Meditation shown to grow new gray matter, as well as improve the immune system and memory
BY BO PETERSEN
The Post and Courier
December 24, 2005 - Last Updated: 8:06 AM
Researchers in Boston recently found that the area of the brain that integrates thoughts and emotions "thickens," or grows new gray matter, in people who meditate.
A second finding surprised them - the area didn't shrink among older people who meditated, although it normally would.
The research was done to see if meditation caused a physical change along with reducing stress and improving the immune system and memory - improvements verified by earlier research, said Sara Lazar, the Massachusetts General Hospital research scientist who led the study.
"It's not that you get a beefier brain. It's like a muscle. If you use it, it will build up. If you don't, you will lose it," said Jeremy Gray, a Yale University researcher who took part in the study. The study was done with 35 people in a range of ages who meditated 40 minutes per day on the average.
"It's really unique. It's the first study we're aware of that looks at brain size," said Mark George, a Medical University of South Carolina psychiatry professor.
"The basic question is, 'Does meditation, or prayer, change the brain?' The natural thought is, wow. It might help you grow these parts of the brain."
The medical university's Baron Short recently concluded research that found people who had been meditating five years or more reached the "deep meditative state" quicker and more easily than people who had been meditating less than five years, George said. "Their brains seemed to be doing something quite different."
Trace "Sahaja" Bonner, director of Holy Cow Yoga Center in West Ashley, laughed when asked about the "thick brain" study. She wasn't surprised at all. In fact, she took part in the medical university study.
"Thickheaded, that's how I like to think about it," she said. "People who meditate have known it for thousands of years. You tend to be more calm. You create a pause, or a space, between what you know is true and (the stress) your mind is telling you it thinks is there."
Contact Bo Petersen at 745-5852 or bpetersen@postandcourier.com.
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