Engaging in meditation even for brief periods each day has visible effects on the human brain, say the conclusions of a new scientific study. It would appear that the practice triggers a reorganization of cortical areas related to sense of self, stress, empathy and memory, among many others.
The correlation was found to be valid even for people with no prior experiences of this nature, who took part in a brief mindfulness meditation program. The work was conducted by experts at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH).
They say that brain-imaging techniques revealed that change after only eight weeks of practicing the meditation methods, which is a very short time indeed. Details of the study will appear in an upcoming issue of the scientific journal Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging.
The correlation was found to be valid even for people with no prior experiences of this nature, who took part in a brief mindfulness meditation program. The work was conducted by experts at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH).
They say that brain-imaging techniques revealed that change after only eight weeks of practicing the meditation methods, which is a very short time indeed. Details of the study will appear in an upcoming issue of the scientific journal Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging.
What makes this research special is the fact that it demonstrated for the first time that meditation can produce changes in the structure of gray matter in the human brain. These are the first scientific, verifiable evidence to attest to the fact that the change is real.
“Although the practice of meditation is associated with a sense of peacefulness and physical relaxation, practitioners have long claimed that meditation also provides cognitive and psychological benefits that persist throughout the day,” explains researcher Sara Lazar, PhD.
“This study demonstrates that changes in brain structure may underlie some of these reported improvements and that people are not just feeling better because they are spending time relaxing,” adds the expert, who was the senior author of the new study.
In past studies the researcher and her team conducted, it was demonstrated that the brains of experienced meditation practitioners were considerably different from those of individuals who did not practice meditation.
Cortical areas associated with attention and emotional integration were a lot thicker in the practitioners, the team reported at the time. However, in the other studies, it was impossible to determine a causal link between meditation and the boost in cortical thickness.
The new study, which was based on using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) on the brain of test subjects, does exactly that. The research was carried out at the University of Massachusetts Center for Mindfulness.
“It is fascinating to see the brain’s plasticity and that, by practicing meditation, we can play an active role in changing the brain and can increase our well-being and quality of life,” adds Britta Hölzel, PhD.
“Other studies in different patient populations have shown that meditation can make significant improvements in a variety of symptoms, and we are now investigating the underlying mechanisms in the brain that facilitate this change,” she says.
Hölzel, who is first author of the new paper, holds an appointment as a research fellow at MGH and also at theGiessen University Germany
“Although the practice of meditation is associated with a sense of peacefulness and physical relaxation, practitioners have long claimed that meditation also provides cognitive and psychological benefits that persist throughout the day,” explains researcher Sara Lazar, PhD.
“This study demonstrates that changes in brain structure may underlie some of these reported improvements and that people are not just feeling better because they are spending time relaxing,” adds the expert, who was the senior author of the new study.
In past studies the researcher and her team conducted, it was demonstrated that the brains of experienced meditation practitioners were considerably different from those of individuals who did not practice meditation.
Cortical areas associated with attention and emotional integration were a lot thicker in the practitioners, the team reported at the time. However, in the other studies, it was impossible to determine a causal link between meditation and the boost in cortical thickness.
The new study, which was based on using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) on the brain of test subjects, does exactly that. The research was carried out at the University of Massachusetts Center for Mindfulness.
“It is fascinating to see the brain’s plasticity and that, by practicing meditation, we can play an active role in changing the brain and can increase our well-being and quality of life,” adds Britta Hölzel, PhD.
“Other studies in different patient populations have shown that meditation can make significant improvements in a variety of symptoms, and we are now investigating the underlying mechanisms in the brain that facilitate this change,” she says.
Hölzel, who is first author of the new paper, holds an appointment as a research fellow at MGH and also at the
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