Dr. Grosswald is also president of SJ Grosswald & Associates, a consulting firm in medical education in Alexandria, Virginia; and director of continuing medical education for the American Medical Women’s Association.

New Study: Transcendental Meditation technique reduces ADHD symptoms
Maharishi University of Management, Iowa, USA, The Review
13 January 2009

The Transcendental Meditation technique may be an effective and safe non-pharmaceutical aid for treating attention deficit hyperactivity disorder(ADHD) according to a promising new study published earlier this month in the peer-reviewed online journal Current Issues in Education.

The pilot study followed a group of middle school students with ADHD who were meditating twice a day in school. After three months, researchers found over 50 percent reduction in stress and anxiety, and improvements in ADHD symptoms.

"The effect was much greater than we expected," said Sarina J. Grosswald, Ed.D., a George Washington University-trained cognitive learning specialist and lead researcher on the study. "The children also showed improvements in attention, working memory, organization, and behavior regulation."

Dr. Grosswald said that after the in-school meditation routine began, "teachers said they were able to teach more, and students were able to learn more because they were less stressed and anxious."

Prior research shows ADHD children have slower brain development and a reduced ability to cope with stress.

The study was conducted in a private K-12 school for children with language-based learning disabilities. Participation was restricted to 10 students, ages 11-14, who had pre-existing diagnoses of ADHD. About half of
the students were on medication. The students meditated at school in a group for 10 minutes, morning and afternoon.

To determine the influence of the Transcendental Meditation technique, at the beginning and end of the three-month period, parents, teachers and students completed standard ADHD assessment inventories measuring stress and anxiety, behavior and social competency, and executive function. Students were also given a battery of performance tests to measure cognitive functioning.

"The results were quite remarkable," said Daryl Schoenbach, mother of one of the students. "The twice daily meditations smoothed things out, gave her
perspective, and enabled her to be in greater control of her own life when things started falling apart. It took some time, but it gradually changed the way she handled crises and enabled her to feel confident that she could
take on greater challenges."

This study was funded by the Abramson Family Foundation and the Institute for Community Enrichment.

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