Meditation's effect on the brain

[Reaper]

I don't know where to post this, but I think its more appropriate here.

 

Last night I watched something about the human body and brain on National Geographic, and in it they did scans of people who meditate, such as Buddhist monks. What they revealed is that people who meditate can quite literally control their brain, and that the scans show that when they are meditating the left side of their brain lights up, and that there is better communication and coherence among the various brain structures.

 

In addition, those who meditate are found to have bigger brains than those who don't, and that the brain does not deteriorate as much as one ages (which you can read more about here: http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/daily/2006/01/23-meditation.html).

 

Sometimes I wonder if this information could be used to help with psychiatric disorders or anxiety disorders or something like that. Because it seems that there is something to meditation after all.

 

What's your take on this?

[Mag]

While I didnt read the article (yet), I'll say that meditation may have similar properties as sleep - i.e. rest is good for the brain.

[ecoli]

I'm not aware of the connection that bigger brains = good.

 

Is there a correlation between brain size in humans and intelligence?

[iNow]

I'm not aware of the connection that bigger brains = good.

 

Is there a correlation between brain size in humans and intelligence?

 

Only speculative ones really. This idea generally comes from the fact that human brains are bigger than monkey brains, and monkey brains are generally bigger than dog brains or something. If brain size were the only factor, than clearly the blue whale would be orders of magnitude smarter than we are (which they may be), but actually, there is some evidence showing size is NOT the predominant fact. If I remember correctly, it's the convolution of the cortex that is the key factor.

 

So, the more twisted and folded the cortex is, the more interconnections between brain regions there are, and this seems to be correlated with intelligence. In other words, two brains the same size, the person who has the one that's more convoluted will (in general) be smarter.

 

I don't think this is yet 100%, but it's extremely likely based on what research has shown. Here's an article from 2004 which shows what I'm referring to:

 

http://uninews.unimelb.edu.au/articleid_1374.html

 

 

And while I don't generally like using news articles to explain a concept, this piece from the NYTimes in 2000 explains it well using layterms (they even manage to throw in Einstein at the end to "sex it up" a bit ):

 

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E07EEDB1131F932A05753C1A9669C8B63

[Mag]

I'm not aware of the connection that bigger brains = good.

 

Is there a correlation between brain size in humans and intelligence?

 

I dont think there is a correlation - maybe a small one - but there would be a certain limit to brain size.

I remember watching a program and it mentioned this, that if our brains were larger, it would not increase intelligence, as the neurons would take longer to reach their destination.

[dichotomy]

I remember watching a program and it mentioned this, that if our brains were larger, it would not increase intelligence, as the neurons would take longer to reach their destination.

 

Might not that just mean thoughts might be slower but more intelligent, more thought out, considered? The slower speed of thought might just affect physical speed, like jumping out the way of a bus?

[Fred56]

A practitioner who seriously gets into meditation can 'control' their thinking to the extent of slowing down or speeding up the 'inner voice' (which presumably is representative of actual thinking or processing). Also how to slow their heartbeat and breathing. Apparently studies show that yogis, monks, etc benefit mentally (emotionally) and physically, from doing this.

I also can personally testify to the above. Without going into too much detail, I have found this to be helpful in dealing with anxiety and other 'unwanted' mental states (I was diagnosed as suffering from an anxiety condition quite some yrs ago -before I enroled at varsity, in fact). Haven't had my brain size measured yet but...

[iNow]

Might not that just mean thoughts might be slower but more intelligent, more thought out, considered? The slower speed of thought might just affect physical speed, like jumping out the way of a bus?

Interesting speculation. The transmission speed of the nervous signal would not change, but it might have farther to go so take longer. Also, if it had to flow through more synaptic connections chances are good that this would help to better "filter" the final signal, giving it denser information and less extraneous data. I'm not sure if there is any research to back this up, but it's interesting all the same.

 

 

A practitioner who seriously gets into meditation can 'control' their thinking to the extent of slowing down or speeding up the 'inner voice' (which presumably is representative of actual thinking or processing). Also how to slow their heartbeat and breathing. Apparently studies show that yogis, monks, etc benefit mentally (emotionally) and physically, from doing this.

Again, velocity is not likely the best measure here. I think it might help to think about it in terms of noise. If someone says something to you, you need to perceive it clearly to understand it. If that someone speaks to you at a crowded concert, it will be more difficult to arrive at that understanding due to the noise. If someone says that same thing to you in a quiet room, there will be less noise and it will be more clear more quickly.

 

I like to think about meditation as eliminating the noise. It takes you from the crowded concert to the quiet room (metaphorically speaking) by your own concentration.

 

 

Close your eyes and focus your internal vision on the pinneal. When you breathe in, imagine you are filling a vessel. The bottom of that vessel is below your belly button, and your air goes there first. As you continue to breath in, the air fills you like water flowing into a bucket, from bottom to top. Oohhhmmm....

[Fred56]

Any sound is due to the air itself filling your lungs but primarily going though your larynx. The sound of each breath is transmitted, or 'commutes with' your inner ear. If you put your thumbs in your ears you can hear the minute muscular activity and the slight cracking and popping of the thumb joints. There's a column of air trapped between your thumbs and eardrums, and you get a rumbling or thundering sound due to the continuous activity of the muscles in your hands (and arms, and so on). You can listen to all kinds of internal 'body noises'. (Ahem.)

[Reaper]

Yeah, I thought the claims were a bit suspicious. The reason I put it up a while ago was because this information comes from sources that are considered to be reputable, and I wanted to see others here had to say about it. They also showed MRI scans of a person meditating too.

 

Anyways, I looked a lot more into this, and various studies show that meditation is at best unproven. Any supposed benefit is mainly anecdotal. And, back in 1991 New Scientist put out an article stating that if one is depressed, meditation might actually make it worse!

 

You can view it right here:

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg13117765.300-is-meditation-good-for-you-it-may-not-make-you-happierand-if-youre-depressed-it-could-even-make-you-worse-but-some-forms-ofmeditation-may-offer-insights-into-the-nature-of-human-identity-.html

 

*You may have to refresh the page so that you can view it.

 

 

Here is a small quote from it:

As far as EEG coherence is concerned' date=' [u']the TM researchers claim that meditation leads to a greater coherence in the electrical activity recorded from the two hemispheres.[/u] This spawned the appealing idea that greater coherence could somehow lead to increased creativity and personal growth. However, Peter Fenwick, a neuropsychiatrist at The Maudsley Hospital in London, and also a meditation researcher, points out that increased coherence can happen in many states, including epileptic seizure, coma and death - not such a good advertisement for TM.

[iNow]

Anyways, I looked a lot more into this, and various studies show that meditation is at best unproven. Any supposed benefit is mainly anecdotal.

 

I wouldn't be so quick with your judgment. There are physiological changes as a result of meditation, many studied by MRI and I believe some by PET.

 

Here's a high level overview for the lay person:

 

http://www.webmd.com/balance/guide/transcendental-meditation

 

 

For something a little more "meaty," you might look into the work of Sara Lazar, who is an instructor in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School:

 

https://nmr.mgh.harvard.edu/~lazar/

http://www.pbs.org/saf/1310/hotline/hlazar.htm

[Mr Skeptic]

Meditation at least has effects like those of relaxation and sleep. The self-control and concentration of some forms of meditation would also be of use.