Monday, June 18, 2007

Study: Meditation Alters The Structure of the Brain

The WSJ reports (three years ago!) that a study shows meditation has a profound effect on brain activity. Which is cool.

"In a striking difference between novices and monks, the latter showed a dramatic increase in high-frequency brain activity called gamma waves during compassion meditation. Thought to be the signature of neuronal activity that knits together far-flung brain circuits, gamma waves underlie higher mental activity such as consciousness. The novice meditators "showed a slight increase in gamma activity, but most monks showed extremely large increases of a sort that has never been reported before in the neuroscience literature," says Prof. Davidson, suggesting that mental training can bring the brain to a greater level of consciousness."

Via digg.

1 comment:

Evan Petrie said...

I just saw that article on Digg the other day and thought of you. I had actually seen it around the time it came out, but didn't know anyone meditating on a regular basis at that point.

Whether it's "meditation" or not, I think it is incredibly important for one to take at least a few moments each day to put everything on hold and collect one's thoughts. To refresh or reboot one's mind if you will.