MINDFULNESS CHANGES BRAIN STRUCTURE IN JUST 8 WEEKS

Participating in an 8-week mindfulness meditation program appears to make measurable changes in brain regions associated with memory, sense of self, empathy and stress.

In a study that appeared in the January 30, 2011 issue of Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging, a team led by Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) researchers report the results of their study, the first to document meditation-produced changes over time in the brain's grey matter (the brain tis­sue that con­tains nerve cells).

Anal­y­sis of the brain scans, which fo­cused on ar­eas where medita­t­ion-as­so­ci­at­ed dif­fer­ences were seen in ear­li­er stud­ies, found in­creased grey-mat­ter dens­ity in the hip­po­cam­pus, known to be im­por­tant for learn­ing and mem­o­ry, and in struc­tures as­so­ci­at­ed with self-a­ware­ness, compas­sion, empathy, in­tro­spec­tion and stress.

The re­duc­tions in stress re­ported by the par­ti­ci­pants were al­so cor­re­lat­ed with de­creased grey-mat­ter dens­ity in the amyg­da­la, a struc­ture known to play an im­por­tant role in anx­i­e­ty and stress, re­search­ers said. None of these changes were seen in the non-med­i­ta­tors.

Yes, it appears that meditating for half an hour a day for 8 weeks can increase the density of grey matter in the hippocampus ... further proof, it that be needed, of both the plasticity of our brains and the health and other benefits of meditation (especially mindfulness meditation).

There are now about 1,500 studies on mindfulness, but many more studies examining the benefits of mindfulness are emerging.

All very exciting.

NOTE. This blog sets out a simple form of mindfulness sitting meditation.

Resource: Britta K Hölzel, James Carmody, Mark Vangel, Christina Congleton, Sita M Yerramsetti, Tim Gard, Sara W Lazar. Mindfulness practice leads to increases in regional brain gray matter density. Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging, 2011; 191 (1): 36 DOI: 10.1016/j.pscychresns.2010.08.006

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OUR PLASTIC BRAINS

The most exciting discovery of our generation is the finding that our brains are plastic ... indeed, very plastic. That is, our brains are not fixed and immutable but highly malleable and in a more-or-less constant state of flux.

Philosophers and theologians have told us for centuries that our thoughts and actions determine what we are and who we become. I love these words from New Thought pioneer James Allen:

“Mind is the arbiter of life;
it is the creator and shaper of conditions,
and the recipient of its own results.”

Now we have proof that is the case, and that our thoughts and behaviour – towards the world and towards ourselves – actually shape us, from moment to moment, right down to a synaptic level.

Some say it was Albert Einstein, others Henry Ford, and still others Anthony Robbins, who purportedly said words in or to the effect of the following:

“If you always do
what you’ve always done,
you’ll always get
what you’ve always got.”

Or, as they say in AA, “If nothing changes, nothing changes.”

The reality is, however, that things, and ourselves, are always changing ... but when we see we have changed, we often quickly change back to the way we were ... because we are more comfortable with that.

Neuropsychologist Dr Rick Hanson (pictured opposite), who with neurologist Richard Mendius MD is the author of Buddha’s Brain: The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love & Wisdom – a wonderful book which joins modern science with ancient teachings – recently spoke in this online seminar series, stating that, “The mind takes the shape of whatever it rests upon… for better or for worse.”

This phenomenon is called “experience-dependent neuroplasticity” – it’s about how our experiences, and what we make of them (for, as Dr Karl Menninger pointed out, "Attitudes are more important than facts"), literally shape our brains at a physical level, and, in turn, how our experiences shape the kinds of thoughts we might be more likely to have next time.

So, just as physical exercise is good for the body, and can make positive changes to the body, so mindfulness can make positive neuro-physio-psychological changes to the mind. That we know as a medical fact. Yes, we are made or unmade by ourselves. We are the reaper of our own harvest.

RESOURCE: Hanson, R (2011) ‘Guiding Self-Directed Neuroplasticity: A Mindfulness Investigation’, The New Brain Science Series Teleseminar by NICABM (The National Institute for the Clinical Application of Behavioural Medicine), 14/4/2011.

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MINDFULNESS CHANGES BRAIN STRUCTURE IN JUST 8 WEEKS

MINDFULNESS MEDITATION, MINDFUL LEADERSHIP AND GREY MATTER

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