Monday, January 31, 2011

NYT: Meditation May Change the Brain

The New York Times reported recently that recent neurobiology studies have found evidence through MRI that meditation may change the structure of the brain. To wit:
M.R.I. brain scans taken before and after the participants’ meditation regimen found increased gray matter in the hippocampus, an area important for learning and memory. The images also showed a reduction of gray matter in the amygdala, a region connected to anxiety and stress. A control group that did not practice meditation showed no such changes.
The amygdala is also the center of emotional reactivity. So it stands to reason that restructuring of gray matter in the amygdala might correlate with cultivation of equinimity or non-reactivity. The brain appears in this study to be fluid and adaptive - all we have to do is work with our Attention function in a consistent and ongoing manner.

1 comment:

  1. Yes, I've been feeling how meditating reduces my emotional reactivity. It's cool to realize that a picture could be taken to show how much more supple my mind is after meditating.

    ReplyDelete