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What Does Meditation Do to the Brain?

Aug 12, 2011 | By Susan Peterson
What Does Meditation Do to the Brain?
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Stories of how meditation improves quality of life are as old as the practice itself. Martial artists have used meditation to improve physical performance. Monks have used it to achieve enlightenment, union with the divine and equanimity with the challenges of life. Since the late 20th century, thanks to imaging technologies that provide a peek into brain activity, we can now see these benefits within the structure of the brain. Meditation actually affects the structure and function of the brain itself.

Improves Attention

Meditation improves both the length and quality of attention. In a study reported in the May 2010 issue of "Psychological Science," researchers from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine found that three months of regular meditation on the breath improved both vigilance and sustained visual attention. Antoine Lutz, a researcher from the Center for Investigating Healthy Minds, performed a similar study and found that this improvement in attention was accompanied by "enhanced theta-band phase consistency of oscillatory neural responses over anterior brain areas." In other words, meditation changed the electrical activity of the brain, resulting in sharper mental focus and improved attention span.

Keeps the Brain Young

Meditation also improves brain connectivity. A 2011 study conducted at the University of California Los Angeles School of Medicine found that meditation changed the structure of the brain. Longtime meditation practitioners showed more neural connections between different areas of the brain. Neural connections are essential for efficient processing of information. Neural connections, which are made possible by the white matter of the brain, typically decline with age. In the UCLA study, the decline of white matter in those who meditate was not as pronounced as it was in those who don't. This finding has lead the researchers to postulate that meditation may help slow age-related decline in the brain.

Reduces Pain

Meditation also helps reduce pain. This use has long been one of the reasons why martial artists meditate. Researchers are not completely sure what mechanism in the brain causes this effect, but they have a theory. Dr. Christopher Brown of the University of Manchester suggests that meditation "trains the brain to be more present-focused." In other words, the anticipation of future pain doesn't compound the experience of current pain. Chronic pain sufferers, when they meditate, are able to relax and deal with the pain of the moment without as much physical and emotional tension.

Lessens Anxiety and Depression

Meditation also reduces anxiety and depression. Magnetic resonance imaging shows that those who regularly meditate have cortical thickening in the prefrontal cortex. This thickening is especially notable in older practitioners, who showed significantly less age-related cortical thinning than those who don't meditate. A robust prefrontal cortex helps inhibit negative emotions generated by the limbic system, the brain's emotional center. Functional magnetic resonance imaging shows that depressed and anxious and anxious people tend to have overactive limbic systems. Meditation can help build strong prefrontal cortices, which in turn can help modulate an overactive limbic system. These recent findings help explain clinical observation that meditation is beneficial for treating anxiety and depression.

References

Article reviewed by Sharon Bohling Last updated on: Aug 12, 2011

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