Transcendental meditation for veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Abstract

TM appears to be an acceptable and effective treatment for veterans with PTSD that warrants further study regarding specific outcomes and beneficial changes in brain function. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

The Electrical Aftermath: Brain Signals of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Filtered Through a Clinical Lens

“…rTMS delivers a fluctuating magnetic pulse typically within the range of delta, theta, and alpha frequency ranges (1–10 Hz) to produce changes in neural activity; particular cortical regions are often targeted via the scalp with the use of an EEG cap. Although traditional rTMS requires 20–30 min to produce effects, theta burst stimulation (TBS) is a type of rTMS that applies continuous 5 Hz pulses to the brain, produces neural changes under 5 min, and is shown to influence performance on executive function tasks, particularly those involving working memory (195). Although no published studies have reported TBS results within samples of PTSD patients, a recent meta-analysis (196) indicates that frontal TBS effectively decreases depression symptoms that are often elevated in individuals with PTSD.…”

A Systematic Review of a Polyvagal Perspective on Embodied Contemplative Practices as Promoters of Cardiorespiratory Coupling and Traumatic Stress Recovery for PTSD and OCD: Research Methodologies and State of the Art

“…Within PTSD patients, several results suggest that mindfulness-related interventions promote parasympathetic activity, an increased vagal tone and PTSD symptom improvements. The increased pNN50 measure of HRV [54], the increased DMN rsFC with DLPFC and dorsal ACC regions following MBET [53] and the increased low-frequency bands (1-7 Hz) of EEG spectral power, at post-treatment and follow-up, and only during meditation states [55] are results that favor the parasympathetic activity-promoting interpretation. Remarkably, though no change was observed in HR and HRV within and between groups by Wahbeh et al [56], Wahbeh et al [56] did not use an MBSR protocol, whereas it was used by Bhatnagar et al [54].…”

“…One study was a pre-post study [53] and examined potential neural correlates of mindfulness-based exposure therapy (MBET). Two studies were cohort studies [54,55] and investigated the effects of MBSR intervention on PTSD symptoms and HRV in combat veterans [54], and the effects of transcendental meditation (TM) on 29 veterans with PTSD using EEG recordings [55]. One study was an RCT study [56] that aimed to evaluate the effect of two common components of meditation (mindfulness and slow breathing) investigating HR, HRV, awakening cortisol and PTSD measures collected through the CAPS, while Williams et al [57] describe the protocol of an RCT to evaluate the effectiveness and mechanisms of three manualized 8-week behavioral interventions, MM, hypnosis (HYP) and education control (EDU), in 343 veterans with PTSD and chronic pain due to a broad range of etiologies.…”

“…Transcendental meditation (TM) represents a mental strategy that uses a mantra to promote meditation. Kang et al [55] investigated 29 veterans with PTSD (six females) recruited from a medical center and included in the study. TM instructions were given by certified TM teachers trained at the Maharishi Foundation.…”

Short-term meditation modulates EEG activity in subjects with post-traumatic residual disabilities

“…Electroencephalography (EEG) has attracted a great deal of scientific attention as an objective measure to assess biological changes induced by meditation ( Lutz et al, 2004 , Tei et al, 2009 , Cahn et al, 2010 , Thomas et al, 2014 , Faber et al, 2015 , DeLosAngeles et al, 2016 , Braboszcz et al, 2017 , Kang et al, 2018 , Lee et al, 2018 , Schoenberg et al, 2018 ). Early studies on expert meditators reported enhanced alpha power as state and trait features associated with meditative practices ( Wallace, 1970 , Kasamatsu and Hirai, 1966 ).…”