex recovery curve may be a useful indicator of academic achievement, perhaps as a result of its relationship to awareness or wakefulness level.