By Surya Pillai, Sub-editor, Shreyas Webmedia Solutions Pvt. Ltd.
Meditation, despite being an ancient human tradition, has garnered lots of recent attention. Findings from basic science, population studies, and laboratory research suggest strong ways in which a mindful meditation practice can improve human health, by causing changes in the brain and body. This article reviews the emerging science of how meditation can change mental and physical health.
The Brain on Meditation
Perhaps the most fascinating thing about meditation is how it alters the brain. Research involving neuroimaging shows that meditation, when practiced regularly, can change brain structure and function, for the better. For example, a team of researchers at Harvard found that mindfulness meditation increased the density of grey matter in the brain, in the structure known as the hippocampus, which helps to regulate learning and memory, and also decreased the size of the amygdala – a small structure that regulates emotions and almost single-handedly propels us into stress and anxiety. These changes to brain structure suggest that meditation can augment cognitive functioning and emotional control.
Furthermore, functional MRI scans show that meditation increases activation of the prefrontal cortex, the area of the brain responsible for executive functions such as decision-making, attention, and self-control, which should help with focus and concentration, allowing for better control of one’s thoughts and feelings. Meditation has also been linked to heightened activity in a brain area known as the default-mode network (DMN) – a set of regions that are most active when we lean back from the world to engage in self-referential thinking, including mind-wandering, which often leads to rumination. By ‘taming’ the DMN, meditation should reduce mind-wandering and depression-promoting rumination, and contribute to a sense of mental wellbeing.
Physiological Benefits
Meditation has significant effects on various bodily functions. These effects might not be limited to the brain, as we often assume. This is because the psychological dimension of mental training has distinct and discernible impacts on the physiological activity of the body. The best-established effect of meditation is the alleviation of stress. Meditation activates the parasympathetic nervous system, which is the part of the autonomic system responsible for the body’s rest-and-digest response.