Transcendental Meditation Activates all Functions of the Brain
Research and studies using brain-wave recordings (EEG) have shown that during Transcendental Meditation, when an individual experiences the deeply settled and silent state of transcendental consciousness, coherence begins to increase simultaneously throughout all areas of the brain.
Increased Brain-Wave Coherence During Transcendental Meditation is Associated With:
- Increased creativity
- Greater efficiency in learning new concepts
- Broader understanding, along with an improved ability to concentrate
- Greater adherence to principles of moral reasoning
- Lower neuroticism: greater emotional stability and less stress-reactivity
- Higher level of verbal intelligence (IQ)
- Increased neural efficiency
- Improved academic performance
- Transcendental consciousness
Greater Functional Use of Brain Resources
During the Transcendental Meditation program, components of the brain’s response to bodily sensory stimuli become distributed more broadly and at an earlier stage across the entire cerebral cortex. This indicates greater participation of the whole brain in responding to stimulation.
Improved Focus and Broader Comprehension
Individuals who were randomly selected to learn the Transcendental Meditation program showed a significant increase after three months, compared with control subjects. This indicates broader comprehension together with an increased ability to concentrate.
Greater Coordination of Brain Activity
University students who learned the TM program showed a significant improvement in a measure of brain integration, which included several EEG measures recorded while performing tasks over a period of 10 weeks, compared with students who were randomly assigned to learn the technique at a later time. The degree of integration among brain components was measured and included:
- increased coherence of brain-wave activity in the frontal areas of the brain, and
- increased preparatory brain responses to stimuli.
- students who learned the Transcendental Meditation technique also showed reduced sleepiness and faster habituation to stressful stimuli, compared with the control group.
Improvements Across Key Cognitive Abilities
Three randomized controlled studies of students found that those who learned the Transcendental Meditation program showed broad improvement on five measures of intellectual functioning, as well as a reduction in anxiety, in contrast with the control groups.
