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 |
Citations in the library
Cited by 2
- Test de Autoevaluación de Meditación Transcendental: a psychometric study of Peruvian school children and adolescents Revista Innova Educación July 1, 2024
- Participation in the transcendental meditation program and frontal EEG coherence during concept learning. International Journal of Neuroscience March 1986