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Transcendental Meditation Research - Mind

This collection of scientific research charts provides an overview of the benefits Transcendental Meditation has for creativity, intelligence and the development of full mental potential.

Greater Creativity

This study used the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking to measure figural and verbal creativity in a control group and in a group that subsequently learned the Transcendental Meditation technique. On the posttest 5 months later, the Transcendental Meditation group scored significantly higher on figural originality and flexibility and on verbal fluency.

Reference I: The TM technique and creativity: A longitudinal study of Cornell University undergraduates, Journal of Creative Behavior 13: 169-190, 1979. Reference II: A psychological investigation into the source of the effect of the Transcendental Meditation technique, (Ph.D. dissertation, York University) Dissertations Abstracts International 38, 7-B: 3372­3373, 1978.

Increased Perception and Memory

College students instructed in Transcendental Meditation displayed significant improvements in performance over a 2-week period on a perceptual and short-term memory test involving the identification of familiar letter sequences presented rapidly. They were compared with subjects randomly assigned to a routine of twice- daily rest with eyes closed, and with subjects who made no change in their daily routine.

Reference: Meditation and flexibility of visual perception and verbal problem solving, Memory and Cognition 10: 207­215, 1982.

Increased Ability to Focus

Field independence has been associated with a greater ability to focus, greater organization of mind and cognitive clarity, improved memory, greater creative expression, and a stable internal frame of reference. The results show that practice of the Transcendental Meditation technique develops greater field independence. This improvement in Transcendental Meditation meditators is remarkable because it was previously thought that these basic perceptual abilities do not improve beyond early adulthood.

Reference I: Influence of Transcendental Meditation upon autokinetic perception, Perceptual Motor Skills 39: 1031-1034, 1974. Reference II: Longitudinal effects of the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi program on cognitive ability and cognitive style, Perceptual and Motor Skills 62: 731­738, 1986.

Increased IQ

Students at Maharishi International University in Fairfield, Iowa, who regularly practiced Transcendental Meditation, increased significantly in intelligence over a 2-year period, compared to control subjects from another Iowa university. This finding corroborates the results of two other studies showing increased IQ in Maharishi International University students.

Reference I: Transcendental Meditation and improved performance on intelligence-related measures: A longitudinal study, Personality and Individual Differences 12: 1105-1116, 1991. Reference II: Longitudinal effects of the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi program on cognitive ability and cognitive style, Perceptual and Motor Skills 62: 731­738, 1986.

More Coherent Brain Waves

EEG coherence increases between and within the cerebral hemispheres during Transcendental Meditation. EEG coherence is a quantitative index of the degree of long-range spatial ordering of the brain waves. The chart on the left shows that for a 2-week meditator, EEG coherence increased during the period of meditation. The chart on the right, of a 2-year meditator, shows high levels of coherence even before meditation began, spreading of coherence to high and lower frequencies about half way through the meditation period, and continuing high coherence even into the eyes-opened period after meditation.

Reference I: The Coherence Spectral Array (COSPAR) and its application to the study of spatial ordering in the EEG, Proceedings of the San Diego Biomedical Symposium 15: 1976. Reference II: Electrophysiologic characteristics of respiratory suspension periods occurring during the practice of the Transcendental Meditation program, Psychosomatic Medicine 46: 267-276, 1984.