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Mindfulness practice leads to increases in regional brain gray matter density - Article in Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging
Mon, 01/31/2011 - 11:48am
Abstract
Therapeutic interventions that incorporate training in mindfulness meditation have become increasingly popular, but to date little is known about neural mechanisms associated with these interventions. Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), one of the most widely used mindfulness training programs, has been reported to produce positive effects on psychological well-being and to ameliorate symptoms of a number of disorders. Here, we report a controlled longitudinal study to investigate pre–post changes in brain gray matter concentration attributable to participation in an MBSR program. Anatomical magnetic resonance (MR) images from 16 healthy, meditation-naïve participants were obtained before and after they underwent the 8-week program. Changes in gray matter concentration were investigated using voxel-based morphometry, and compared with a waiting list control group of 17 individuals. Analyses in a priori regions of interest confirmed increases in gray matter concentration within the left hippocampus. Whole brain analyses identified increases in the posterior cingulate cortex, the temporo-parietal junction, and the cerebellum in the MBSR group compared with the controls. The results suggest that participation in MBSR is associated with changes in gray matter concentration in brain regions involved in learning and memory processes, emotion regulation, self-referential processing, and perspective taking.
Keywords: Meditation, Mindfulness, Voxel-based morphometry, Gray matter, Magnetic resonance imaging, Hippocampus, Posterior cingulate
Here's the link so YOU can read the whole thing and enjoy this esteemed and professional website.
www.psyn-journal.com/article/S0925-4927%2810%2900288-X/abstract
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Mardy Ross, OTR Founder, Lumigrate "Lighting the Path to Health and Well-Being" Follow us on social networking sites such as: Twitter: http://twitter.com/lumigrate facebook: My personal page: Mardy Ross Fan Pages: Lumigrate, Lumigrate: Fibromyalgia, Lumigrate: Fibromyalgia Health Education and Counseling (Lumigrate Webucation is a 'personal page' replaced by fan pages but used for 'fun' still).
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Here's the thumbnail about the New York Times coverage of this research stufy, if you want to read about it from this esteemed news source.
Mardy Ross, OTR Founder, Lumigrate "Lighting the Path to Health and Well-Being" Follow us on social networking sites such as: Twitter: http://twitter.com/lumigrate facebook: My personal page: Mardy Ross Fan Pages: Lumigrate, Lumigrate: Fibromyalgia, Lumigrate: Fibromyalgia Health Education and Counseling (Lumigrate Webucation is a 'personal page' replaced by fan pages but used for 'fun' still).
When I was laying out the original content to provide on Lumigrate, which was a complementary approach following integrative medicine concepts of body/mind/spirit, we included this tremendous video from Dr Paula King, which includes meditation and a guided imagery exercise to work with on making changes lasting. I noticed that it's had way over 1,000 people go and read about it, which is really rewarding as it lets us know what people are interested in when they come to Lumigrate!
www.lumigrate.com/product/strategies-lasting-change-dr-paula-king
And for those who prefer to read about one of the concepts she presents in the video, Dr King also provided something titled 'A Trying Game' in the Forums. The link for that is:
www.lumigrate.com/forum/trying-time-making-weight-loss-or-any-change-keeps
In order to encourage you to go read, here's the first part of what's at the above link ....
A 'Trying' Time: Making Weight Loss or Any Change 'for Keeps'
For most people losing weight is a trying experience. Trying every diet that comes along, trying what each and every weight loss expert says you should do, trying to stay away from the “bad” foods, trying to exercise, trying to eat the ‘right” foods, trying to stick to the plans and goals you’ve set for yourself, trying again to lose the weight you regained after the last time you tried to lose it.
Yes, it’s about trying, trying, and trying some more. Many people who are "trying to lose weight" say they are doing so because they need to for health reasons, or they have to because their doctor told them so, or they should lose it because everyone tells them they should. Certainly there are times when your physician says your health, even your very life, is dependent on losing weight. When someone who is told this loses weight and keeps it off, it is because that person has had an internal shift of values and has decided their health is more important than their old relationship to food and exercise. They have stopped trying and started doing.
'Trying' is a word used to describe the period of time in which a person is experimenting with something to decide if they will commit and actually do what is necessary to behave in a new way. 'Commitment' is about doing something that is extremely important and for which the reasons underlying that importance can be clearly stated. Lasting change requires a commitment to action based on what you personally desire for your life, what you personally have determined to be of value. Commitment cannot be imposed as a 'should'.
In almost every situation the words should, have to, must, need to and got to are associated with trying, and are ultimately de-motivators, stopping lasting change from happening by immediately, or eventually, creating an inner rebelliousness that says, “No one can tell me what I have to do!” And, no one includes you saying these words in an attempt to get yourself to do something.
Rather, in order to stop trying to lose weight, and begin to do it for keeps, ask yourself what you value about changing your body and your health. (AND TO READ THE REST, FOLLOW THE LINK ABOVE ....
Mardy Ross, OTR Founder, Lumigrate "Lighting the Path to Health and Well-Being" Follow us on social networking sites such as: Twitter: http://twitter.com/lumigrate facebook: My personal page: Mardy Ross Fan Pages: Lumigrate, Lumigrate: Fibromyalgia, Lumigrate: Fibromyalgia Health Education and Counseling (Lumigrate Webucation is a 'personal page' replaced by fan pages but used for 'fun' still).