Effects of Meditation on the Brain
Mindful Meditation and the Brain
Some view meditation as new age, hippie nonsense because it is not a social norm to sit in silence and dig beneath the surface of the mind. Others liken it to tuning an instrument before playing it. I subscribe to the latter; nonetheless, meditation is an ancient practice that can be traced back 2,500 years. However, neuroscientists are just now beginning to measure the effects that it has on the brain. While there are many types of meditation, they all have the same function; reaching an internal state of consciousness in which one is attending to a specific focal point. The content of this paper will be predominantly about mindful meditation and how it positively affects the brain. The process of mindful meditation involves breath-focused relaxation order to keep the body calm and the mind aware. It is my hypothesis that mindful meditation can be used as a vehicle for the brain to improve attention, emotional regulation, and reduce anxiety and depression symptoms.
The primary goal for neuroscientists investigating mindful meditation is to understand the parts of the brain that are being used during meditative states and the long lasting effects of continuous practice. Meditation is linked to both state and trait-like effects (Didonna, 2009). State effects refer to changes that occur in individuals in the act of meditation. In contrast, trait-like changes occur over a period time as a consequence of sustained meditation practice. Trait-like effects are thought to result from stable, long-term transformations in brain activity and structure (Didonna, 2009). When studying trait-like versus state effects, scientists will be decipher what affects have clinical applications to help those in need (Didonna, 2009).
The ideas behind mindfulness in the ancient context are awareness, attention, and remembering. Its purpose is to do away with negative schemas by developing comprehensive workings of the mind and how it relates to the
Some view meditation as new age, hippie nonsense because it is not a social norm to sit in silence and dig beneath the surface of the mind. Others liken it to tuning an instrument before playing it. I subscribe to the latter; nonetheless, meditation is an ancient practice that can be traced back 2,500 years. However, neuroscientists are just now beginning to measure the effects that it has on the brain. While there are many types of meditation, they all have the same function; reaching an internal state of consciousness in which one is attending to a specific focal point. The content of this paper will be predominantly about mindful meditation and how it positively affects the brain. The process of mindful meditation involves breath-focused relaxation order to keep the body calm and the mind aware. It is my hypothesis that mindful meditation can be used as a vehicle for the brain to improve attention, emotional regulation, and reduce anxiety and depression symptoms.
The primary goal for neuroscientists investigating mindful meditation is to understand the parts of the brain that are being used during meditative states and the long lasting effects of continuous practice. Meditation is linked to both state and trait-like effects (Didonna, 2009). State effects refer to changes that occur in individuals in the act of meditation. In contrast, trait-like changes occur over a period time as a consequence of sustained meditation practice. Trait-like effects are thought to result from stable, long-term transformations in brain activity and structure (Didonna, 2009). When studying trait-like versus state effects, scientists will be decipher what affects have clinical applications to help those in need (Didonna, 2009).
The ideas behind mindfulness in the ancient context are awareness, attention, and remembering. Its purpose is to do away with negative schemas by developing comprehensive workings of the mind and how it relates to the
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