| People are more curious about meditation lately | | | | meditation increased the grey matter in the brain. |
| because each day we learn about different benefits | | | | Gray said. "The study participants were people with |
| of meditation. Although meditation techniques have | | | | jobs and families. They just meditated on average 40 |
| common benefits, some techniqes can be more | | | | minutes each day, you don't have to be a monk." |
| beneficial in some cases. | | | | Magnetic resonance imaging proved that practising |
| If you are planning to start meditation or just curious if | | | | meditation regularly helps to increase the sensory, |
| you could really benefit from it; first you need to clarify | | | | auditory and visual abilities and internal perception and |
| what you expect from meditation. | | | | also reduction of aging effects of brain. |
| We cannot point one technique as the best, but you | | | | They mentioned that different kinds of meditation may |
| can choose which is the best for you. Read about | | | | have different affects on cortical thickening. |
| different techniques to choose which you can keep on | | | | Source: Yale University |
| without quitting because some techniques require more | | | | Yoga Has a Positive Effect on Mood: |
| time, some needs quidance and some needs tools, so | | | | A study led by lead author Chris Streeter, MD, an |
| you need to find out which is suitable for you. | | | | associate professor of psychiatry and neurology at |
| Consistency will help you to get the best from the | | | | BUSM examined if yoga has a positive effect on |
| meditation technique you choose. | | | | mood. |
| If you want to be sure about the benefits of | | | | One group of participants practiced yoga three times |
| meditation, here are some scientific researches about | | | | a week for one hour and the control group just |
| different meditation techniques which will be helpfull for | | | | walked at the same period. Both were followed for 12 |
| beginners. | | | | weeks scanning their brains with using magnetic |
| Mindfulness Meditation Increases Positive Emotional | | | | resonance spectroscopic (MRS) imaging. They were |
| State: | | | | also asked to assess their psychological state at |
| The research team led by Richard Davidson, Vilas | | | | several points throughout the study. |
| Professor of psychology and psychiatry at | | | | "Over time, positive changes in these reports were |
| UW-Madison investigated the positive changes in the | | | | associated with climbing GABA levels," said Streeter. |
| brain during and after the meditation. | | | | Low GABA levels are associated with depression and |
| In the experimental group, participants receieved | | | | other widespread anxiety disorders. |
| mindfulness meditation fromJon Kabat-Zinn and the | | | | Source: Boston University |
| control group didn't receive training.Meditation group | | | | Integrative Body-Mind Training (IBMT):Helps to regulate |
| attended a weekly class and they practised for an | | | | your behaviour through your desires |
| hour at home for 6 days a week. | | | | A team of Chinese researchers led by Yi-Yuan Tang |
| The team measured electrical activity in the frontal | | | | of Dalian University of Technology in collaboration with |
| part of the brain which is associated with lower | | | | University of Oregon psychologist Michael I. Posner. |
| anxiety and a more positive emotional state. As | | | | and UO psychology professor Mary K. Rothbart |
| expected the meditation group developed more | | | | focused on IBMT to find out what |
| activity at that part of the brain. | | | | Posner, who last fall received a National Medal of |
| Source: University Communications, University of | | | | Science said:"The importance of our findings relates to |
| Wisconsin-Madison | | | | the ability to make structural changes in a brain |
| Mindfulness Meditation Decreases Perception of Pain | | | | network related to self regulation.The pathway that |
| and Improves Cognitive Processing: | | | | has the largest change due to IBMT is one that |
| Fadel Zeidan, a post-doctoral researcher at Wake | | | | previously was shown to relate to individual |
| Forest University School of Medicine, and a former | | | | differences in the person's ability to regulate conflict." |
| doctoral student at the University of North Carolina at | | | | Source: University of Oregon |
| Charlotte and co-authors Susan K. Johnson, Zhanna | | | | Vipassana meditation |
| David and Paula Goolkasian from the Department of | | | | A study by psychology and psychiatry professor |
| Psychology at UNC Charlotte, and Bruce J. Diamond | | | | Richard Davidson of the UW-Madison School of |
| from William Patterson University studied if a brief | | | | Medicine and Public Health and the Waisman Center |
| meditation can be helpfull on cognition. | | | | and his research group examined whether conscious |
| Participants meditated 20 minutes each day for 4 | | | | mental training can affect attention. |
| days and control group attempted a reading session at | | | | Because the attentional resources are limited when |
| the same period. | | | | two visual signals are shown, people miss the second |
| Prior to and following the mindfulness meditation and | | | | one much of the time. "The attention momentarily goes |
| reading sessions, both the meditation and control group | | | | off-line. Your attention gets stuck on the first target, |
| were tested to examine assessing mood, memory, | | | | then you miss the second one " Davidson says. |
| visual attention, attention processing, and vigilance. | | | | Three months of intensive training in Vipassana |
| Mindfulness meditation improved cognitional skills ten | | | | meditation, which focuses on reducing mental |
| times better of the Mindfulness meditation participants | | | | distraction and improving sensory awareness. |
| after training than the control group. | | | | improved people's ability to detect a second target. |
| "This seems to be strong evidence for the idea that | | | | "The results of the study show that devoting fewer |
| we may be able to modify our own minds to improve | | | | neural resources to the first target leaves enough left |
| our cognitive processing — most importantly in the | | | | over to attend to another target that follows shortly |
| ability to sustain attention and vigilance — within a | | | | after it", Davidson says |
| week's time."explained Zeidan. | | | | Source: University of Wisconsin-Madison |
| Through this research the meditation and control group | | | | Zen Meditation Helps You for Pain Management: |
| participants' sensitivity to pain also examined before | | | | A research by Joshua A. Grant, a doctoral student in |
| and after the sesssions by employing harmless | | | | the Department of Physiology, co-authored the paper |
| electrical shocks Meditation decreased the perception | | | | with Pierre Rainville, a professor and researcher at the |
| of "high pain" levels, and also reduced the perception | | | | Université de Montréal and it's affiliated Institut |
| of "low" pain levels | | | | universitaire de gériatrie de Montréal studied on |
| "We knew already that meditation has significant | | | | Zen meditation to find out its effects on pain. |
| effects on pain perception in long-term practitioners | | | | "Through training, Zen meditators appear to thicken |
| whose brains seem to have been completely changed | | | | certain areas of their cortex and this appears to be |
| — we didn't know that you could do this in just three | | | | underlie their lower sensitivity to pain," says lead author |
| days, with just 20 minutes a day," Zeidan said. | | | | Joshua A. Grant and noted that meditative practices |
| Source: Download full research PDF | | | | could be helpful in general for pain management, for |
| Wake Forest University | | | | preventing normal age-related grey matter reductions |
| Buddhist Meditation Improves Visiopatial Abilities: | | | | or potentially for any condition where the grey matter |
| The researchers led by psychologist Maria | | | | is compromised such as stroke. |
| Kozhevnikov of George Mason University focused on | | | | Source: Université de Montréal |
| two types of buddhist meditation Deity Yoga and | | | | Zen Meditation Helps to Clear the Mind Faster After |
| Open Presence to find out if meditation improves our | | | | Distruction |
| imagery skills. | | | | Researcher Giuseppe Pagnoni, PhD, Emory assistant |
| In the experiment Deity Yoga and Open Presence | | | | professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, and |
| practitioners meditated for 20 minutes and the control | | | | co-workers at Emory University School of Medicine |
| group rested at the same period. Participants tested | | | | studied how interruption affect the thoughts of |
| before and after sessions about mental rotation | | | | meditators. |
| abilities and visual memory. | | | | There were two group of participants, one group was |
| Before meditation sessions although the participants | | | | Zen practitioners and the other one was control group. |
| were practitioners of Deity Yoga or Open Presence | | | | Participants brain was scanned during the task with |
| their test results were similar to the control group, | | | | functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). |
| which means meditation doesn't have a long lasting | | | | Participants was distracted during meditation. |
| affect. | | | | Zen practitioners brain turn back to baseline before |
| After meditation sessions, the results show that the | | | | distruction faster than the control group. |
| Deity Yoga parctitioners improved their visiopatial | | | | This suggests that the regular practice of meditation |
| abilities dramatically. | | | | may enhance the capacity to limit the influence of |
| Buddhist Insight Meditation Increases Grey Matter In | | | | distracting thoughts. This skill could be important in |
| The Brain: | | | | conditions such as attention deficit and hyperactivity |
| The research led by Sara Lazar, assistant in | | | | disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, anxiety |
| psychology at Massachusetts General Hospital and | | | | disorder and major depression, characterized by |
| co-author of the study Jeremy Gray, assistant | | | | excessive rumination or an abnormal production of |
| professor of psychology at Yale studied to find out if | | | | task-unrelated thoughts," Pagnoni says. |