{"id":313,"date":"2014-01-11T19:38:00","date_gmt":"2014-01-11T19:38:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/worldreligions\/2014\/01\/your-brain-on-meditation.html"},"modified":"2014-07-28T14:05:36","modified_gmt":"2014-07-28T19:05:36","slug":"your-brain-on-meditation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/worldreligions\/2014\/01\/your-brain-on-meditation.html","title":{"rendered":"Your Brain on Meditation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
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New research shows that meditation causes physiological change<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n

This is probably old news to most Buddhists who have been practicing meditation for a long time. Two years ago The New York Times <\/a>reported that M.R.I. brain scans showed \u201cincreased gray matter in the hippocampus, an area important for learning and memory.\u201d They also showed \u201ca reduction of gray matter in the amygdala, a region connected to anxiety and stress.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u2019s.<\/p>\n

Here are links to several other stories about meditation and the brain.<\/p>\n