About David Orme-Johnson, Ph.D.

Dr. Orme-Johnson has directed numerous major field studies, including two health care utilization studies involving 2,600 participants, and he was a consultant for four years on an NIMH grant to study stress reduction in black adults. 

In 1995, the National Institutes of Health Office of Alternative Medicine selected Dr. Orme-Johnson to review the research on the effects of meditation on chronic pain and insomnia at an NIH technology assessment conference.

Again in July 2008 he was invited by the NIH National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine to give an overview of the research on the Transcendental Meditation technique at a conference on Meditation for Health Purposes, held in Bethesda, MD. 

Dr. Orme-Johnson is formerly a consultant for the Center for Natural Medicine and Prevention, which is funded by the NIH-National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.

Health Psychology  Publications

Barnes, V. A., & Orme-Johnson, D. W. (2012 (in press)). Prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease in adolescents and adults through the Transcendental Meditation program®: A research review update. Current Hypertension Reviews.

Orme-Johnson D.W. (2008). Commentary on the AHRQ report on research on meditation practices in health. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 14(10):1215–1221.

Barnes V.A,. Orme-Johnson D.W. (2008). El impacto de la reduccion del estres en el hypertension esencial y las enfermedades cardiovasculares. Revista Internacional De Ciencias Del Deporte (International Journal of Sports Science), 12:1-30.

Orme-Johnson D.W., Schneider R.H., Son Y.D., Nidich S., Cho Z.-H. (2006). Neuroimaging of meditation’s effect on brain reactivity to pain. NeuroReport, 17(12):1359-1363.

Orme-Johnson, D. W. (2006). Evidence that the Transcendental Meditation program prevents or decreases diseases of the nervous system and is specifically beneficial for epilepsy. Medical Hypotheses, 67:240-246.

Barnes, V.A. & Orme-Johnson, D.W. (2006). Clinical and Pre-clinical Applications of the Transcendental Meditation Program® in the Prevention and Treatment of Essential Hypertension and Cardiovascular Disease in Youth  and Adults: A Research Review. Current Hypertension Reviews, 2:207-218.

Orme-Johnson, D. W.; Barnes, V. A., Hankey, A. M. Chalmers, R. A. (2005). Reply to critics of research on Transcendental Meditation in the prevention and control of hypertension. Journal of Hypertension, 23(5):1107-1108.

Orme-Johnson, D. W. (2005).  Transcendental Meditation does not predispose to epilepsy.  Medical Hypotheses, 65(1),201-2.

Schneider RH, Alexander CN, Staggers F, Orme-Johnson, D., Rainforth, M., Salerno, J., Sheppard, W., Castillo-Richmond, A., Barnes, V.A., Nidich, S.I. (2005) A randomized controlled trial of stress reduction in the treatment of hypertension in African Americans over one year. American Journal of Hypertension., 18(1):88-98.

Orme-Johnson, D.W. and Walton, K (1998) All approaches to preventing or reversing effects of stress are not the same. American Journal of Health Promotion. 12(5): 297-299.

Orme-Johnson, D.W. and Herron, R.E. (1997) An innovative approach to reducing medical care utilization and expenditures.  American Journal of Managed Care, 3(1): 135-144

Herron, R.E.; Hillis, S.L.; Mandarino, J.V.; Orme-Johnson, D.W.; and Walton, K.G. (1996). The impact of Transcendental Meditation on government payments to physicians in Quebec. American Journal of Health Promotion, 10(3):183-191.

Orme-Johnson, D.W.; Walton, K.; Lonsdorf, N. (1995) Meditation in the treatment of chronic pain and insomnia. National  Institutes of Health Technology Assessment Conference on Integration of Behavioral and Relaxation Approaches into the Treatment of Chronic Pain and Insomnia. October 16-18, Bethesda, Maryland, Abstract.

Orme-Johnson, D.W. (1995) Evidence that Transcendental Meditation does not produce cognitive kindling: A comment. Perceptual and Motor Skills 81:1/1.

Gelderloos, P., Ahlström, H.H.B., Orme-Johnson, D.W., Robinson, D.K., Wallace, R.K., & Glaser, J.L. (1990). Influence of a Maharishi Ayur-Vedic herbal preparation on age-related visual discrimination. International Journal of Psychosomatics, 37(1-4), 25–29.

Orme-Johnson, D. W., & Vegors, S. (1988). Medical care utilization at Maharishi International University. Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science, 95(1), A56.

Orme-Johnson, D. (1987). Medical care utilization and the Transcendental Meditation program. Psychosomatic Medicine, 49, 493-507.