Research on the relaxation response: our current guide
What this page said
Beginning in 2001, the institute said it ran a multi-year research program sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to investigate the scientific basis of the relaxation response, as a collaboration between Beth Israel Deaconess, Massachusetts General Hospital and Tufts New England Medical Center.
Project 1 examined molecular and biochemical changes in about 45 healthy young adults given eight weeks of relaxation response training or an educational program. Project 2 used functional MRI to compare the brain activity of about 50 experienced practitioners from yoga traditions with that of novices. Project 3 was a randomised trial of eight weeks of training to lower blood pressure in about 120 older adults with hypertension, followed by a test of whether medication could be safely reduced. Results were expected in 2006.
Key points from the original
- Funded by the CDC from 2001.
- Three projects: molecular mechanisms, brain imaging and blood pressure.
- Described as work in progress as of the captures.