冥想能让人聪明

[moomoofarm]

Neuroimage这次研究发现冥想能够增加灰质数量，进而使得大脑中某些区域变大，包括眶额皮层、丘脑、下颞回，据说都是控制情绪的。这个为宗教冥
想提供了直接的证据吧。

Push-ups, crunches, gyms, personal trainers people have many
strategies for building bigger muscles and stronger bones. But what
can one do to build a bigger brain?

Meditate.

That's the finding from a group of researchers at UCLA who used high-
resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to scan the brains of
people who meditate. In a study published in the journal NeuroImage
and currently available online (by subscription), the researchers
report that certain regions in the brains of long-term meditators were
larger than in a similar control group.

Specifically, meditators showed significantly larger volumes of the
hippocampus and areas within the orbito-frontal cortex, the thalamus
and the inferior temporal gyrus all regions known for regulating
emotions.

"We know that people who consistently meditate have a singular ability
to cultivate positive emotions, retain emotional stability and engage
in mindful behavior," said Eileen Luders, lead author and a
postdoctoral research fellow at the UCLA Laboratory of Neuro Imaging.
"The observed differences in brain anatomy might give us a clue why
meditators have these exceptional abilities."

Research has confirmed the beneficial aspects of meditation. In
addition to having better focus and control over their emotions, many
people who meditate regularly have reduced levels of stress and
bolstered immune systems. But less is known about the link between
meditation and brain structure.

In the study, Luders and her colleagues examined 44 people 22 control
subjects and 22 who had practiced various forms of meditation,
including Zazen, Samatha and Vipassana, among others. The amount of
time they had practiced ranged from five to 46 years, with an average
of 24 years.

More than half of all the meditators said that deep concentration was
an essential part of their practice, and most meditated between 10 and
90 minutes every day.

...

Contact: Mark Wheeler
mwhe...@mednet.ucla.edu
310-794-2265
University of California - Los Angeles
Source:Eurekalert