Brain Scan show meditation changes minds, Increases attention (Another group)

June 26, 2007

6/25/07BRAIN SCAN SHOW MEDITATION CHANGES MINDS, INCREASES ATTENTIONCONTACT: Dr. son, (608) 265-8189, rjdavids@... MADISON - For hundreds of years, Tibetan monks and other religiouspeople have used meditation to calm the mind and improveconcentration. This week, a new study shows exactly how one commontype of meditation affects the brain.Using a scanner that reveals which parts of the brain are active atany given moment, the researchers found that meditation increasedactivity in the brain regions used for paying attention and makingdecisions. The changes were associated with the practice of concentrationmeditation, says study leader son, professor ofpsychology and psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin School ofMedicine and Public Health and the Waisman Center. Practitioners wereinstructed to focus attention intently on a stimulus, and when theattention wandered off, to simply bring the attention back to theobject, explains son."In one sense, concentration mediation is ridiculously simple, but inanother, it's extraordinarily difficult," adds son. "If you tryit for two minutes, you will see that it's not so easy. Minds have apropensity to wander."In collaboration with colleagues Brefczynski- and AntoineLutz of the UW-Madison W.M. Keck Laboratory for Functional BrainImaging and Behavior, son compared newly trained meditators topeople with up to 54,000 hours of meditation experience. The study isbeing published this week in the online edition of the Proceedings ofthe National Academy of Science. After the novices were taught to meditate, all subjects underwent amagnetic resonance imaging scan of the brain while they weremeditating. Among all experienced meditators, the MRI scan foundgreater activity in brain circuits involved in paying attention. "We found that regions of the brain that are intimately involved inthe control and regulation of attention, such as the prefrontalcortex, were more activated in the long-term practitioners," sonsays. A different picture emerged, however, from looking only at the mostexperienced meditators with at least 40,000 hours of experience."There was a brief increase in activity as they start meditating, andthen it came down to baseline, as if they were able to concentrate inan effortless way," says son. Effortless concentration is described in classic meditation texts,adds on. "And we think this may be a neural reflection of that.These results illustrate one mechanism by which meditation may act inthe brain."While the subjects meditated inside the MRI, the researchersperiodically blasted them with disturbing noises. Among theexperienced meditators, the noise had less effect on the brain areasinvolved in emotion and decision-making than among novice meditators.Among meditators with more than 40,000 hours of lifetime practice,these areas were hardly affected at all. "Most people, if they heard a baby screaming, would have someemotional response," son says, but not the highly experiencedmeditators. "They do hear the sound, we can detect that in theauditory cortex, but they don't have the emotional reaction."As son notes, any comparison of average middle-aged Americans topeople who have meditated daily for decades must try to associate thedifferences with meditation, and not lifestyle factors such asisolation or religious faith. "This was a highly unusual group of people. Two-thirds of theexperienced meditators were Tibetan monks, recruited with the help ofthe Dalai Lama, and they all had an extremely long history of formalpractice." For 15 years, son has had a scientific relationship with theDalai Lama, spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists, to investigate theeffects of meditation.Still, the correlation between more meditation experience and greaterbrain changes does suggest that the changes were caused bymeditation. "If it were simply lifestyle, we would not expect a very strong correlation with hours of practice," son says. Other evidence for the neurological benefits of meditation came froma study son reported in May, which showed that three months ofmeditation training improved the ability to detect a brief visualsignal that most people cannot detect. "That was a more definitivekind of evidence, because we were able to track the same people overtime," he says.Psychologists have long considered an adult's capacity to payattention as relatively fixed, but son says: "Attention can betrained, and in a way that is not fundamentally different than howphysical exercise changes the body."The attention circuits affected by meditation are also involved in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, which son describes asthe most prevalent psychiatric diagnosis among children in ourcountry."Our findings suggest that it may-I stress may-be possible to trainattention in children with methods derived from these practices," hesays.son says scientific studies of meditation are provingtraditional beliefs about the mental benefits of meditation. Yetalthough meditation is often associated with monks living a life ofsimplicity, poverty, and prayer, "There is nothing fundamentallymysterious about these practices; they can be understood inhard-nosed western scientific terms." And, he adds, a growing body of "hard-nosed neuroscience research" isattracting attention to the profound effects of meditation. "This deserves serious scientific attention," he says. "It alsoexplains why people spend time sitting on the meditation cushion,because of the effects on day-to-day life."son compares mental practice to physical exercise. "We all know that if an individual works out on a regular basis, thatcan change cardiovascular health," he says. "In the same way, thesedata suggest that certain basic mechanisms of the mind, likeattention, can also be trained and improved through systematic practice."**********

June 26, 2007

Hi Liane! I have yet to read this article, but I read the title, got extremely excited and had to ask your permission to share this one with many of my friends on facebook ...lol (will read it now of course)is that okay with you for me to show this one to my friends n family?

On 6/26/07, lianeqrz_legey <butterflygris@...> wrote:

6/25/07BRAIN SCAN SHOW MEDITATION CHANGES MINDS, INCREASES ATTENTIONCONTACT: Dr. son, (608) 265-8189,

rjdavids@... MADISON - For hundreds of years, Tibetan monks and other religiouspeople have used meditation to calm the mind and improveconcentration. This week, a new study shows exactly how one common

type of meditation affects the brain.Using a scanner that reveals which parts of the brain are active atany given moment, the researchers found that meditation increasedactivity in the brain regions used for paying attention and making

decisions. The changes were associated with the practice of concentrationmeditation, says study leader son, professor ofpsychology and psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin School of

Medicine and Public Health and the Waisman Center. Practitioners wereinstructed to focus attention intently on a stimulus, and when theattention wandered off, to simply bring the attention back to theobject, explains son.

" In one sense, concentration mediation is ridiculously simple, but inanother, it's extraordinarily difficult, " adds son. " If you tryit for two minutes, you will see that it's not so easy. Minds have a

propensity to wander. " In collaboration with colleagues Brefczynski- and AntoineLutz of the UW-Madison W.M. Keck Laboratory for Functional BrainImaging and Behavior, son compared newly trained meditators to

people with up to 54,000 hours of meditation experience. The study isbeing published this week in the online edition of the Proceedings ofthe National Academy of Science. After the novices were taught to meditate, all subjects underwent a

magnetic resonance imaging scan of the brain while they weremeditating. Among all experienced meditators, the MRI scan foundgreater activity in brain circuits involved in paying attention. " We found that regions of the brain that are intimately involved in

the control and regulation of attention, such as the prefrontalcortex, were more activated in the long-term practitioners, " sonsays. A different picture emerged, however, from looking only at the most

experienced meditators with at least 40,000 hours of experience. " There was a brief increase in activity as they start meditating, andthen it came down to baseline, as if they were able to concentrate in

an effortless way, " says son. Effortless concentration is described in classic meditation texts,adds on. " And we think this may be a neural reflection of that.These results illustrate one mechanism by which meditation may act in

the brain. " While the subjects meditated inside the MRI, the researchersperiodically blasted them with disturbing noises. Among theexperienced meditators, the noise had less effect on the brain areas

involved in emotion and decision-making than among novice meditators.Among meditators with more than 40,000 hours of lifetime practice,these areas were hardly affected at all. " Most people, if they heard a baby screaming, would have some

emotional response, " son says, but not the highly experiencedmeditators. " They do hear the sound, we can detect that in theauditory cortex, but they don't have the emotional reaction. "

As son notes, any comparison of average middle-aged Americans topeople who have meditated daily for decades must try to associate thedifferences with meditation, and not lifestyle factors such asisolation or religious faith. " This was a highly unusual group of people. Two-thirds of theexperienced meditators were Tibetan monks, recruited with the help ofthe Dalai Lama, and they all had an extremely long history of formal

practice. " For 15 years, son has had a scientific relationship with theDalai Lama, spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists, to investigate theeffects of meditation.Still, the correlation between more meditation experience and greater

brain changes does suggest that the changes were caused bymeditation. " If it were simply lifestyle, we would not expect a very strong correlation with hours of practice, " son says.

Other evidence for the neurological benefits of meditation came froma study son reported in May, which showed that three months ofmeditation training improved the ability to detect a brief visualsignal that most people cannot detect. " That was a more definitive

kind of evidence, because we were able to track the same people overtime, " he says.Psychologists have long considered an adult's capacity to payattention as relatively fixed, but son says: " Attention can be

trained, and in a way that is not fundamentally different than howphysical exercise changes the body. " The attention circuits affected by meditation are also involved in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, which son describes as

the most prevalent psychiatric diagnosis among children in ourcountry. " Our findings suggest that it may-I stress may-be possible to trainattention in children with methods derived from these practices, " he

says.son says scientific studies of meditation are provingtraditional beliefs about the mental benefits of meditation. Yetalthough meditation is often associated with monks living a life ofsimplicity, poverty, and prayer, " There is nothing fundamentally

mysterious about these practices; they can be understood inhard-nosed western scientific terms. " And, he adds, a growing body of " hard-nosed neuroscience research " isattracting attention to the profound effects of meditation. " This deserves serious scientific attention, " he says. " It alsoexplains why people spend time sitting on the meditation cushion,because of the effects on day-to-day life. " son compares mental practice to physical exercise. " We all know that if an individual works out on a regular basis, thatcan change cardiovascular health, " he says. " In the same way, thesedata suggest that certain basic mechanisms of the mind, like

attention, can also be trained and improved through systematic practice. " **********

June 27, 2007

Hello Alice,

I have no problem with you re-posting this news article at all. I do have some issues about other type of material that I have posted here, for the simple fact that some of them came from my personal reading material from the many courses and workshops I have done and chose to share here with a restrict group fo friends, healers, empaths etc; Because I think those meterials can benefit everyone and help us all in the journey through life. I have chosen to post a complete different type of material here , a different one that I post on RAK or over Humanity healing on myspace, because of the same reasons.

Please Feel free to re-post this one,

Much love and respect to all,

Liane

> >> > 6/25/07> > BRAIN SCAN SHOW MEDITATION CHANGES MINDS, INCREASES ATTENTION> > CONTACT: Dr. son, (608) 265-8189, rjdavids@...<rjdavids%40wisc.edu>> >> > MADISON - For hundreds of years, Tibetan monks and other religious> > people have used meditation to calm the mind and improve> > concentration. This week, a new study shows exactly how one common> > type of meditation affects the brain.> >> > Using a scanner that reveals which parts of the brain are active at> > any given moment, the researchers found that meditation increased> > activity in the brain regions used for paying attention and making> > decisions.> >> > The changes were associated with the practice of concentration> > meditation, says study leader son, professor of> > psychology and psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin School of> > Medicine and Public Health and the Waisman Center. Practitioners were> > instructed to focus attention intently on a stimulus, and when the> > attention wandered off, to simply bring the attention back to the> > object, explains son.> >> > "In one sense, concentration mediation is ridiculously simple, but in> > another, it's extraordinarily difficult," adds son. "If you try> > it for two minutes, you will see that it's not so easy. Minds have a> > propensity to wander."> >> > In collaboration with colleagues Brefczynski- and Antoine> > Lutz of the UW-Madison W.M. Keck Laboratory for Functional Brain> > Imaging and Behavior, son compared newly trained meditators to> > people with up to 54,000 hours of meditation experience. The study is> > being published this week in the online edition of the Proceedings of> > the National Academy of Science.> >> > After the novices were taught to meditate, all subjects underwent a> > magnetic resonance imaging scan of the brain while they were> > meditating. Among all experienced meditators, the MRI scan found> > greater activity in brain circuits involved in paying attention.> >> > "We found that regions of the brain that are intimately involved in> > the control and regulation of attention, such as the prefrontal> > cortex, were more activated in the long-term practitioners," son> > says.> >> > A different picture emerged, however, from looking only at the most> > experienced meditators with at least 40,000 hours of experience.> > "There was a brief increase in activity as they start meditating, and> > then it came down to baseline, as if they were able to concentrate in> > an effortless way," says son.> >> > Effortless concentration is described in classic meditation texts,> > adds on. "And we think this may be a neural reflection of that.> > These results illustrate one mechanism by which meditation may act in> > the brain."> >> > While the subjects meditated inside the MRI, the researchers> > periodically blasted them with disturbing noises. Among the> > experienced meditators, the noise had less effect on the brain areas> > involved in emotion and decision-making than among novice meditators.> > Among meditators with more than 40,000 hours of lifetime practice,> > these areas were hardly affected at all.> >> > "Most people, if they heard a baby screaming, would have some> > emotional response," son says, but not the highly experienced> > meditators. "They do hear the sound, we can detect that in the> > auditory cortex, but they don't have the emotional reaction."> >> > As son notes, any comparison of average middle-aged Americans to> > people who have meditated daily for decades must try to associate the> > differences with meditation, and not lifestyle factors such as> > isolation or religious faith.> >> > "This was a highly unusual group of people. Two-thirds of the> > experienced meditators were Tibetan monks, recruited with the help of> > the Dalai Lama, and they all had an extremely long history of formal> > practice."> >> > For 15 years, son has had a scientific relationship with the> > Dalai Lama, spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists, to investigate the> > effects of meditation.> >> > Still, the correlation between more meditation experience and greater> > brain changes does suggest that the changes were caused by> > meditation.> >> > "If it were simply lifestyle, we would not expect a very strong> > correlation with hours of practice," son says.> >> > Other evidence for the neurological benefits of meditation came from> > a study son reported in May, which showed that three months of> > meditation training improved the ability to detect a brief visual> > signal that most people cannot detect. "That was a more definitive> > kind of evidence, because we were able to track the same people over> > time," he says.> >> > Psychologists have long considered an adult's capacity to pay> > attention as relatively fixed, but son says: "Attention can be> > trained, and in a way that is not fundamentally different than how> > physical exercise changes the body."> >> > The attention circuits affected by meditation are also involved in> > attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, which son describes as> > the most prevalent psychiatric diagnosis among children in our> > country.> >> > "Our findings suggest that it may-I stress may-be possible to train> > attention in children with methods derived from these practices," he> > says.> >> > son says scientific studies of meditation are proving> > traditional beliefs about the mental benefits of meditation. Yet> > although meditation is often associated with monks living a life of> > simplicity, poverty, and prayer, "There is nothing fundamentally> > mysterious about these practices; they can be understood in> > hard-nosed western scientific terms."> >> > And, he adds, a growing body of "hard-nosed neuroscience research" is> > attracting attention to the profound effects of meditation.> >> > "This deserves serious scientific attention," he says. "It also> > explains why people spend time sitting on the meditation cushion,> > because of the effects on day-to-day life."> >> > son compares mental practice to physical exercise.> >> > "We all know that if an individual works out on a regular basis, that> > can change cardiovascular health," he says. "In the same way, these> > data suggest that certain basic mechanisms of the mind, like> > attention, can also be trained and improved through systematic practice."> >> > **********> >> > > >>

June 27, 2007

Thank you, Liane =)will keep that mind..thanks for letting me knowhugs and kissesAOn 6/26/07, lianeqrz_legey <

butterflygris@...> wrote: