Your Brain on Meditation

New research shows that meditation causes physiological change in the brain. Previous research relied on changes in blood pressure or even a participant questionnaire. This government funded study looked at the effects of meditation on stress and discovered a real biological change.

This is probably old news to most Buddhists who have been practicing meditation for a long time. Two years ago The New York Times reported that M.R.I. brain scans showed “increased gray matter in the hippocampus, an area important for learning and memory.” They also showed “a reduction of gray matter in the amygdala, a region connected to anxiety and stress.”

For that study, participants learned to how practice mindfulness meditation, which is an ancient Buddhist practice and came to the United States in the 1970’s.

Here are links to several other stories about meditation and the brain.

• Life Hacker has an interesting story that also explains meditation.
• Psychology Today has a story called This is Your Brain on Meditation.
• The Huffington Post has story called How You Can Train Your Mind To Do The Impossible. It also includes this short video clip.