From birth, the human brain contains about 86 billion neurons. This number does not increase during life — in fact, it gradually decreases. Factors such as alcohol, stress, and illness accelerate this decline. However, intelligence does not depend on the number of neurons, but on the connections between them — the neural networks — and the speed of communication between neurons.

As we age, the speed of neural impulses tends to slow down, yet many people retain mental clarity and creativity. This happens because they maintain strong, dynamic neural connections that support higher levels of thinking, learning, and problem-solving. The denser and more integrated the network, the greater a person’s creative and intellectual potential.

In the early 2000s, Dr. Olga Ivanovna Koyokina conducted research on Transcendental Meditation (TM), hypothesizing that regular practice would show measurable changes in brain activity. Using electroencephalography (EEG), she compared the resting state of the brain with the meditative state of TM practitioners.

The study included 12 participants — 7 women and 5 men — all with at least one year of TM experience. The results revealed a remarkable pattern: practitioners showed cross-activation of brain areas from the right frontal region to the left occipital and lower parietal zones in the beta-2 frequency range. This unique activation pattern was termed the “axis of higher consciousness” — associated with creative intuition and integrated awareness.

Even more strikingly, this “axis of higher consciousness” persisted not only during meditation but also in daily activity, indicating lasting neurophysiological changes. Koyokina published her findings in the book “Transcendental Meditation: Scientific Research”, noting that TM is a unique and reliable method for the development of consciousness.

Her results have since been supported and expanded by hundreds of independent studies conducted in over 250 universities and research centers across 33 countries — including Harvard, Stanford, Yale, and the UCLA School of Medicine. More than 300 of these studies have been published in leading scientific journals such as Scientific American, the Archives of Internal Medicine, the International Journal of Neuroscience, and the American Journal of Physiology.

These findings affirm that Transcendental Meditation not only reduces stress but also enhances brain coherence, creativity, and the development of higher states of consciousness — unlocking the hidden potential of the human mind.