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New study shows Transcendental Meditation improves brain functioning in ADHD students

Maharishi University of Management    Translate This Article
26 July 2011

A non-drug approach to enhance students' ability to learn



Students with ADHD practiced Transcendental Meditation 10 minutes twice a day at school during a study to measure brain functioning and cognitive development.


A random-assignment controlled study published today in Mind & Brain, The Journal of Psychiatry (Vol 2, No 1) found improved brain functioning and decreased symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, ADHD, in students practicing the Transcendental Meditation® (TM) technique. The paper, ADHD, Brain Functioning, and Transcendental Meditation Practice, is the second published study demonstrating TM's ability to help students with attention-related difficulties.

The first exploratory study, published in Current Issues in Education, followed a group of middle school students diagnosed with ADHD who meditated twice a day in school. After 3 months, researchers found over 50% reductions in stress, anxiety, and ADHD symptoms. During the study, a video was made of some students discussing what it felt like to have ADHD, and how those experiences changed after 3 months of regular TM practice.



In this second study, lead author, neuroscientist Fred Travis, PhD, director of the Center for Brain, Consciousness, and Cognition, joined principal investigator Sarina J. Grosswald, EdD, a George Washington University-trained cognitive learning specialist, and co-researcher William Stixrud, PhD, a prominent Silver Spring, Maryland, clinical neuropsychologist, to investigate the effects of Transcendental Meditation practice on task performance and brain functioning in 18 ADHD students, ages 11-14 years.

The study was conducted over a period of 6 months in an independent school for children with language-based learning disabilities in Washington, DC. The study showed improved brain functioning, increased brain processing, and improved language-based skills among ADHD students practicing the Transcendental Meditation technique.

A local TV news station reported on the study in-progress during the first 3 months.

The study was funded by a grant from the David Lynch Foundation.

Contact: Ken Chawkin
kchawkin@mum.edu
Tel: +1 641-470-1314
Maharishi University of Management

Global Good News will continue to feature the results of the new study in the coming days, including:
∙ specific changes in brain functioning in the students
∙ why the researchers chose Transcendental Meditation for the study
∙ surveys assessing parents' and students' perceptions of improvements in the children's ADHD symptoms
∙ fact sheets on Transcendental Meditation and ADHD.

© Copyright 2011 Global Good News®

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