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Meditating like the Buddha -
Martin Bohn
How Meditation Changes Brain Function
Meditating Demonstrates the Power of Mind Over Matter
Jul 20, 2009 Martin Bohn
During the last two decades, Western scientists have started
to
investigate the effects of meditation. In this process, research
was
able to give scientific evidence for various health benefits
of
meditation, such as lowering blood pressure, reducing
stress,
improving immune functions as well as easing sleep disorders
and
chronic pain. The foundations of meditation research were laid
by
pioneers such as Harvard's Dr. Herbert Benson (The
Relaxation
Response) and spiritual teacher-turned-researcher Jon
Kabat-Zinn.
Brain Research on the Effects of Meditation
However, it is the more recent studies of neuroscientists such
as Richard Davidson and Sara
Lazar that have caught the eye of both the scientific community
and the public. Using the
tools of modern neuroscience such as rCBF (regional Cerebral
Blood Flow), real time MRI
(Magnetic Resonance Imaging), MEG (magnetoencephalography), and
improved EEG
(electoencephalography), neuroscientists are now able to better
understand the effects of
meditation on the brain.
With the help of these sophisticated tools, they were able to
provide solid scientific evidence
that meditation fundamentally changes the way the brain
functions and even alters the
physical structure of the brain itself.
A Study on Meditation by Richard Davidson
In a study with Tibetan monks, researchers at the University of
Wisconsin found that a mind
trained through meditation functions differently from an
untrained one. The technique used
was the Tibetan-Buddhist meditation on unconditional
compassion.
Read on
Why Meditate?
Health Benefits of Meditation
Why Meditate?
Meditation Changes the Way the Brain Functions
According to Richard Davidson, neuroscientist at the universitys
Laboratory for Functional
Brain Imaging and Behavior, the results demonstrate a hitherto
unimagined potential of the
mind and brain:
During meditation, the experienced meditators in the study
showed high-frequency
gamma waves, a brain wave pattern associated with higher mental
activity, perception
and consciousness.
The gamma wave frequency was higher than normal even before they
started
meditating. This suggests that the impact of meditation on the
brain waves is permanent
and not limited to the meditation session itself.
The monks brains showed more and unusually powerful gamma waves
compared to a
control group consisting of volunteers without previous
meditation experience.
The higher the meditation experience, the higher were the levels
of gamma waves.
Some experienced monks showed the most powerful gamma waves ever
to be
documented in a human being. In the control group without
previous meditationexperience, the increases in gamma waves were
only slight.
The mind can be trained through meditation. Mental training
changes the brain,
improving its capacity for awareness, happiness and
compassion.
Related Reading
Neuroscientists like Richard Davidson have found that
regular
meditation can fundamentally alter the way the brain
functions.
Related Articles
Neuroscientific Studies of Buddhist
Meditation
Change Your Thoughts, Change
Your BrainWhy Meditate?
How the Mind Works in Buddhist
Meditation
Why Meditate?
Health Benefits of Meditation
The Power of Positive Thinking
What Are Gamma Brainwaves?
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Reference
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the...
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