Education News: Top Stories

The Brain Integration Scale: New understanding for educators, students about developing the capacity of the brain for maximum performance
by Global Good News staff writer

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24 September 2009

Dr Guy-Paul Gagné continued to describe progress in the scientific understanding of the Transcendental Meditation Technique and brain function, a topic explored in meetings with many educators during his recent tour across Canada. Dr Gagné is an expert in the Brain Integration Scale and its application in the field of education. The Brain Integration Scale was developed by Fred Travis, PhD, Director of the Center for Brain, Consciousness, and Cognition at Maharishi University of Management, USA.

Please see previous articles in this series, Part I, Part II, and Part III.

The conclusion of Dr Gagné's presentation* on the Maharishi Channel described related research on the Brain Integration Scale and Norwegian athletes.

In that research, Dr Travis and colleagues studied 33 world-class Norwegian athletes—those winning Olympic medals and other top level competitions. This study, which did not involve Transcendental Meditation, revealed that the world-class athletes scored higher on the Brain Integration Scale than average-performing athletes. 'The statistical numbers were actually very close to those of the TM Meditators practising for three months,' said Dr Gagné.

'The main difference between top performers and average performers was the Brain Integration score, but what is amazing is that we can produce the same effect just by introducing TM.' He explains further, 'This does not necessarily mean anyone is going to becoming a gold medalist, but we can at least develop the capacity of the brain for maximum performance in whatever field the student wants to pursue. We're talking about scientific proof of the capacity of TM to produce champions.'

Interestingly, the difference in self development and moral reasoning between the world-class athletes and average athletes was not so great. Psychological tests for self development usually involve intellect and balance of personality, and only a few people score very high. 'But when you look at the Brain Integration Scale, the difference is huge—it's much more statistically significant. What this means is that the Brain Integration Scale is a much more sensitive measurement to evaluate brain performance than the usual tests given by psychologists.'

He concluded, 'What this study shows, and also that at American University,** is that anybody with a brain can increase its performance. Developing the God-given potential of our brains is available to everyone.'

* Dr Gagné spoke on the 16 September Maharishi Global Family Chat, which is broadcast daily via Internet webcast on the Maharishi Channel, Channel 3. Podcasts of the daily Global Family Chat (audio track) are also available for automatic download, via an RSS feed.

** See details of the American University Study at www.brainresearch.mum.edu

© Copyright 2009 Global Good News^®

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For information about Maharishi's seven-point programme to create a healthy, happy, prosperous society, and a peaceful world, please visit: Global Financial Capital of New York.

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