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Academic achievement and the paired Hoffman reflex in students practicing meditation.

R K Wallace, David W. Orme-Johnson, Paul J Mills, Michael C. Dillbeck

International Journal of Neuroscience November 1984 DOI: 10.3109/00207458409089814 (opens in new tab)

Study at a glance

AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Observational study Peer reviewed
Population Students practicing the Transcendental Meditation program
Intervention Transcendental Meditation
Measures paired H reflex, grade point average, SAT scores, IQ measurements
Topics Meditation
Key findings The paired H reflex correlated significantly with grade point average but not with SAT scores or any of three IQ measurements. The authors suggest the facilitation period of the paired H-reflex recovery curve may be a useful indicator of academic achievement, perhaps reflecting awareness or wakefulness level.

Abstract

The paired H reflex, considered to be the electrically evoked counterpart of the monosynaptic stretch reflex, provides a measure of motoneuron excitability under a variety of experimental and clinical conditions. It also offers a potentially useful tool in examining the neurophysiologic basis of alterations in reflex response in different states of awareness. This study investigated the relationship between the paired H reflex and academic achievement in students practicing the Transcendental Meditation program. The paired H reflex correlated significantly with grade point average, but not with SAT scores or any of three IQ measurements. These results suggest that the facilitation period of the paired H-reflex recovery curve may be a useful indicator of academic achievement, perhaps as a result of its relationship to awareness or wakefulness level.

Comparable studies

Other observational and cohort studies on meditation, most cited first.

Study Year Design Participants
Using Self-Report Assessment Methods to Explore Facets of Mindfulness Undergraduate students 2006 Observational cohort
Effectiveness of a meditation-based stress reduction program in the treatment of anxiety disorders Patients with generalized anxiety disorder or panic disorder with or without agoraphobia 1992 Observational cohort n = 22
Meditation experience is associated with increased cortical thickness Participants with extensive Insight meditation experience and matched controls 2005 Observational cohort n = 20
Meditation experience is associated with differences in default mode network activity and connectivity Experienced meditators and matched meditation-naive controls 2011 Observational cohort
Long-term meditators self-induce high-amplitude gamma synchrony during mental practice Long-term Buddhist practitioners and controls 2004 Observational cohort

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