Posted on 11/15/2005 2:20:30 PM PST by S0122017
Meditation builds up the brain
* 11:01 15 November 2005 * NewScientist.com news service * Alison Motluk
Meditating does more than just feel good and calm you down, it makes you perform better – and alters the structure of your brain, researchers have found.
People who meditate say the practice restores their energy, and some claim they need less sleep as a result. Many studies have reported that the brain works differently during meditation – brainwave patterns change and neuronal firing patterns synchronise. But whether meditation actually brings any of the restorative benefits of sleep has remained largely unexplored.
So Bruce O’Hara and colleagues at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, US, decided to investigate. They used a well-established “psychomotor vigilance task”, which has long been used to quantify the effects of sleepiness on mental acuity. The test involves staring at an LCD screen and pressing a button as soon as an image pops up. Typically, people take 200 to 300 milliseconds to respond, but sleep-deprived people take much longer, and sometimes miss the stimulus altogether.
Ten volunteers were tested before and after 40 minutes of either sleep, meditation, reading or light conversation, with all subjects trying all conditions. The 40-minute nap was known to improve performance (after an hour or so to recover from grogginess). But what astonished the researchers was that meditation was the only intervention that immediately led to superior performance, despite none of the volunteers being experienced at meditation.
“Every single subject showed improvement,” says O’Hara. The improvement was even more dramatic after a night without sleep. But, he admits: “Why it improves performance, we do not know.” The team is now studying experienced meditators, who spend several hours each day in practice. Brain builder
What effect meditating has on the structure of the brain has also been a matter of some debate. Now Sara Lazar at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, US, and colleagues have used MRI to compare 15 meditators, with experience ranging from 1 to 30 years, and 15 non-meditators.
They found that meditating actually increases the thickness of the cortex in areas involved in attention and sensory processing, such as the prefrontal cortex and the right anterior insula.
“You are exercising it while you meditate, and it gets bigger,” she says. The finding is in line with studies showing that accomplished musicians, athletes and linguists all have thickening in relevant areas of the cortex. It is further evidence, says Lazar, that yogis “aren’t just sitting there doing nothing".
The growth of the cortex is not due to the growth of new neurons, she points out, but results from wider blood vessels, more supporting structures such as glia and astrocytes, and increased branching and connections.
The new studies were presented at the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting, in Washington DC, US. Related Articles
* If meditation is good, God makes it better * http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=mg18725154.300 * 02 September 2005 * Does inner peace lead to longer life? * http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=mg18624984.600 * 07 May 2005 * The colour of happiness * http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=mg17823965.200 * 24 May 2003
Weblinks
* Society for Neuroscience annual meeting * http://apu.sfn.org/am2005/index.cfm?pagename=home * Bruce O'Hara, University of Kentucky * http://ukcc.uky.edu/cgi-bin/phq?def=ukt&field=deptcode&value=102&field=name&value=O'Hara,+Bruce * Massachusetts General Hospital * http://www.researchmatters.harvard.edu/program.php?program_id=127
enlightening breaking news...
Hm, well i almost never posted before.
What is breaking news used for then? The article just appeared. Isnt that what 'breaking news' is? When a discovery is just made or announced?
I like to meditate my brain with a couple single malts - or is that medicate oh I am sure it works the same way.
Does this meditation refer to the new age type of meditating? Christians usually don't consider time with God meditating as a Buddhist or Hinduist would.
How do you give brain?
hmmm looks like someone forgot to meditate before writing that headline.
A good question. I'm not sure but i presume simply sitting, relaxing and focusing on nothing.
So not the Christian style praying.
The article doesn't really define what it means by meditating. Buddhist exercises? Christian meditation? They are entirely different. It would seem as if they should have described the meditative exercises.
Do you do a Christian meditation on the Passion, or do you imagine one hand clapping?
I have no clue.
Hummmmmmmmmmmmmm.........
I prefer Simpson-style meditation...
Dooohhhhhhhhh
The Bible supports Meditation in Joshua 1:8 before Israel overtook the giants at Canaan: This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall have good success.
My wife has been meditating daily for many years. I haven't. Her brain works better than mine does.
So scientists have found a religion they are willing to endorse? Interesting.
It's the New Age type. You will be shocked to learn just how many so-called evangelicals are into this these days. Seriously. If you have a teen, be very very attentive to what's being taught in Sunday School and at camp. You might have a mini-guru living in your midst.
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