Meditation Causes Physical Changes In The Brain

“Confine yourself to the present.”

-Marcus Aurelius

Meditation has been practiced for millennia, but it was not until relatively recently scientists discovered what it does to the brain. Since serious scientific research began in the 1970’s, thanks to the explosion of new versions of Buddhism and secular practices like Transcendental Meditation and yoga in the Western world, researchers have found meditation, even if only for a short time, actually changes the brain in measurable ways.

What is Meditation?

“Meditation is the dissolution of thoughts in eternal awareness or Pure consciousness without objectification, knowing without thinking, merging finitude in infinity.”

-Voltaire

There is no simple definition of meditation, as it exists in different forms across many different cultures. However, for the purposes of this discussion, let’s define it as the practice of training the mind to attain a heightened sense of awareness, clarity, empathy, and attention. This is often accomplished by understanding and controlling one’s thoughts, which is deceptively difficult. To demonstrate this, for those that have never tried meditation, sit quietly with no distractions and attempt to focus only on your breathing. Most find, within an extremely short time, they are bombarded by random, uncontrolled thoughts. Even a few minutes of meditation makes it obvious just how difficult it is, which is why people spend years or decades trying to master it. Practitioners claim they develop a new and deeper perspective on life the better they get at it. 

This is why meditation has such a rich, ancient history. The first known documentation of meditation is from Indian murals dating from between 5000 to 3500 BCE. These show people with their eyes closed, seated in what seems to be a meditative posture. It was not until 1500 BCE that meditation was first described in writing, as it was found in the Vedas, the oldest of the Hindu scriptures. Around the 6th century BCE, Siddhārtha Gautama founded Buddhism, with meditation being one of the key tenets. Around this time, different types of meditation also began to spread through China, one of which is found in Taoism.

Since then, meditation has spread to all corners of the globe, with each area adapting it to their own purposes. Though, some have argued that most cultures independently developed something akin to meditation, such as prayer.

In the 1970’s, the West experienced a meditation boom, thanks to the adoption of Buddhist modernism and secular practices, such as the many types of yoga, Transcendental Meditation, among others. In fact, the Center for Disease Control found“The use of yoga increased from 9.5% to 14.3%, while the use of meditation increased more than threefold from 4.1% in 2012 to 14.2% in 2017.”

What are the Benefits of Meditation?

The spread of meditation can be attributed to the many benefits practitioners report. These include increased compassion, reduced stress, enhanced focus, greater self-esteem, etc. For example, this study conducted on 189 public school students in California found that 41% of them tested a level higher when meditating.

Another study took 60 participants and had half of them practice meditation for 5 hours a day, while the other half served as a control group. The results showed those who were in the first group had “improvements in visual discrimination that were linked to increases in perceptual sensitivity and improved vigilance during sustained visual attention.” 

Likewise, this study found meditation practitioners experienced “altered activation in regions implicated in social cognition and emotion regulation.” That is, the areas of the brain associated with love were more active, while areas associated with fear and aggression were less active.

Of course, there are numerous other studies with similar results, all of which report a change in the participants’ feelings and behaviors.

However, many of these types of studies have been called into question, mainly for a lack of scientific rigor. A meta-study published in Scientific Reports found that “the methodological quality of the studies was generally weak (61%), while one third (33%) was graded as moderate, and none had a grading of strong.” This was backed up by a similar study discussed in The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine.

Does this invalidate them? Well, no, but the field needs to become more rigorous, in that it needs physical measurements. Fortunately, in the last few years, new studies have come out that provide more scientific data.

What are the Physical Changes to the Brain?

A new study from the IMT School for Advanced Studies Lucca in Italy adds to a short list of research showing measurable changes in the brain for those that regularly practice meditation. The researchers looked at practitioners of Transcendental Meditation and found “changes in functional connectivity among posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), precuneus and left superior parietal lobule.” All of these are part of the limbic system, which is essential for forming and processing emotions, memory, and learning. They also found a strengthened connection between the right insula and the PCC. The right insula is thought to play a role in awareness and control of the body, such as self-regulating your heartbeat. The researchers took fMRI scans of study participants’ brains at the beginning, had them practiced 40 minutes a day for 3 months, and then took new scans of their brains. A comparison of the before and after fMRI scans showed the connections between the areas mentioned above were stronger. Therefore, the researchers concluded that stronger connection between these regions increases a person’s ability to regulate emotion, retain information, learn new information, control the body, and have “interoceptive awareness,” which is the awareness of the body’s inner sensations.

In another recent study, researchers found a sharp increase in oxytocin, which is referred to as the “love” hormone, as it is released in bonding moments, such as sexual intercourse, childbirth, or even cuddling. The researchers asked 37 study participants to engage in meditation that focused on mindfulness and compassion, and samples taken from them indicate a sharp uptick in oxytocin, which correlated with their reported improved perspective. That is, the results showed an increase in oxytocin also produced a self-reported increase in the subjects’ awareness of their environment, especially of other people. The researchers believe this type of meditation can help build empathy. In fact, they suggest it should be introduced to psychologists because it would help them build a strong relationship with their patients and help them better understand what they are feeling.

Furthermore, Harvard researchers performed a study on people that had meditated roughly 30 minutes a day for 8 weeks. By comparing MRI scans taken at the beginning and at the end, they found the 16 participants had more grey matter when the study was finished. In particular, they saw a notable size increase in the hippocampus, an area of the brain associated with memory and learning, and areas thought to be associated with compassion and self-awareness. Because of this, one of the authors of the study claimed that meditation “can play an active role in changing the brain and can increase our well-being and quality of life.” 

Likewise, researchers from UCLA found that meditation can stop grey matter from atrophying, which can reverse the effects of aging on the brain. When people age, the brain’s volume shrinks significantly in volume, especially in the frontal lobe, which is associated with emotion, concentration, language, etc. By looking at long-term meditators between the ages of 24 and 77, they were able to determine a strong correlation between the loss of grey matter over time and the amount of time the participants had been meditating. In the end, they found that the longer a person had been meditating, the less grey matter had been lost when compared to non-meditators of the same age. Therefore, it seems that meditation can slow the aging process and prolong healthy brain activity.

Furthermore, a study out of Yale found that meditation results in less activity in the default-mode network, also called the “me center” of the brain. This region is thought to be responsible for self-referential thoughts, as well as for mind wandering. That is, when a person is focused on themselves or not focused on a particular thought, this region becomes more active. The researchers found across all types of meditation, this region was less active the more a person engaged in it, suggesting meditation makes people less focused on themselves and more able to control their thoughts. Some research has shown a strong connection between mind wandering and depression, suggesting that meditation can be a useful tool to combat chronic depression.

Should You Meditate?

Probably, but maybe not. Looking at the above, meditation has numerous benefits, which have been known for millennia. However, and quite surprisingly, some people experience negative effects.

A study published by University College London found that 25% of the 1232 participants, all of which had been meditating for two months or more, reported having an unpleasant experience. In fact, they reported having increased fear, anxiety, distorted thoughts, etc., all of which are also reported in Buddhist texts. No one is sure why this happens. Its possible other mental conditions may be confounding the results, as the researchers claim pre-existing mental health conditions were not screened for. It also seems that men and those without a religious belief are more likely to report a negative experience.

What does this mean? Schlosser, the lead author, claims “a careful study of the literature reveals that most studies on meditation have not explored experiences that meditators would describe as particularly unpleasant or difficult.” This suggests that the study of meditation needs a lot more research, as the field is still in it’s infancy. Its possible meditation is not for everyone or that it needs to be done with the guidance of a mental health professional.

Therefore, its most likely fine, but maybe try to do it with a trained a professional.

“All of man’s difficulties are caused by his inability to sit, quietly, in a room by himself.”

-Blaise Pascal

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