Organization:HeartMath Institute

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Short description: Alternative medicine research and education organization
HeartMath Institute
Formation1991
FounderLew Childre
Type501(c)(3) Nonprofit
HeadquartersBoulder Creek, California
Katherine Floriano, Brian Kabaker, Dan Bishop, Diana Govan, Donna Koontz
Key people
Rollin McCraty
Parent organization
Quantum Intech
AffiliationsHeartMath LLC
Websitehttps://heartmath.org

The HeartMath Institute (HMI) is a research and education organization founded by Doc Childre and located in Boulder Creek, California, United States.[1] The institute conducts research into the function of the heart and the role they believe it plays in parapsychology. Most of their recommended treatments fit under some tradition of alternative medicine like energy medicine and integrative medicine, and their research is often published in journals devoted to these topics.

The institute has a for-profit counterpart named HeartMath LLC, which sells various techniques and devices that purport to increase "heart coherence".[2] This work has been accused of being a pseudoscience.[3] A review by the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technology failed to find independent systematic reviews or meta-analyses that support the efficacy of HeartMath treatment programs,[4] though additional federally funded trials are ongoing.[5][6]

Beliefs

Coherence

The institute has claimed that the heart plays a central role in regulating emotions,[7] and that various measures of heart physiology are correlated with ailments like hypertension and cognitive decline.[8] Most importantly, they have introduced a concept they call "heart coherence" defined as a state of synchronization between the heart, respiratory system, and a heart rate variability pattern.[9] They claim that by achieving a coherent state, one can gain various psychological and spiritual benefits like lower stress,[10] better decision making,[11] and the ability to cause a shift in the global consciousness at certain points in the solar cycle.[12] There's no scientific consensus about whether achieving a state of coherence does anything useful or that achieving it through HeartMath devices has any beneficial effects.[13] Some studies have showed a positive effects of HRV bio-feedback on mental health,[14] but a literature review indicates these benefits are likely due to the subject relaxing, rather than a specific psychological mechanism like coherence.[15]

Heart Rate Variability

The institute has developed a device that measures heart rate variability (HRV),[16] which they claim can be used to lower stress.[17] They also believe the device can measure heart coherence,[18] and that achieving this state can increase various measures of well-being.[19] The device received a positive reception from some technology-focused websites,[20][21] though a review published by the James Randi Educational Foundation argued that the institute's speculative research about the alleged spiritual benefits of their device was "starting with a result and trying to conduct research to prove the result they already believed in", which is that the heart has "powers beyond anything we can measure with modern technology".[13]

Energy Medicine

The institute has claimed that the heart emits an energetic field that carries emotional state information capable of being detected by nearby systems,[22] that all living things are interconnected by the electromagnetic field of the earth,[12] and that the heart's field is coupled to a "field of information that is not bound by the classical limits of time and space".[22] When the latter assertion was made at a meeting of the International Positive Psychology Association, it was subsequently criticized by psychologist James C. Coyne for failing to meet the basic standards of reproducible science. He questioned why HeartMath had failed to put its more speculative research through peer review and concluded that it was lucrative pseudoscience.[22]

Parapsychology

The institute has claimed that increasing coherence can amplify various intuitive abilities.[23] For example, in a 2003 study, the HeartMath director of research claimed to have telekinetically caused DNA in a beaker to unwind by bringing his heart into a state of coherence, staring at the beaker, and willing it to unwind. He also claimed to have replicated this experiment from a half-mile away.[24]

Notable contracts and grants

Year(s) Organization Entity Type Transaction Description Amount
2004 U.S. Department of Education HeartMath Institute Grant TestEdge program ~$1,000,000
2010 U.S. Navy[25] HeartMath LLC Purchase Order EmWave devices $203,455
2011 U.S. Navy[26] HeartMath LLC Purchase Order EmWave devices $965,743
2010-2022 U.S. Department of VA[27] HeartMath LLC Purchase Order HeartMath trainings ~$40,000/yr
2019 U.S. CDC[28] NORC Grant HeartMath for resiliency $1,049,996
2023 U.S. NIJ[5] FSU Grant HeartMath for jail staff $498,491

Projects

Global Consciousness Project

The institute maintains a global network of random event generators in support of the Global Consciousness Project (GCP),[12] a parapsychology experiment based on the hypothesis that world events can cause emotional disturbances in the "global consciousness" which will be measurable as non-random patterns in the data collected from the network.[29] Proponents of the GCP have claimed that it is supported by a large amount of statistically significant data,[30] while detractors have argued that the supposed results are artifacts of confirmation bias.[31]

Global Coherence Initiative

The institute also maintains a network of induction coil magnetometers that they use to monitor geomagnetic activity.[32] The stated purpose of this network is to "to quantify the impact of human emotion on the earth's electromagnetic field and tip the global equation toward greater peace".[22] They believe the earth's magnetic field facilitates unified communication between the heart's of all living creatures and that their detectors can monitor the "global coherence" of this unified system.[12]

Criticism

In April 2003, psychiatrist Steven Barrett added HeartMath to the quackwatch.org index of questionable treatments and index of questionable organizations,[33][34] citing what he saw as the poor design and quality controls of their studies on heart rate variability. He also questioned the quality of the journals the research was published in, and the relevance of the data they collected to evaluating the efficacy of their treatment programs.[35]

In 2004, the U.S. Department of Education, funded a study of the efficacy of a HeartMath program that was designed to increase student test scores by increasing physiological coherence.[36] The study failed to find a statistically significant increase in the test scores across the entire intervention group, though it did find statistically significant differences in reported test anxiety, emotional discord, and social interaction.[37] A NREPP analysis of the study criticized various aspects of its methodology, reporting that "no reliability data from independent investigators were provided", "a criterion validity was not established", and "the study had considerable missing data", rating the quality assurance procedures and attempts to account for confounding variables a 2.3 out of 4.0.[38]

In August 2008, psychologist David Douglass published an article to the Cabrillo College website examining the claims HeartMath researchers were making about the potential of their TestEdge program to increase test scores. He pointed out that all four of the studies that purported to show test score increases lacked a proper control condition, random assignment, and blind observers, which led him to conclude that there is no evidence that the coherence intervention has any positive effects.[39]

In December 2012, neurologist Steven Novella published an article to sciencebasedmedicine.org criticizing the so-called "Cargo Cult Science" of energy medicine. He argued that HeartMath research is an example of how research methods can be misused to support a favored hypothesis, and that the institute had failed to provide any evidence that the supposed benefits of coherence could be differentiated from the benefits of relaxation.[3]

See also

Further reading

References

  1. ↑ "Body & Soul with Gail Harris". https://www.pbs.org/bodyandsoul/203/heartmath.htm. 
  2. ↑ Love, Dylan. "What It's Like To Use An App That Claims To Make You Happier And Healthier" (in en-US). https://www.businessinsider.com/heartmath-inner-balance-review-2013-8. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Energy Medicine – Noise-Based Pseudoscience | Science-Based Medicine" (in en-US). 2012-12-12. https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/energy-medicine-noise-based-pseudoscience/. 
  4. ↑ "The HeartMath Program for the Treatment of Mental Health and Psychiatric Disorders". https://www.cadth.ca/sites/default/files/pdf/htis/2017/RB1062%20HeartMath%20Program%20Final.pdf. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "A Randomized Controlled Trial of the HeartMath Resilience Program" (in en). https://nij.ojp.gov/funding/awards/15pnij-23-gg-02231-nijb. 
  6. ↑ "HeartMath for Youth Resiliency and Violence Prevention" (in en). https://www.norc.org/research/projects/heartmath-youth-resiliency-violence-prevention.html. 
  7. ↑ "Does your heart sense your emotional state?" (in en). 26 January 2006. http://www.today.com/health/does-your-heart-sense-your-emotional-state-2D80555354. 
  8. ↑ Heckman, William (2022-08-10). "Stress Got You Down on the Job?" (in en-US). https://www.stress.org/stress-got-you-down-on-the-job. 
  9. ↑ "AWC Series: Stress" (in en). https://www.army.mil/article/254959/awc_series_stress. 
  10. ↑ "A Cure For Stress?" (in en). 2006-05-27. https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/a-cure-for-stress-479558.html. 
  11. ↑ Zimmerman, Eilene (2003-07-20). "Executive Life; Your Brain on Stress: An Unfocused Picture" (in en-US). The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/20/business/executive-life-your-brain-on-stress-an-unfocused-picture.html. 
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 "Are You Ready for the Consciousness Shift?" (in en). 2010-03-18. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/dan-browns-new-book-2012_b_316194. 
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 "Is Heartmath's emWave Personal Stress Reliever Scientific?". http://archive.randi.org/site/index.php/swift-blog/1202--is-heartmaths-emwave-personal-stress-reliever-scientific-.html. 
  14. ↑ Bruce Cryer, Rollin Mccraty (2003). "Pull the Plug on Stress". Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2003/07/pull-the-plug-on-stress. 
  15. ↑ Houtveen, JH; Hornsveld, HK; van Trier, J; van Doornen, LJP (2012). "Questioning the mechanism behind slow breathing and heart coherence training". Tijdschrift voor Psychiatrie 54 (10): 879–888. PMID 23074032. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23074032/. 
  16. ↑ Fermoso, Jose. "Medi-Gadget Takes Out the Stress of the Season By Measuring The Rhythm of the Heart" (in en-US). Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. https://www.wired.com/2008/12/medi-gadget-tak/. Retrieved 2023-07-30. 
  17. ↑ "Heart rate variability could be the key to improving your body's response to stress. Here's how to get started" (in en). https://fortune.com/well/2022/12/26/heart-rate-variability-improving-your-bodys-response-to-stress/. 
  18. ↑ "The science behind choking" (in en). 2012-03-05. https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/7649003/nfl-science-why-ravens-kicker-billy-cundiff-choked-afc-championship-game-espn-magazine. 
  19. ↑ Love, Dylan. "What It's Like To Use An App That Claims To Make You Happier And Healthier" (in en-US). https://www.businessinsider.com/heartmath-inner-balance-review-2013-8. 
  20. ↑ "HeartMath's Inner Balance helps you find your center". 2013-01-11. https://www.engadget.com/2013-01-11-ces-heartmaths-inner-balance-tries-to-help-you-find-your-cente.html. 
  21. ↑ WIRED Staff. "Help Manage Stress and Anxiety With emWave2" (in en-US). Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. https://www.wired.com/2012/07/emwave2/. Retrieved 2023-12-29. 
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 22.3 Coyne, James (2015-07-18). "Lucrative pseudoscience at the International Positive Psychology Association meeting" (in en-US). https://www.seattlestar.net/2015/07/lucrative-pseudoscience-at-the-international-positive-psychology-association-meeting/. 
  23. ↑ "A Skeptical Doctor Learned Intuition, You Can, Too | Psychology Today" (in en-US). https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/brave-new-medicine/201909/skeptical-doctor-learned-intuition-you-can-too. 
  24. ↑ McCraty, Rollin; Tomasino, Dana. "Modulation of DNA Conformation by Heart‑Focused Intention". https://www.heartmath.org/research/research-library/energetics/modulation-of-dna-conformation-by-heart-focused-intention/. 
  25. ↑ "Purchase order N0018909PZA29" (in en). https://www.usaspending.gov/award/CONT_AWD_N0018909PZA29_9700_-NONE-_-NONE-. 
  26. ↑ "Purchase order N0018911PZ474" (in en). https://www.usaspending.gov/award/CONT_AWD_N0018911PZ474_9700_-NONE-_-NONE-. 
  27. ↑ "USA Spending on HeartMath" (in en). https://www.usaspending.gov/search/?hash=0b67b04257f62a06b9567ac368485501. 
  28. ↑ "Grant R01CE003108" (in en). https://www.usaspending.gov/award/ASST_NON_R01CE003108_7523. 
  29. ↑ "The Global Consciousness Project". https://noosphere.princeton.edu/. 
  30. ↑ "Global Consciousness Project" (in en-US). https://noetic.org/research/global-consciousness-project/. 
  31. ↑ "Skeptic News: Terry Schiavo and the Global Consciousness Project". https://www.skepticnews.com/2005/04/terry_schiavo_a.html. 
  32. ↑ Alabdulgader, Abdullah (2018-02-08). "Long-Term Study of Heart Rate Variability Responses to Changes in the Solar and Geomagnetic Environment". Scientific Reports 8: 2663. doi:10.1038/s41598-018-20932-x. PMID 29422633. PMC 5805718. Bibcode: 2018NatSR...8.2663A. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-20932-x. 
  33. ↑ Kreidler, Marc (2023-03-27). "Index of Questionable Treatments" (in en-US). https://quackwatch.org/related/treatmentindex/. 
  34. ↑ Kreidler, Marc (2022-02-05). "Questionable Organizations: An Overview" (in en-US). https://quackwatch.org/consumer-education/nonrecorg/. 
  35. ↑ BizTimes Staff (2003-04-01). "Quackwatch doctor is skeptical of HeartMath". https://biztimes.com/cardiologist-says-neurons-in-heart-can-foster-better-business-decisions-4/. 
  36. ↑ Viadero, Debra (2004-05-26). "Researchers Explore Ways To Lower Students' Stress" (in en). Education Week. ISSN 0277-4232. https://www.edweek.org/leadership/researchers-explore-ways-to-lower-students-stress/2004/05. 
  37. ↑ "Results from the TestEdge National Demonstration Study". https://www.issuelab.org/resources/3089/3089.pdf. 
  38. ↑ National Registry of Evidence-Based Programs and Practices. "Intervention Summary". https://www.nreppadmin.net/viewintervention_id_279.html. 
  39. ↑ "HeartMath". https://www.cabrillo.edu/psychology/heartmath/. 



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