American Journal of Hypertension
April 1, 2004
Vernon A Barnes
158 citations
A 4-month Transcendental Meditation program lowered daytime systolic and diastolic blood pressure more than health education alone in African-American adolescents with high normal systolic blood pressure. The 100 participants, average age 16.2 years, were randomly assigned to meditation or control groups. Ambulatory 24-hour blood pressure measurements taken before the program, at 2 and 4 months, and at a 4-month follow-up showed greater decreases in daytime systolic blood pressure in the meditation group, with a similar trend for diastolic blood pressure. These results suggest the meditation program benefits youth at risk for developing hypertension.
The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine
October 9, 2013
David W. Orme-Johnson, Vernon A Barnes
151 citations
Practicing the Transcendental Meditation technique reduces trait anxiety more effectively than treatment as usual and most active alternative treatments, with the largest benefits seen in people who initially have high anxiety. Across 16 studies involving 1,295 participants, the effect size compared to treatment as usual was d=-0.62. Individuals with initial anxiety in the 80th to 100th percentile—such as patients with chronic anxiety, veterans with PTSD, or prison inmates—showed larger reductions (d=-0.74 to -1.2), bringing their anxiety down to the 53rd to 62nd percentile range. Reductions appeared within two weeks and were sustained at three years. No adverse effects were reported.
The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine
December 1, 2008
Maria B. Ospina, Kenneth Bond, Mohammad Karkhaneh et al.
140 citations
A systematic review of 400 clinical trials on meditation (published 1956-2005) found that most studies have poor methodological quality, with significant threats to validity across all major quality domains. The five broad categories of meditation practices studied were mantra meditation, mindfulness meditation, yoga, t'ai chi, and qigong. The most common clinical conditions examined were hypertension, miscellaneous cardiovascular diseases, and substance abuse. Although methodological quality has improved over time by 0.014 points per year, future trials must be more rigorous in design, execution, analysis, and reporting.
Current Hypertension Reviews
October 1, 2012
Vernon A Barnes, David W. Orme-Johnson
87 citations
Stress is thought to worsen the development and progression of cardiovascular diseases. The Transcendental Meditation technique produces both immediate and long-term reductions in sympathetic nervous system activity and stress reactivity. In adolescents at risk for hypertension, it lowers resting and ambulatory blood pressure, reduces left ventricular mass and cardiovascular reactivity, and improves school behavior. In adults with mild or moderate essential hypertension, it decreases blood pressure and the need for anti-hypertensive medication. It also reduces symptoms of angina and carotid atherosclerosis, lowers cardiovascular risk factors like alcohol and tobacco use, decreases medical care utilization for cardiovascular diseases, and significantly lowers cardiovascular and all-cause illness and death.
Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania)
December 12, 2024
David W. Orme-Johnson, Vernon A Barnes, Brian Rees et al.
5 citations
All categories of meditation helped reduce PTSD symptoms, with Transcendental Meditation (TM) producing significantly larger reductions than other types. A meta-analysis of 61 studies with 3,440 subjects compared four meditation approaches: Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, other mindfulness techniques, Transcendental Meditation, and other non-mindfulness, non-TM methods. TM's effect size (Hedges's g = -1.13) was significantly larger than the others, which ranged from -0.52 to -0.66 and did not differ from each other. Trauma populations included war veterans, refugees, earthquake and tsunami victims, survivors of interpersonal violence, nurses, and prison inmates. No serious side effects were reported. A Phase 3 clinical trial testing TM against standard treatment was recommended.
Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania)
April 3, 2025
David W. Orme-Johnson, Vernon A Barnes, Brian Rees et al.
1 citation
A systematic review and meta-analysis of 15 controlled trials on the Transcendental Meditation (TM) technique for treating PTSD, involving 1,248 participants across civilian and military populations, found that TM produced a large reduction in PTSD symptoms compared to other treatments (effect size g = -1.01). TM worked as well as prolonged exposure therapy but significantly faster, showing benefits by week six. The effects were consistent across age, sex, and military or civilian status, with no single study reducing the overall effect. The authors recommend larger phase-III trials comparing TM with established first-line PTSD treatments.
Military Medicine
January 1, 2016
Vernon A Barnes, Andrea Monto, Jennifer J Williams et al.
Regular practice of Transcendental Meditation (TM) reduced the need for psychotropic medications and improved psychological wellbeing in military Service Members with PTSD or anxiety disorder. After one month, 83.7% of the TM group stabilized, decreased, or stopped medications, compared with 59.4% of controls; 10.8% of the TM group increased medication dosage versus 40.5% of controls. A similar pattern continued at 2, 3, and 6 months. The control group experienced a 20.5% greater increase in symptom severity over six months. TM appears to be a viable treatment for reducing PTSD and anxiety symptoms and associated medication use in military settings.
Frontiers in Psychology
January 1, 2015
Ravinder Jerath, Molly W Crawford, Vernon A Barnes
The Global Workspace Theory and Integrated Information Theory are two leading models of consciousness, but they fail to explain many aspects of conscious experience. This theoretical paper compares them to the authors' own model, in which the thalamus fills in processed sensory information from corticothalamic feedback loops within a proposed three-dimensional default space, recreating internal and external worlds in the mind. This 3D default space comprises all cells of the body, communicating via gap junctions and electrical potentials to create a unified space. Visual and non-visual sensory information is filled in within this dynamic space, producing a seamless conscious experience. The neural sensory memory space is likely generated by baseline neural oscillatory activity from the default mode network, other salient networks, brainstem, and reticular activating system.
Military Medicine
July 1, 2013
Vernon A Barnes, John L Rigg, Jennifer J Williams
Three active duty U.S. Army soldiers with PTSD practiced the Transcendental Meditation technique for 20 minutes twice daily over a 2-month period. The cases demonstrated that providing TM training in a Department of Defense medical facility is feasible. The authors suggest further investigation to determine whether a TM program could serve as an adjunct treatment for PTSD, and they expect the report to expand the complementary and alternative evidence base for clinical care.
The American journal of cardiology
May 1, 2005
Robert H Schneider, Charles N Alexander, Frank Staggers et al.
Older adults with high blood pressure who practiced the Transcendental Meditation program had a 23% lower risk of death from any cause over up to 18.8 years compared with those who received other behavioral interventions or usual care. The analysis pooled data from two randomized controlled trials involving 202 participants (77 white, mean age 81; 125 African-American, mean age 66). The TM group also showed a 30% reduction in cardiovascular mortality, while a 49% reduction in cancer mortality was not statistically significant. Results suggest that this specific stress-reduction technique may lower mortality risk in older hypertensive patients.