{"id":2275,"date":"2010-08-16T12:47:55","date_gmt":"2010-08-16T16:47:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tm.org\/blog\/?p=2275"},"modified":"2012-05-11T17:50:36","modified_gmt":"2012-05-11T21:50:36","slug":"transcendental-meditation-improves-brain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usa.tm.org\/blog\/research\/transcendental-meditation-improves-brain\/","title":{"rendered":"Making the connections: \u2028How Transcendental Meditation improves your brain"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tm.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/Brain-Research-Transcendental-Meditation.jpg\" class=\"alignleft\" width=\"160\" height=\"157\" \/><a href=\"http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/jeanne-ball\/keeping-your-prefrontal-c_b_679290.html\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>Keeping Your Prefrontal Cortex Online: Neuroplasticity, Stress and Meditation<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Huffington_Post\" target=\"_blank\">The Huffington Post<\/a> (August 12) reported on recent research, conducted at American University in Washington, D.C., which shows that the daily practice of the Transcendental Meditation technique creates more efficient, integrated brain functioning.<\/p>\n<p>The unique experience of \u201ctranscending\u201d gained during TM practice, writes journalist Jeanne Ball, neutralizes the stress, which negatively impacts brain functioning.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen we are overly tired or under intense mental, emotional or physical stress, our brain tends to bypass its higher, more evolved rational executive circuits, defaulting to more primitive stimulus\/response pathways. We respond to challenges without thinking, making impulsive, shortsighted decisions. When the brain\u2019s CEO goes \u2018offline,\u2019 strong emotions such as fear and anger can adversely color or distort our perception of the world,\u201d Ms. Ball writes.<\/p>\n<p>Ms. Ball emphasizes the positive effect of TM practice on the brain\u2019s prefrontal cortex\u2014said to be the brain\u2019s executive center. This key part of the brain plays a crucial role in judgment and decision-making.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cInterestingly, the brain&#8217;s crucial frontal area is where the highest levels of EEG coherence are typically recorded during TM practice, indicating improved communication between the prefrontal cortex and other parts of the brain,\u201d Ms. Ball reports.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/jeanne-ball\/keeping-your-prefrontal-c_b_679290.html\" target=\"_blank\">CLICK HERE<\/a> to read this article at the Huffington Post website.<\/p>\n<p>Watch a short <a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/Dm5h1Z88lWQ\" rel=\"shadowbox[sbpost-2275];player=swf;width=640;height=385;\" target=\"_blank\">video of brain researcher<\/a> Dr. Fred Travis explaining how the Transcendental Meditation program improves brain functioning.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tm.org\/contact-us\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tm.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/Contact-us-button-TM-blog.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Huffington Post  (August 12) reported on recent research, conducted at American University in Washington, D.C., which shows that the daily practice of the Transcendental Meditation technique creates more efficient, integrated brain functioning. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tm.org\/blog\/research\/transcendental-meditation-improves-brain\/\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_excerpt -->","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[81,66],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2275","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-research"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usa.tm.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2275","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usa.tm.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usa.tm.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usa.tm.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usa.tm.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2275"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usa.tm.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2275\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usa.tm.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2275"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usa.tm.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2275"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usa.tm.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2275"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}