Researchers at the Center for Brain, Consciousness, and Cognition at Maharishi University of Management in Fairfield, Iowa have discovered something interesting. World-class athletes, musicians, and CEOs have one thing in common: higher brain function.
A recent study by this group published in Cognitive Processing discovered that twenty top-tier managers scored higher on the Brain Integration Scale, Gibbs’s Socio-moral Reasoning questionnaire, and an inventory of peak experiences than did twenty low-level managers. This is the fourth study of its kind, previous ones comparing the brain function of extremely talented athletes and performers to the average. The results were the same.
The studies were conducted using EEG to test three primary areas: coherence, alpha waves, and how economically the brain functioned. Basically, they were trying to determine how well the brain worked together in an integrated way.
People with extremely high performance levels in all three arenas (musical, athletic, and managerial) showed much more developed brain integration. This observation has developed a new theory: that more advanced brain-mind development creates a platform that makes higher performance possible in any arena.
It’s an interesting concept, but there are things that haven’t been answered yet. For one, can you develop your brain further to achieve these goals, or are you trapped in a box dependent on your mind-brain development? Also, can you measure a child or young person’s brain to determine if they have that potential early on?
Only time will tell, but in the meantime, what an interesting concept!
