Meditation can mean a variety of things, from Buddhist meditation to contemplation to ambiguous “deep thought”, and scientists are taking another look at what’s involved from a physical and psychological perspective.
Dr Richard Davidson in Madison, Wisconsin has been carrying out studies for several years with Buddhist monks.
In one study he observed the brains of a group of office workers before and after they undertook a course of meditation combined with stress reduction techniques.
At the end of the course the participants’ brains seemed to have altered in the way they functioned.
–BBC News, “Scientists probe meditation secrets“
Various studies have been completed over the years, some with dubious claims, others which seem to have more substance.
Dr Sara Lazar in Boston, Massachusetts analyzed the brains of people who have been meditating for years. The BBC reports:
She compared the brains of these experienced practitioners with people who had never meditated and found that there were differences in the thickness of certain areas of the brain’s cortex, including areas involved in the processing of emotion.
She is continuing research, but she believes that meditation had caused the brain to change physical shape.
What this means has yet to be determined, but that meditation altering the way one functions is a known effect of practice, and the possibility that meditation can affect the physical brain is not likely to surprise long-term practitioners.
It will be interesting to see what conclusions are drawn from this research.
