People exercise to keep fit and to build bigger muscles but what about exercises to build a bigger brain?
A group of researches at UCLA have recently found that certain regions of the brains of a group of long-term meditators was larger than in a similar control group of people who were not meditators.
The researchers used high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and found that the regions of the brain known for regulating emotions where significantly larger for the meditator group. In the study group of 44 people – 22 had practiced different forms of meditation form 5 to 46 years (average of 24 years practice). They meditated from 10 to 90 minutes every day in a variety of disciplines including Zazen, Samatha and Vipassana and others.
Eileen Luders (lead author and a postdoctoral research fellow at the UCLA Laboratory of Neuro Imaging) hinted that this may be why meditators have great control over their emotions:
“We know that people who consistently meditate have a singular ability to cultivate positive emotions, retain emotional stability and engage in mindful behavior. The observed differences in brain anatomy might give us a clue why meditators have these exceptional abilities.”
Previous research at UCLA and elsewhere have shown many benefits of meditation these include:
- reduced levels of stress
- improved immune systems
- better focus
- control over emotions
This is the first time a link has been shown between meditation and brain structure, but there are numerous other studies that show the brain’s amazing plasticity and how a rich stimulating environment has been shown to change brain structure.
SOURCE
You can read the full story at the UCLA Newsroom.
About Danny Sheehan
Danny lives in Hong Kong but is originally from Australia. He is Married to Maggie and together they have two children with whom they enjoy sharing and enjoying an exciting life with daily. Danny's passions are freedom, adventure and discovery, mainly in nature and science but also spiritually. He is a great believer in living in the NOW.
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