_Perceptual and Motor Skills_, 1993, 76, 80-82. TRANSCENDENTAL MEDITATION(TM) AND GENERAL MEDITATION ARE ASSOCIATED WITH ENHANCED COMPLEX PARTIAL EPILEPTIC-LIKE SIGNS: EVIDENCE FOR "COGNITIVE" KINDLING? M. A. Persinger Laurentian University Summary. - The Personal Philosophy Inventories of 221 university students who had learned to meditate (about 65% to 70% Transcendental Meditation(TM)) were compared to 860 nonmeditators. Meditators displayed a significantly wider range of complex partial epileptic-like signs. Experiences of vibrations, hearing one's name called, paranormal phenomena, profound meaning from reading poetry/prose, and religious phenomenology were particularly frequent among meditators. Numbers of years of TM practice were significantly correlated with the incidence of complex partial signs and sensed presences but not with control, olfactory, or perseverative experiences. The results support the hypothesis that procedures which promote cognitive kindling enhance complex partial epileptic-like signs. ... Although experimental kindling of limbic seizures in human beings would be unethical, there are multiple anecdotal cases where repeated meditation was associated with increased indicators of complex partial seizures (Persinger, 1984). For example, Young (1984) reported more frequent and intense incidences of lights and movements in the upper left visual field (indicateive of right temporal lobe stimulation through Meyer's loop) as a function of meditation trials. ... The positive association between the self-reported duration of meditation (an inference of repeated trials) and the frequency of complex partial epileptic-like signs (but not control experiences) suggests a specific "dose-dependence" relationship. Obviously a third factor, that enhanced the symptoms and encouraged continuation of meditation, could have been present. However, a causal relationship could explain the development of frank epileptic displays over the temporal lobe (Persinger, 1984) in subgroups of prolonged meditators as well as the myoclonic and limbic motor disorders that have been claimed by some experienced TM teachers who subsequently withdrew from the organization (e.g. TM-Ex Newsletter, PO Box 7565, Arlington, VA 22207).