Transcendental Meditation research
Encyclopedia
Practitioners of the Transcendental Meditation technique
(TM) have claimed that the technique is more effective than other meditation
practices. Independent systematic reviews have not found health benefits for the Transcendental Meditation technique beyond relaxation
or health education
. It is difficult to determine definitive effects of "meditation practices in healthcare" as the quality of research has design limitations and a lack of methodological rigor. Part of this difficulty is because many studies where conducted by researchers with connection to the TM organization, and where conducted on subjects with a favorable opinion of TM.
There has been ongoing research into the Transcendental Meditation technique since studies first conducted at UCLA and Harvard University
in the early 1970s. The research has included studies on physiological changes during meditation, clinical applications, cognitive effects, mental health, addiction, and rehabilitation. Beginning in the 1990s, a focus of research has been the effects of Transcendental Meditation on cardiovascular disease, with over $20 million in funding from the National Institutes of Health
.
and meta-analysis
funded by the NIH Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) found that the effects of TM were no greater than health education regarding blood pressure
, body weight, heart rate
, stress, anger, self-efficacy, cholesterol
, dietary intake, or level of physical activity. This same review performed a meta-analysis that compared TM to progressive muscle relaxation and found that TM produced a greater reduction in blood pressure. The report analyzed studies that compared TM to no treatment and found that it did not produce significantly greater benefits on blood pressure but did produce improvement in cholesterol levels and verbal creativity. In studies that compared TM to a wait-listed control group, TM resulted in greater reduction in blood pressure. The report's assessment of before-and-after studies on patients with essential hypertension found a reduction in blood pressure after practicing TM. The review concludes that firm conclusions regarding health effects cannot be drawn due to the poor quality of the research, though TM researchers said an inappropriate method of quality assessment was used. David Orme-Johnson, former director of research at Maharishi University of Management, in a published critique of the AHRQ report, noted that 98 “potentially relevant” research papers that were suggested for inclusion by the study’s peer-reviewers were disregarded. He also said that the study excluded three categories of studies on meditation that have been included in previous reviews (meditation and alcohol/drug use, adolescents, mortality), and that the study did not control for the confounding of meditation effects and exercise effects.
A 2007 medical textbook on heart disease said that "TM has been shown to not only improve blood pressure but also the insulin resistance
components of metabolic syndrome
and cardiac autonomic nervous system
tone" in subjects with cardiovascular disease, compared with matched controls given only health education. A 2007 review said that data from two studies found reduced mortality from all causes over a mean period of 8 years in subjects practicing Transcendental Meditation, compared to controls. In both studies, the controls practiced relaxation techniques, and in one study TM was compared with health education. The review said that its findings are consistent with other research that has found improved blood pressure, insulin resistance, and cardiac autonomic-nervous-system tone in subjects with cardiovascular disease. The review concluded that psychosocial
interventions are effective in alleviating distress in cardiovascular patients but that further research is needed to firmly establish that these interventions can affect disease processes, morbidity, and mortality. Independent research reviews also note that a 2000 study published in Stroke
found that Transcendental Meditation, compared to health education, reduces atherosclerosis.
A 2006 independent systematic review said, "a small body of research suggests that TM and group-oriented stress management may be effective in reducing psychosocial stress and its effects for African Americans..." The findings include reduced sleep dysfunction and increased health locus of control. The review noted a finding of reduced mortality in African Americans in comparison to a standard relaxation technique. The reviewer said that of the six studies on African-Americans involving TM, one showed no improvement, and only two used blinding; however all were randomized controlled trials. The study also found that in first-world populations, several meta-analyses indicate that TM reduces anxiety, smoking, alcohol and drug misuse, and improves psychological health.
A 2008 meta-analysis of nine studies found a 4.7 mmHg systolic blood pressure and 3.2 mmHg diastolic blood pressure decrease in those who practiced TM compared to control groups that included health education. Three of the studies were assessed as good quality, three as acceptable, and three suboptimal, with subgroup analyses finding no significant difference among the results of the weaker and stronger studies. The review and its primary author were partially funded by Howard Settle, a proponent of TM.
A 2007 meta-analysis by researchers at Maharishi University of Management and the University of Kentucky found that TM significantly lowered blood pressure but that biofeedback, progressive muscle relaxation, and stress management training did not. The results differed from the 2007 government report mentioned above because the authors removed overlapping studies, corrected data collection errors, and included studies outside the scope of that report.
A 2009 review reported on research by MUM graduate Vernon Barnes and his colleagues at the Medical College of Georgia on variables related to blood pressure that found that, compared to an eyes-closed relaxation control group, the TM group had increased cardiac output and decreased peripheral resistance as well as decreased systolic blood pressure.
Reviews in 2010 and 2011 reported a 2009 study by MUM and American University researchers on 298 college students that found decreased blood pressure in the TM group that was associated with a reduction in stress and hostility, and an increase in coping.
and meta analysis by the Cochrane collaboration
was unable to draw any conclusions regarding the effectiveness of meditation therapy (including TM ) for ADHD due to the lack of suitable evidence.
Seventy studies on TM were included in a 1989 meta-analysis conducted by a Stanford University physicist and longtime TM practitioner and two past members of the MUM faculty which found that relaxation techniques reduce trait anxiety and that Transcendental Meditation had a larger effect size
than other relaxation techniques. The meta-analysis was criticized in a 2003 editorial by Peter Canter because it included studies with no control groups, while a 2009 textbook on research-based alternative medicine characterized it as "thorough and well designed."
According to research reviews, three studies conducted by a Maharishi University of Management doctoral student and reported in 2001 in the scholarly journal Intelligence
found that TM reduced anxiety compared to simple rest, contemplative meditation, and no treatment. A randomized controlled trial involving 154 high school students in China found that TM reduced anxiety compared to a control group that simply lay down to rest or sleep, which the authors said indicates that TM has an effect beyond simply resting. This study was replicated by the same researchers in two subsequent randomized controlled trials involving Chinese and Taiwanese students using contemplative meditation and no-treatment control groups. The three studies, characterized by Shauna Shapiro and Roger Walsh
in a 2003 research review as being "well-designed studies", also found that TM improves cognitive performance, including increased practical intelligence, creativity, and speed of information processing. A 2011 review by Shapiro, et al., said the studies "provide good support for the use of TM to enhance several forms of information processing in students."
A 2003 review by Peter Canter and Edzard Ernst
concluded that evidence does not support a specific or cumulative effect from TM on cognitive function. The review did find positive results in studies that recruited people with favorable opinions of TM, and used passive control procedures.
Walsh, in a 2007 psychotherapy textbook, characterized as "well-designed" a randomized controlled trial which found that TM improved cognitive function and mental health in nursing home residents compared to relaxation, no treatment, and mindfulness training. He writes that other studies have found that TM subjects typically score higher on measures of cognitive development, self-actualization, coping skills, and moral development.
s in California and Walpole State Prison
in Massachusetts found that recidivism rates were reduced by as much as 47%. Overall, the TM prisoners at Folsom were 43% less likely to return to prison compared to control groups. The study at Folsom also looked at anxiety measures and found a sharp reduction compared to controls. The review said that meditation studies may be subject to researcher bias and self-selection bias, but concluded that policy makers and prison officials may want to implement meditation programs in prisons.
Three randomized controlled trials on TM have shown reduced substance abuse. According to the Cambridge Textbook of Effective Treatments in Psychiatry, a randomized controlled trial that included the use of Transcendental Meditation in treating alcoholism found that TM and biofeedback increased abstinence in alcoholics. The textbook concluded that there is not yet sufficient evidence for use as treatment but that meditation can help alcoholic patients in a variety of ways. A randomized controlled trial on college students found that both TM and karate training reduced drug usage compared to a no-treatment control group. And a randomized controlled trial on drug users treated for hepatitis found a reduction in drug use in the TM group, and an increase in usage in the no-treatment control group.
(EEG). Studies have found that, compared to a baseline, during meditation there is an increase in alpha amplitude followed by a slowing of the alpha frequency and the spread of this to the frontal cortex Alpha brain waves are classically viewed as reflecting a relaxed brain. When compared to control groups using a different relaxation technique, the increase in alpha is similar and integrated alpha amplitude may even decrease compared to a baseline of eyes-closed rest.
Transcendental Meditation also produces alpha coherence, that is, large-scale integration of frequencies in different parts of the brain. These brain patterns generally suggest a decrease in mental activity and are associated with a relaxed state. This pattern is also sometimes seen while a subject is actively focusing his or her attention on an object or holding some information in mind.
In the Cambridge Handbook of Consciousness, Lutz says that claims in TM promotional material that this coherence represents a higher state of consciousness or a more orderly state of the brain and one that is unique to TM may be overstated or premature "because alpha rhythms are ubiquitous and functionally non-specific...." Lutz says "alpha frequencies frequently produce spontaneously moderate to large coherence (0.3–0.8 over large inter-electrode distance). The alpha coherence values reported in TM studies, as a trait in the baseline or during meditation, belong to this same range. Thus a global increase of alpha power and alpha coherence might not reflect a more 'ordered' or 'integrated' experience, as frequently claimed in TM literature, but rather a relaxed, inactive mental state." On the other hand, in the book The Brain's Alpha Rhythms and the Mind, Shaw says that the EEG changes in alpha coherence are indeed related to meditation, citing Austin. The coherence is distinguished by appearing in the frontal lobes of the brain and is correlated with mental clarity and changes in respiration.
states not ordinarily observed and that are associated with enhanced awareness. A state referred to by Maharishi as transcendental consciousness and experienced during Transcendental Meditation is characterized as being distinct from the ordinary states of waking, sleeping, and dreaming, and as being a "deeply restful yet fully alert state of inner wakefulness with no object of thought or perception."
Research has found that specific physiological measures correlate with the experience of transcendental consciousness, including lower respiratory rates, greater heart rate variability, higher amplitude alpha brain waves, and greater alpha coherence.
In addition, a state Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
called "cosmic consciousness", may be characterized by the experience of transcendental consciousness outside of meditation and that is present even during sleep. Research on individuals experiencing this state during sleep as a result of practice of TM has found EEG profiles, muscle tone measurements, and REM indicators that suggest there is physiological evidence of this state. Fred Travis of Maharishi University of Management
and Joe Tecce of Boston College have also done research on individuals experiencing transcendental consciousness during activity, finding that they also exhibited brain wave signatures that were different from control groups. In addition, the research suggested more efficient functioning in the frontal cortex of the brain.
, leading to concerns about the potential risk of kindling
of epilepsy from repetitive Transcendental Meditation. But the authors say clinical studies have found meditation to be a possible antiepileptic therapy. They say that more research is needed "to establish the safety of this technique and its potential efficacy for seizure reduction and improvement of quality of life."
In their 1985 book on religion, Bainbridge and Stark say that subsequent articles published in the 1970s suggested "that the original findings had been false or exaggerated". However, in a 2009 research review in the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, William Bushell referred to the original research as "classic," and said that the preponderance of evidence has shown a reduction in metabolic rate.
A 2007 systematic review
of research on meditation
, including Transcendental Meditation, said that firm conclusions on health effects cannot be drawn, as the majority of the studies are of poor methodological quality. The review included studies on adults through September 2005, with a particular focus on research pertaining to hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and substance abuse. The review used the Jadad scale
to assess the quality of the studies using control groups and Newcastle-Ottawa Scale for the others. The quality assessment portion of the 2007 review was published in 2008. The article stated that "Most clinical trials on meditation practices are generally characterized by poor methodological quality with significant threats to validity
in every major quality domain assessed." The authors found that there was a statistically significant increase in the quality of all reviewed meditation research, in general, over time between 1956 and 2005. Of the 400 clinical studies, 10% were found to be good quality.
TM researchers said that the 2007 review suffered from limitations related to data collection, analysis, and reporting procedures. Researchers affiliated with Maharishi University of Management and the University of Kentucky said that the use of double blinding, which is required by the Jadad scale, is not appropriate to meditation research and that the review failed to assess more relevant determinants of research quality. Research reviews in science journals say that double blinding may not be possible in meditation research. Canter and Ernst say that blinding of participants isn't feasible, and a Cochrane review says that it's only possible to blind the raters or assessors in meditation trials. One of the earliest double-blinded placebo studies of Transcendental Mediation was conducted in 1975, but the 2007 government-sponsored review found neither this study nor any of the other 800 studies reviewed were properly double blinded.
Research on Transcendental Meditation has been published by the American Medical Association
and the American Heart Association
, as well as other medical journals such as the American Journal of Hypertension, the American Journal of Cardiology, and the International Journal of Psychophysiology. Research reviews have identified some studies as being "well-designed," "rigorous," or "high quality."
Most of the 700 studies on TM have been produced by researchers directly associated with the TM movement and many of them have not been peer reviewed, according to a 2003 review that looked at the effects of TM on cognitive function and an article in Student BMJ
. According to Norman E. Rosenthal
, over 340 scientific studies on TM have been published in peer-reviewed journals. A review by Canter and Ernst (2004), said that many studies have been conducted by devotees or researchers at universities tied to the Maharishi, including Maharishi University of Management
in Iowa and Maharishi European Research University in Switzerland, which is disputed by Orme-Johnson, who cites the number of institutions worldwide where the research has been conducted. He also says that a meta-analyses of studies on TM and anxiety found that those studies done by researchers with no connection to TM showed a slightly larger effect than those studies by researchers who had a connection. According to TM researchers, studies on Maharishi Vedic Approach to Health have been conducted at over 200 different research institutions and universities in over 30 countries worldwide. American University professor David Haaga, who has collaborated with TM researchers on six studies published 2009-2011 and who is "not committed to a favorable or unfavorable view of its effects," says that such collaboration helps to "ensure that procedures to minimize bias are always given highest priority in the conduct of the research."
decided to withhold publication of a paper on a nine-year study of TM and mortality minutes before it was to be published online. The decision, characterized as "unprecedented" by The Scientist
, followed communication with lead author, Robert Schneider, and was done to allow the review of new data that was obtained subsequent to the submission of the original manuscript. Schneider, head of the Maharishi University of Management's Institute for Natural Medicine and Prevention, said the authors were happy to have the additional time to review the input of new data and to make any necessary revisions.
(JAMA) published an article on Maharishi Ayurveda of which the Transcendental Meditation technique is a part. Later, allegations were made saying that the authors Deepak Chopra
, Hari M. Sharma, and Brihaspati Dev Triguna
had failed to disclose that they were "involved in organizations that promote and sell the products and services about which they wrote."
In 1999, the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine awarded a grant of nearly $8 million to Maharishi University of Management to establish the first research center specializing in natural preventive medicine for minorities in the U.S. According to the MUM website, the research institute, called the Institute for Natural Medicine and Prevention (INMP), was inaugurated on October 11, 1999, at the University's Department of Physiology and Health in Fairfield, Iowa
. By 2004, the U.S. government had awarded more than $20 million to Maharishi University of Management to fund research.
In 2009, the National Institutes of Health
awarded an additional grant of $1 million distributed over two years for research on the use of TM in the treatment of coronary heart disease in African-Americans. The award was for research in collaboration with the INMP and Columbia University Medical Center
in New York City. The award was from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
via the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.
According to a 1980 article by sociologist Hank Johnston, the movement's two main universities, Maharishi International University (now Maharishi University of Management) and Maharishi European Research University, have been significant sources of the studies used in promotional materials. Leading individuals and organizations associated with TM cite the existence of many studies, "more than 600 published research studies, conducted at over 200 independent research institutions in 33 countries", to support TM-related concepts. The quantity of studies has been cited to support the political programs of the Natural Law Party
, the tax status of a TM property, the use of TM to rehabilitate prisoners, the teaching of TM in schools, the issuance of bonds to finance the movement, as proof that TM is a science rather than a religion, to show the efficacy of the Maharishi Vedic Approach to Health, and as a reason to practice TM itself.
Philip Goldberg, in his 2010 book, American Veda, said some of the experts he spoke with accused TM advocates of using research findings to proselytize. David Orme-Johnson, who directed the TM research program for many years, responded that "enthusiasm for your data does not make your data wrong."
Transcendental Meditation technique
The Transcendental Meditation technique is a specific form of mantra meditation often referred to as Transcendental Meditation. It was introduced in India in 1955 by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi...
(TM) have claimed that the technique is more effective than other meditation
Meditation
Meditation is any form of a family of practices in which practitioners train their minds or self-induce a mode of consciousness to realize some benefit....
practices. Independent systematic reviews have not found health benefits for the Transcendental Meditation technique beyond relaxation
Relaxation technique
A relaxation technique is any method, process, procedure, or activity that helps a person to relax; to attain a state of increased calmness; or otherwise reduce levels of anxiety, stress or anger...
or health education
Health education
Health education is the profession of educating people about health. Areas within this profession encompass environmental health, physical health, social health, emotional health, intellectual health, and spiritual health...
. It is difficult to determine definitive effects of "meditation practices in healthcare" as the quality of research has design limitations and a lack of methodological rigor. Part of this difficulty is because many studies where conducted by researchers with connection to the TM organization, and where conducted on subjects with a favorable opinion of TM.
There has been ongoing research into the Transcendental Meditation technique since studies first conducted at UCLA and Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
in the early 1970s. The research has included studies on physiological changes during meditation, clinical applications, cognitive effects, mental health, addiction, and rehabilitation. Beginning in the 1990s, a focus of research has been the effects of Transcendental Meditation on cardiovascular disease, with over $20 million in funding from the National Institutes of Health
National Institutes of Health
The National Institutes of Health are an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services and are the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and health-related research. Its science and engineering counterpart is the National Science Foundation...
.
Health outcomes
According to research reviews, a retrospective, non-randomized study that examined the health care utilization records for over 2,800 subjects in Quebec found that the 1,400 subjects in the TM group needed less health care after learning TM, whereas the control group’s need increased. These preliminary findings "suggest the potential for decreased usage and costs among patients using TM."Cardiovascular disease
A 2007 systematic reviewSystematic review
A systematic review is a literature review focused on a research question that tries to identify, appraise, select and synthesize all high quality research evidence relevant to that question. Systematic reviews of high-quality randomized controlled trials are crucial to evidence-based medicine...
and meta-analysis
Meta-analysis
In statistics, a meta-analysis combines the results of several studies that address a set of related research hypotheses. In its simplest form, this is normally by identification of a common measure of effect size, for which a weighted average might be the output of a meta-analyses. Here the...
funded by the NIH Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) found that the effects of TM were no greater than health education regarding blood pressure
Blood pressure
Blood pressure is the pressure exerted by circulating blood upon the walls of blood vessels, and is one of the principal vital signs. When used without further specification, "blood pressure" usually refers to the arterial pressure of the systemic circulation. During each heartbeat, BP varies...
, body weight, heart rate
Heart rate
Heart rate is the number of heartbeats per unit of time, typically expressed as beats per minute . Heart rate can vary as the body's need to absorb oxygen and excrete carbon dioxide changes, such as during exercise or sleep....
, stress, anger, self-efficacy, cholesterol
Cholesterol
Cholesterol is a complex isoprenoid. Specifically, it is a waxy steroid of fat that is produced in the liver or intestines. It is used to produce hormones and cell membranes and is transported in the blood plasma of all mammals. It is an essential structural component of mammalian cell membranes...
, dietary intake, or level of physical activity. This same review performed a meta-analysis that compared TM to progressive muscle relaxation and found that TM produced a greater reduction in blood pressure. The report analyzed studies that compared TM to no treatment and found that it did not produce significantly greater benefits on blood pressure but did produce improvement in cholesterol levels and verbal creativity. In studies that compared TM to a wait-listed control group, TM resulted in greater reduction in blood pressure. The report's assessment of before-and-after studies on patients with essential hypertension found a reduction in blood pressure after practicing TM. The review concludes that firm conclusions regarding health effects cannot be drawn due to the poor quality of the research, though TM researchers said an inappropriate method of quality assessment was used. David Orme-Johnson, former director of research at Maharishi University of Management, in a published critique of the AHRQ report, noted that 98 “potentially relevant” research papers that were suggested for inclusion by the study’s peer-reviewers were disregarded. He also said that the study excluded three categories of studies on meditation that have been included in previous reviews (meditation and alcohol/drug use, adolescents, mortality), and that the study did not control for the confounding of meditation effects and exercise effects.
A 2007 medical textbook on heart disease said that "TM has been shown to not only improve blood pressure but also the insulin resistance
Insulin resistance
Insulin resistance is a physiological condition where the natural hormone insulin becomes less effective at lowering blood sugars. The resulting increase in blood glucose may raise levels outside the normal range and cause adverse health effects, depending on dietary conditions. Certain cell types...
components of metabolic syndrome
Metabolic syndrome
Metabolic syndrome is a combination of medical disorders that, when occurring together, increase the risk of developing cardiovascular disease and diabetes. It affects one in five people in the United States and prevalence increases with age...
and cardiac autonomic nervous system
Autonomic nervous system
The autonomic nervous system is the part of the peripheral nervous system that acts as a control system functioning largely below the level of consciousness, and controls visceral functions. The ANS affects heart rate, digestion, respiration rate, salivation, perspiration, diameter of the pupils,...
tone" in subjects with cardiovascular disease, compared with matched controls given only health education. A 2007 review said that data from two studies found reduced mortality from all causes over a mean period of 8 years in subjects practicing Transcendental Meditation, compared to controls. In both studies, the controls practiced relaxation techniques, and in one study TM was compared with health education. The review said that its findings are consistent with other research that has found improved blood pressure, insulin resistance, and cardiac autonomic-nervous-system tone in subjects with cardiovascular disease. The review concluded that psychosocial
Psychosocial
For a concept to be psychosocial means it relates to one's psychological development in, and interaction with, a social environment. The individual needs not be fully aware of this relationship with his or her environment. It was first commonly used by psychologist Erik Erikson in his stages of...
interventions are effective in alleviating distress in cardiovascular patients but that further research is needed to firmly establish that these interventions can affect disease processes, morbidity, and mortality. Independent research reviews also note that a 2000 study published in Stroke
Stroke (journal)
Stroke is a peer-reviewed medical journal published monthly by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins on behalf of the American Heart Association. It covers research on cerebral circulation and related diseases, including clinical research on assessment of risk for stroke, diagnosis, prevention, and...
found that Transcendental Meditation, compared to health education, reduces atherosclerosis.
A 2006 independent systematic review said, "a small body of research suggests that TM and group-oriented stress management may be effective in reducing psychosocial stress and its effects for African Americans..." The findings include reduced sleep dysfunction and increased health locus of control. The review noted a finding of reduced mortality in African Americans in comparison to a standard relaxation technique. The reviewer said that of the six studies on African-Americans involving TM, one showed no improvement, and only two used blinding; however all were randomized controlled trials. The study also found that in first-world populations, several meta-analyses indicate that TM reduces anxiety, smoking, alcohol and drug misuse, and improves psychological health.
A 2008 meta-analysis of nine studies found a 4.7 mmHg systolic blood pressure and 3.2 mmHg diastolic blood pressure decrease in those who practiced TM compared to control groups that included health education. Three of the studies were assessed as good quality, three as acceptable, and three suboptimal, with subgroup analyses finding no significant difference among the results of the weaker and stronger studies. The review and its primary author were partially funded by Howard Settle, a proponent of TM.
A 2007 meta-analysis by researchers at Maharishi University of Management and the University of Kentucky found that TM significantly lowered blood pressure but that biofeedback, progressive muscle relaxation, and stress management training did not. The results differed from the 2007 government report mentioned above because the authors removed overlapping studies, corrected data collection errors, and included studies outside the scope of that report.
Cardiovascular function in students
A 2009 independent systematic review and a 2010 narrative review reported on several randomized controlled trials on school students that found an improvement in blood pressure and cardiovascular function in the TM group compared to health education. In addition, they reported on a randomized controlled trial on psychosocial and behavioral outcomes that compared TM to health education and found that the TM group had decreased absentee periods, rule infractions, and suspension days, but found no difference in the TM and control groups in regard to tardiness, lifestyle, or stress. The 2010 review concluded that "Studies of TM’s effect in youth on cardiovascular risk, cognition, affect, and behavior are promising, but larger, more definitive comparative effectiveness research is needed." The 2009 review said that because of limitations of the research, larger-scale and more demographically diverse studies need to be done to clarify treatment efficacy."A 2009 review reported on research by MUM graduate Vernon Barnes and his colleagues at the Medical College of Georgia on variables related to blood pressure that found that, compared to an eyes-closed relaxation control group, the TM group had increased cardiac output and decreased peripheral resistance as well as decreased systolic blood pressure.
Reviews in 2010 and 2011 reported a 2009 study by MUM and American University researchers on 298 college students that found decreased blood pressure in the TM group that was associated with a reduction in stress and hostility, and an increase in coping.
Cardiovascular function in the elderly
A 2005 systematic review said that research shows that TM improves cardiovascular function in the elderly and slows the aging process.ADHD
A 2010 systematic reviewSystematic review
A systematic review is a literature review focused on a research question that tries to identify, appraise, select and synthesize all high quality research evidence relevant to that question. Systematic reviews of high-quality randomized controlled trials are crucial to evidence-based medicine...
and meta analysis by the Cochrane collaboration
Cochrane Collaboration
The Cochrane Collaboration is a group of over 28,000 volunteers in more than 100 countries who review the effects of health care interventions tested in biomedical randomized controlled trials. A few more recent reviews have also studied the results of non-randomized, observational studies...
was unable to draw any conclusions regarding the effectiveness of meditation therapy (including TM ) for ADHD due to the lack of suitable evidence.
Anxiety and cognitive function
A 2006 review by the Cochrane collaboration found that there was insufficient evidence to draw conclusions regarding the effectiveness of meditation for anxiety disorders. The review found that TM is equivalent to relaxation (modified progressive muscle relaxation) in reducing anxiety.Seventy studies on TM were included in a 1989 meta-analysis conducted by a Stanford University physicist and longtime TM practitioner and two past members of the MUM faculty which found that relaxation techniques reduce trait anxiety and that Transcendental Meditation had a larger effect size
Effect size
In statistics, an effect size is a measure of the strength of the relationship between two variables in a statistical population, or a sample-based estimate of that quantity...
than other relaxation techniques. The meta-analysis was criticized in a 2003 editorial by Peter Canter because it included studies with no control groups, while a 2009 textbook on research-based alternative medicine characterized it as "thorough and well designed."
According to research reviews, three studies conducted by a Maharishi University of Management doctoral student and reported in 2001 in the scholarly journal Intelligence
Intelligence (journal)
Intelligence is a peer-reviewed academic journal of psychology that covers intelligence and psychometrics. It is published by Elsevier and the official journal of the International Society for Intelligence Research.The journal was established in 1977 and the editor in chief is Douglas K. Detterman...
found that TM reduced anxiety compared to simple rest, contemplative meditation, and no treatment. A randomized controlled trial involving 154 high school students in China found that TM reduced anxiety compared to a control group that simply lay down to rest or sleep, which the authors said indicates that TM has an effect beyond simply resting. This study was replicated by the same researchers in two subsequent randomized controlled trials involving Chinese and Taiwanese students using contemplative meditation and no-treatment control groups. The three studies, characterized by Shauna Shapiro and Roger Walsh
Roger Walsh
Roger N. Walsh is an Australian professor of Psychiatry, Philosophy and Anthropology at the University of California, Irvine, in the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, within UCI's College of Medicine...
in a 2003 research review as being "well-designed studies", also found that TM improves cognitive performance, including increased practical intelligence, creativity, and speed of information processing. A 2011 review by Shapiro, et al., said the studies "provide good support for the use of TM to enhance several forms of information processing in students."
A 2003 review by Peter Canter and Edzard Ernst
Edzard Ernst
Edzard Ernst is the first Professor of Complementary Medicine in the world, at the University of Exeter, England....
concluded that evidence does not support a specific or cumulative effect from TM on cognitive function. The review did find positive results in studies that recruited people with favorable opinions of TM, and used passive control procedures.
Walsh, in a 2007 psychotherapy textbook, characterized as "well-designed" a randomized controlled trial which found that TM improved cognitive function and mental health in nursing home residents compared to relaxation, no treatment, and mindfulness training. He writes that other studies have found that TM subjects typically score higher on measures of cognitive development, self-actualization, coping skills, and moral development.
Personality growth
According to the research review by Shapiro and Walsh, a study involving 120 female subjects found that long-term TM practice may increase positive personality growth, with the subjects in the TM group being more confident, relaxed, introverted, satisfied, and conscientious, as well as being less anxious, compared to the control group.Rehabilitation
Transcendental Meditation has been used in correctional settings, and research has shown a reduction in negative psychological states and recidivism—that is, returning to criminal behavior after being released from prison. According to a 2010 research review, studies involving hundreds of prisoners at San Quentin and Folsom State PrisonFolsom State Prison
Folsom State Prison is a California State Prison located in the city of Folsom, California, northeast from the state capital of Sacramento. Opened in 1880, Folsom is the second-oldest prison in the state of California after San Quentin and was the first in the country to have electricity...
s in California and Walpole State Prison
Massachusetts Correctional Institution - Cedar Junction
The Massachusetts Correctional Institution—Cedar Junction , formerly known as MCI-Walpole, is a maximum security prison with an average daily population of approximately 800 adult male inmates under the jurisdiction of the Massachusetts Department of Correction. It was opened in 1956 to replace...
in Massachusetts found that recidivism rates were reduced by as much as 47%. Overall, the TM prisoners at Folsom were 43% less likely to return to prison compared to control groups. The study at Folsom also looked at anxiety measures and found a sharp reduction compared to controls. The review said that meditation studies may be subject to researcher bias and self-selection bias, but concluded that policy makers and prison officials may want to implement meditation programs in prisons.
Addiction
A 2009 review looked at the effect of TM on addiction and noted that while many studies exist, they were conducted by researchers affiliated with Transcendental Meditation and were not randomized controlled trials. Thus the evidence for treating addictive disorders is speculative and inconsistent. It said that while the quasi-religious aspects and cost may deter people, the simplicity of the technique, the physiological changes it induces, and the apparent effectiveness in nonpsychiatric settings merit further study and that "the theoretical basis for meditation’s role in addressing substance use disorders is compelling" based on the physiological mechanisms that have been found.Three randomized controlled trials on TM have shown reduced substance abuse. According to the Cambridge Textbook of Effective Treatments in Psychiatry, a randomized controlled trial that included the use of Transcendental Meditation in treating alcoholism found that TM and biofeedback increased abstinence in alcoholics. The textbook concluded that there is not yet sufficient evidence for use as treatment but that meditation can help alcoholic patients in a variety of ways. A randomized controlled trial on college students found that both TM and karate training reduced drug usage compared to a no-treatment control group. And a randomized controlled trial on drug users treated for hepatitis found a reduction in drug use in the TM group, and an increase in usage in the no-treatment control group.
Alpha brain waves and alpha coherence
Transcendental Meditation has been found to produce specific types of brain waves as measured by electroencephalographyElectroencephalography
Electroencephalography is the recording of electrical activity along the scalp. EEG measures voltage fluctuations resulting from ionic current flows within the neurons of the brain...
(EEG). Studies have found that, compared to a baseline, during meditation there is an increase in alpha amplitude followed by a slowing of the alpha frequency and the spread of this to the frontal cortex Alpha brain waves are classically viewed as reflecting a relaxed brain. When compared to control groups using a different relaxation technique, the increase in alpha is similar and integrated alpha amplitude may even decrease compared to a baseline of eyes-closed rest.
Transcendental Meditation also produces alpha coherence, that is, large-scale integration of frequencies in different parts of the brain. These brain patterns generally suggest a decrease in mental activity and are associated with a relaxed state. This pattern is also sometimes seen while a subject is actively focusing his or her attention on an object or holding some information in mind.
In the Cambridge Handbook of Consciousness, Lutz says that claims in TM promotional material that this coherence represents a higher state of consciousness or a more orderly state of the brain and one that is unique to TM may be overstated or premature "because alpha rhythms are ubiquitous and functionally non-specific...." Lutz says "alpha frequencies frequently produce spontaneously moderate to large coherence (0.3–0.8 over large inter-electrode distance). The alpha coherence values reported in TM studies, as a trait in the baseline or during meditation, belong to this same range. Thus a global increase of alpha power and alpha coherence might not reflect a more 'ordered' or 'integrated' experience, as frequently claimed in TM literature, but rather a relaxed, inactive mental state." On the other hand, in the book The Brain's Alpha Rhythms and the Mind, Shaw says that the EEG changes in alpha coherence are indeed related to meditation, citing Austin. The coherence is distinguished by appearing in the frontal lobes of the brain and is correlated with mental clarity and changes in respiration.
States of consciousness
Research suggests that the practice of TM results in neurophysiologicalNeurophysiology
Neurophysiology is a part of physiology. Neurophysiology is the study of nervous system function...
states not ordinarily observed and that are associated with enhanced awareness. A state referred to by Maharishi as transcendental consciousness and experienced during Transcendental Meditation is characterized as being distinct from the ordinary states of waking, sleeping, and dreaming, and as being a "deeply restful yet fully alert state of inner wakefulness with no object of thought or perception."
Research has found that specific physiological measures correlate with the experience of transcendental consciousness, including lower respiratory rates, greater heart rate variability, higher amplitude alpha brain waves, and greater alpha coherence.
In addition, a state Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi , born Mahesh Prasad Varma , developed the Transcendental Meditation technique and was the leader and guru of the TM movement, characterised as a new religious movement and also as non-religious...
called "cosmic consciousness", may be characterized by the experience of transcendental consciousness outside of meditation and that is present even during sleep. Research on individuals experiencing this state during sleep as a result of practice of TM has found EEG profiles, muscle tone measurements, and REM indicators that suggest there is physiological evidence of this state. Fred Travis of Maharishi University of Management
Maharishi University of Management
Maharishi University of Management , formerly known as Maharishi International University, is a non-profit, American university, located in Fairfield, Iowa. It was founded in 1973 by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and features a "consciousness-based education" system that includes the practice of the...
and Joe Tecce of Boston College have also done research on individuals experiencing transcendental consciousness during activity, finding that they also exhibited brain wave signatures that were different from control groups. In addition, the research suggested more efficient functioning in the frontal cortex of the brain.
Epilepsy: kindling or therapy?
EEG studies have shown an increase in theta waves and a dominant pattern of alpha waves in the frontal and occipital lobes. With long-term practice these changes seen in meditation carry over into activity. These changes may enhance brain integration and reduce emotional reactivity. According to a review by Lansky and St Louis, EEG measurements that show neuronal hypersynchrony are similar to those found in epilepsyEpilepsy
Epilepsy is a common chronic neurological disorder characterized by seizures. These seizures are transient signs and/or symptoms of abnormal, excessive or hypersynchronous neuronal activity in the brain.About 50 million people worldwide have epilepsy, and nearly two out of every three new cases...
, leading to concerns about the potential risk of kindling
Kindling model
Kindling is a commonly used model for the development of seizures and epilepsy in which the duration and behavioral involvement of induced seizures increases after seizures are induced repeatedly. The kindling model was first proposed in the late 1960s by Goddard and colleagues...
of epilepsy from repetitive Transcendental Meditation. But the authors say clinical studies have found meditation to be a possible antiepileptic therapy. They say that more research is needed "to establish the safety of this technique and its potential efficacy for seizure reduction and improvement of quality of life."
Experience of pain
A brain imaging study on practitioners of Transcendental Meditation conducted by researchers affiliated with Maharishi University and the University of California at Irvine led by David Orme-Johnson showed that TM decreases activity in the thalamus, prefrontal cortex, and anterior cingulate cortex in response to pain. The tests, which used functional magnetic resonance imagine (fMRI) found approximately a 50% reduction in these pain-processing regions of the brain compared to a control group. The results suggest that, while it does not reduce pain, TM does reduce the emotional distress associated with the experience of pain, resulting in greater tolerance.Effects on the physiology
TM has been found to produce a set of characteristic responses such as reduced respiration, decreased breath volume, decreased lactate and cortisol (hormones associated with stress), increased basal skin resistance, and slowed heartbeat. Maharishi U researchers Michael Dillbeck and David Orme-Johnson conducted a meta-analysis of 31 studies which found that compared simply resting with one's eyes closed, TM had a greater effect on parameters associated with rest, such as respiration rate, blood plasma lactate levels, and skin resistance. The mechanism for the effects of TM has been explained by proponents as being due to greater order in the physiology, decreased stress, and growth of creative intelligence.In their 1985 book on religion, Bainbridge and Stark say that subsequent articles published in the 1970s suggested "that the original findings had been false or exaggerated". However, in a 2009 research review in the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, William Bushell referred to the original research as "classic," and said that the preponderance of evidence has shown a reduction in metabolic rate.
Contraindications
While meditation is usually considered safe, Transcendental Meditation may be contraindicated for those with psychiatric illnesses. According to a textbook on alternative and complementary medicine by Lyn Freeman, in this situation it is best if meditation is introduced in the context of a clinical setting, and those patients who are seriously disturbed should only be introduced to meditation under the supervision of a doctor or psychotherapist. Individuals with moderate symptoms were observed to benefit from the practice.Research quality
Canter and Ernst's 2004 review found that all randomized clinical trials on blood pressure had important methodological weaknesses and were potentially biased by the affiliation of authors to the TM organization. It concluded that to date, there was "insufficient good-quality evidence to conclude whether or not TM has a cumulative positive effect on blood pressure". In response, TM researchers said that most of the studies in the review were funded by various institutes of the National Institutes of Health and that, as such, the methodologies were peer-reviewed by experts.A 2007 systematic review
Systematic review
A systematic review is a literature review focused on a research question that tries to identify, appraise, select and synthesize all high quality research evidence relevant to that question. Systematic reviews of high-quality randomized controlled trials are crucial to evidence-based medicine...
of research on meditation
Meditation
Meditation is any form of a family of practices in which practitioners train their minds or self-induce a mode of consciousness to realize some benefit....
, including Transcendental Meditation, said that firm conclusions on health effects cannot be drawn, as the majority of the studies are of poor methodological quality. The review included studies on adults through September 2005, with a particular focus on research pertaining to hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and substance abuse. The review used the Jadad scale
Jadad scale
The Jadad scale, sometimes known as Jadad scoring or the Oxford quality scoring system, is a procedure to independently assess the methodological quality of a clinical trial...
to assess the quality of the studies using control groups and Newcastle-Ottawa Scale for the others. The quality assessment portion of the 2007 review was published in 2008. The article stated that "Most clinical trials on meditation practices are generally characterized by poor methodological quality with significant threats to validity
Validity
In logic, argument is valid if and only if its conclusion is entailed by its premises, a formula is valid if and only if it is true under every interpretation, and an argument form is valid if and only if every argument of that logical form is valid....
in every major quality domain assessed." The authors found that there was a statistically significant increase in the quality of all reviewed meditation research, in general, over time between 1956 and 2005. Of the 400 clinical studies, 10% were found to be good quality.
TM researchers said that the 2007 review suffered from limitations related to data collection, analysis, and reporting procedures. Researchers affiliated with Maharishi University of Management and the University of Kentucky said that the use of double blinding, which is required by the Jadad scale, is not appropriate to meditation research and that the review failed to assess more relevant determinants of research quality. Research reviews in science journals say that double blinding may not be possible in meditation research. Canter and Ernst say that blinding of participants isn't feasible, and a Cochrane review says that it's only possible to blind the raters or assessors in meditation trials. One of the earliest double-blinded placebo studies of Transcendental Mediation was conducted in 1975, but the 2007 government-sponsored review found neither this study nor any of the other 800 studies reviewed were properly double blinded.
Research on Transcendental Meditation has been published by the American Medical Association
American Medical Association
The American Medical Association , founded in 1847 and incorporated in 1897, is the largest association of medical doctors and medical students in the United States.-Scope and operations:...
and the American Heart Association
American Heart Association
The American Heart Association is a non-profit organization in the United States that fosters appropriate cardiac care in an effort to reduce disability and deaths caused by cardiovascular disease and stroke. It is headquartered in Dallas, Texas...
, as well as other medical journals such as the American Journal of Hypertension, the American Journal of Cardiology, and the International Journal of Psychophysiology. Research reviews have identified some studies as being "well-designed," "rigorous," or "high quality."
Most of the 700 studies on TM have been produced by researchers directly associated with the TM movement and many of them have not been peer reviewed, according to a 2003 review that looked at the effects of TM on cognitive function and an article in Student BMJ
Student BMJ
Student BMJ is a monthly, international medical journal for medical students and junior doctors. It is published by the BMJ Group, which publishes the highly prestigious BMJ and over 30 other speciality journals....
. According to Norman E. Rosenthal
Norman E. Rosenthal
Norman E. Rosenthal is a psychiatrist and scientist who in the 1980s first described winter depression or seasonal affective disorder , and pioneered the use of light therapy for its treatment....
, over 340 scientific studies on TM have been published in peer-reviewed journals. A review by Canter and Ernst (2004), said that many studies have been conducted by devotees or researchers at universities tied to the Maharishi, including Maharishi University of Management
Maharishi University of Management
Maharishi University of Management , formerly known as Maharishi International University, is a non-profit, American university, located in Fairfield, Iowa. It was founded in 1973 by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and features a "consciousness-based education" system that includes the practice of the...
in Iowa and Maharishi European Research University in Switzerland, which is disputed by Orme-Johnson, who cites the number of institutions worldwide where the research has been conducted. He also says that a meta-analyses of studies on TM and anxiety found that those studies done by researchers with no connection to TM showed a slightly larger effect than those studies by researchers who had a connection. According to TM researchers, studies on Maharishi Vedic Approach to Health have been conducted at over 200 different research institutions and universities in over 30 countries worldwide. American University professor David Haaga, who has collaborated with TM researchers on six studies published 2009-2011 and who is "not committed to a favorable or unfavorable view of its effects," says that such collaboration helps to "ensure that procedures to minimize bias are always given highest priority in the conduct of the research."
Recent research
In 2011, the editors of Archives of Internal MedicineArchives of Internal Medicine
The Archives of Internal Medicine is a peer-reviewed medical journal published twice a month by the American Medical Association. The Archives of Internal Medicine was established in 1908 and covers all aspects of internal medicine, including cardiovascular disease, geriatrics, infectious disease,...
decided to withhold publication of a paper on a nine-year study of TM and mortality minutes before it was to be published online. The decision, characterized as "unprecedented" by The Scientist
The Scientist
The Scientist: Magazine of Life Sciences is a professional magazine intended for life scientists. Coverage includes reviews of widely noticed research papers, informing its audience of current research, updates to technology, updates to career information, profiles of scientists achieving...
, followed communication with lead author, Robert Schneider, and was done to allow the review of new data that was obtained subsequent to the submission of the original manuscript. Schneider, head of the Maharishi University of Management's Institute for Natural Medicine and Prevention, said the authors were happy to have the additional time to review the input of new data and to make any necessary revisions.
Research funding and promotion
In 1991, The Journal of the American Medical AssociationJournal of the American Medical Association
The Journal of the American Medical Association is a weekly, peer-reviewed, medical journal, published by the American Medical Association. Beginning in July 2011, the editor in chief will be Howard C. Bauchner, vice chairman of pediatrics at Boston University’s School of Medicine, replacing ...
(JAMA) published an article on Maharishi Ayurveda of which the Transcendental Meditation technique is a part. Later, allegations were made saying that the authors Deepak Chopra
Deepak Chopra
Deepak Chopra is an Indian medical doctor, public speaker, and writer on subjects such as spirituality, Ayurveda and mind-body medicine. Chopra began his career as an endocrinologist and later shifted his focus to alternative medicine. Chopra now runs his own medical center, with a focus on...
, Hari M. Sharma, and Brihaspati Dev Triguna
Brihaspati Dev Triguna
Brihaspati Dev Triguna Brihaspati Dev Triguna Brihaspati Dev Triguna ( (Born in India, 1920) is a Vaidya or ayurvedic doctor and an expert in nadivigyan, the ayurvedic technique of pulse diagnosis....
had failed to disclose that they were "involved in organizations that promote and sell the products and services about which they wrote."
In 1999, the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine awarded a grant of nearly $8 million to Maharishi University of Management to establish the first research center specializing in natural preventive medicine for minorities in the U.S. According to the MUM website, the research institute, called the Institute for Natural Medicine and Prevention (INMP), was inaugurated on October 11, 1999, at the University's Department of Physiology and Health in Fairfield, Iowa
Fairfield, Iowa
Fairfield is a city and the county seat of Jefferson County, Iowa, United States. The population was 9,464 in the 2010 census, a decline from 9,509 in the 2000 census. - History :...
. By 2004, the U.S. government had awarded more than $20 million to Maharishi University of Management to fund research.
In 2009, the National Institutes of Health
National Institutes of Health
The National Institutes of Health are an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services and are the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and health-related research. Its science and engineering counterpart is the National Science Foundation...
awarded an additional grant of $1 million distributed over two years for research on the use of TM in the treatment of coronary heart disease in African-Americans. The award was for research in collaboration with the INMP and Columbia University Medical Center
Columbia University Medical Center
Columbia University Medical Center is an academic medical center that includes Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons, College of Dental Medicine, School of Nursing and Mailman School of Public Health...
in New York City. The award was from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, abbreviated ARRA and commonly referred to as the Stimulus or The Recovery Act, is an economic stimulus package enacted by the 111th United States Congress in February 2009 and signed into law on February 17, 2009, by President Barack Obama.To...
via the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.
According to a 1980 article by sociologist Hank Johnston, the movement's two main universities, Maharishi International University (now Maharishi University of Management) and Maharishi European Research University, have been significant sources of the studies used in promotional materials. Leading individuals and organizations associated with TM cite the existence of many studies, "more than 600 published research studies, conducted at over 200 independent research institutions in 33 countries", to support TM-related concepts. The quantity of studies has been cited to support the political programs of the Natural Law Party
Natural Law Party
The Natural Law Party was a transnational party based on the teachings of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. It was active in up to 74 countries, and ran candidates in at least ten. Founded in 1992, it was mostly disbanded in 2004 but continues in India and in some U.S. states.The NLP viewed "natural law" as...
, the tax status of a TM property, the use of TM to rehabilitate prisoners, the teaching of TM in schools, the issuance of bonds to finance the movement, as proof that TM is a science rather than a religion, to show the efficacy of the Maharishi Vedic Approach to Health, and as a reason to practice TM itself.
Philip Goldberg, in his 2010 book, American Veda, said some of the experts he spoke with accused TM advocates of using research findings to proselytize. David Orme-Johnson, who directed the TM research program for many years, responded that "enthusiasm for your data does not make your data wrong."