title: Cross-sectional and longitudinal study of effects of transcendental meditation practice on interhemispheric frontal asymmetry and frontal coherence.
abstract: Two studies investigated frontal alpha lateral asymmetry and frontal interhemispheric coherence during eyes-closed rest, Transcendental Meditation (TM) practice, and computerized reaction-time tasks. In the first study, frontal coherence and lateralized asymmetry were higher in 13 TM subjects than in 12 controls. In the second study (N = 14), a one-year longitudinal study, lateral asymmetry did not change in any condition. In contrast, frontal coherence increased linearly during computer tasks and eyes-closed rest, and as a step-function during TM practice--rising to a high level after 2-months TM practice. Coherence was more sensitive than lateral asymmetry to effects of TM practice on brain functioning.
authors.affiliation: Brain Consciousness and Cognition Lab, Maharishi University of Management, Fairfield, Iowa 52557, USA. ftravis@mum.edu
authors.forename: Frederick
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Travis
authors.forename: Alarik
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Arenander
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000513:Alpha Rhythm; D001007:Anxiety; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000502:physiology*; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D019122:Meditation; D008875:Middle Aged; D009014:Morals; D010551:Personality; D011581:Psychological Tests; D012146:Rest / Q000502:physiology