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Does the workplace damage your brain? Mon 12 Sep 2005 09:37 am CST IOWA (myDNA News) To learn more visit myDNA's Mental Health Center Read More Everyone is aware of the damage job stress can do to the heart - consider the elevated risks of hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and stroke. But what can stress do to the brain - to vital executive functions, such as planning, decision-making and problem-solving abilities, even moral reasoning? On Friday, September 30, a panel of medical researchers and business leaders will participate in the first annual national brain conference for business, entitled, "Is the Workplace Bad for Your Brain?" The conference, which will be webcast nationally, will explore the impact of job stress on the brain - and will present new research showing the effects of Transcendental Meditation on executive brain functioning. Stressful experiences lead to dysfunctions of the prefrontal cortex According to conference panelist Dr. Gary Kaplan, a Long Island neurologist and clinical professor of neurology at New York University School of Medicine, the high stress, long hours, bad diet, and substance abuse that permeate the workplace can take a terrible toll on the brain. "Stressful experiences lead to dysfunctions of the prefrontal cortex - the so-called 'CEO' of the brain - which regulates critical areas governing judgment, planning, decision making, moral reasoning, and sense of self. Over time, this can lead to impulsive, short-sighted, even violent behavior; increased anxiety; depression; alcohol and drug abuse; memory loss; and an increase of other stress-related diseases," Dr. Kaplan said. Reversing the debilitating effects of job stress To counter the damage of stress, more and more business people are turning to effective non-medicinal antidotes, such as Transcendental Meditation, which research shows produces a state of "restful alertness" in the brain - the opposite of the stressful 'fight-or-flight' response. "The experience of restful alertness gained during TM reverses the debilitating effects of stress on the prefrontal cortex. It integrates frontal lobe functioning and the connections of frontal areas to the rest of the brain - the basis of sound judgment and therefore good leadership," says neuroscientist Fred Travis, director of the Center for Brain, Consciousness and Cognition at Maharishi University of Management, and one of the world's most published researchers in the field of meditation and brain functioning. Conference panelist Jeffrey Abramson, partner in the Tower Companies, a prominent Washington, D.C.-based commercial development company, will speak during the conference on his company's use of the new "EEG Stress Test and Brain Integration Score Card" to assess the impact of job stress on the brain functioning of meditating employees. In addition, Dr. Travis will measure the brain wave coherence of a meditating executive to demonstrate unique EEG changes experienced during TM practice. Over $20 million in NIH-funded research Research on the effects of Transcendental Meditation on brain functioning is coming to the forefront after nearly two decades of research on cardiovascular disease. The CVD research, which has been funded by over $20 million in grants from the National Institutes of Health, has found the TM technique reduces high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, and the use of antihypertensive medication - as well as decreases death rate by 23 percent. Transcendental Meditation was introduced to the world 50 years ago by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. The technique is now practiced by six million people of all ages, religions, and nationalities. Special guest: Film director David Lynch to address business conference Award-winning film director David Lynch, who last month established a new foundation to bring the benefits of Transcendental Meditation to America's stressed-out schools, will address the business conference. Mr. Lynch is also speaking at NYU's Cantor Film Center on "Consciousness, Creativity and the Brain" on Thursday, September 29, 7 p.m., an event sponsored by the NYU Directors' Series. The business conference proceedings will be webcast live, nationally, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. (Eastern) at www.businessbrain.mum.edu. To learn more visit myDNA's Mental Health Center Read More ------------------------------------------------------------------------Reviewed: September 12, 2005 Rick Nauert PhD Source: Maharishi University of Management Copyright: ©Maharishi University of Management ------------------------------------------------------------------------ __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Get fast access to your favorite Yahoo! Groups. Make Yahoo! your home page http://us.click.yahoo.com/dpRU5A/wUILAA/yQLSAA/JjtolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! 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