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    Meditation Can 'Turn Off' Regions of the Brain

    HealthDay – Tue, Nov 22, 2011

    TUESDAY, Nov. 22 (HealthDay News) -- A new study finds that people skilled at meditation seem able to turn off areas of the brain associated with daydreaming and psychiatric disorders such as autism and schizophrenia.

    Learning more about how meditation works could help advance research into a number of diseases, according to lead author Dr. Judson Brewer, an assistant professor of psychiatry at Yale University.

    He and his colleagues used functional MRI to assess brain activity in experienced and novice meditators as they performed three different meditation techniques.

    Regardless of the type of meditation, skilled meditators had decreased activity in the brain's default mode network, which has been linked to attention lapses and disorders such as anxiety, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and the buildup of beta amyloid plaques associated with Alzheimer's disease.

    The researchers also found that when the default mode network (which consists of the medial prefrontal and posterior cingulate cortex) was active, brain regions associated with self-monitoring and cognitive control were also activated in experienced meditators, but not novices.

    This suggests that skilled meditators constantly monitor and suppress the emergence of "me" thoughts and mind wandering. If they become too strong, these two states of mind are associated with diseases such as autism and schizophrenia.

    The experienced meditators were able to co-activate the two brain regions both during meditation and while resting, which suggests they have developed a "new" default mode that's more present-centered and less self-centered, the researchers said.

    "Meditation's ability to help people stay in the moment has been part of philosophical and contemplative practices for thousands of years," Brewer said in a Yale news release. "Conversely, the hallmark of many forms of mental illness is a preoccupation with one's own thoughts, a condition meditation seems to affect. This gives us some nice cues as to the neural mechanisms of how it might be working clinically."

    The study appears Nov. 21 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

    More information

    The U.S. National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine has more about meditation.

     
    • jean
      jean  •  Cave Junction, United States  •  6 mths ago
      since unemployed i've developed severe anxiety along with panic attacks. im on 2 tranquilizers and i still get rushes of fast beating pulses....meditation instantly intervenes after 3-5 minutes my pulse rate slows down noticably......
    • Briar Rose
      Briar Rose  •  6 mths ago
      I find meditation can help control pain.
    • k.d.
      k.d.  •  Springfield, United States  •  6 mths ago
      VS- I suffer from Autism as well as a few other disorders. ( Many if not all over lap). I am obviously a more high functioning autistic. When I meditate on scripture and / or a Biblical principle, my sense of " SELF " and focus on " ME' is noticably decreased, I am at peace. Meditation does help ME. That is all I know from my limited point of view.
      • Change YEA right
        Change YEA right 6 mths ago
        Does the same thing happen when it is not scripture or the bible?
      • ErykBly
        ErykBly 6 mths ago
        Many studies done over the years have shown that meditation works whether religously oriented or not. Actually, if K.d. is "meditating on scripture" in the sense of thinking about the meaning of the scriptures or their principles, then he or she is not actually meditating in the accepted sense at all. True meditation involves quieting the thoughts and centering the mind not pondering meanings - scriptural or otherwise.
      • k.d.
        k.d. 6 mths ago
        Answer to " change yeah right" It only works for me with scripture. To ErykBly : Meditation on scripture not only as an affect upon the brain function but emotional and spiritual function too. "True meditation" as you put it is an experience as well as pondering meanings. Jesus Christ IS the word of God and when one meditates on the Word, one meditates upon Him in essence. There is a scripture that states " Draw near to God and He will draw near to you" In His presence there is comfort, peace, healing,hope, everything one needs. THAT is my experience and for me it WORKS!
    • me
      me  •  5 mths ago
      I remember a voice on the loudspeaker early in the morning at the start of the school day asking us to "please pause for a moment of silent meditation." Now I know why my brain regions stayed off for the rest of the day!
    • Media crap
      Media crap  •  6 mths ago
      It is also good for anger management.
    • Wine
      Wine  •  6 mths ago
      Through the use of Hypnosis or Meditation you can actually "rewire" the brain. Any frequent thought will create new pathways. Thats how habits are formed.
    • Wine
      Wine  •  6 mths ago
      Meditation and hypnosis have been around a very long time and are EXTREMELY effective. But you can't bottle and sell it.
    • Hank
      Hank  •  6 mths ago
      meditation can turn off regions of the brain, kinda like watching dancing with the stars.
    • Carlos N
      Carlos N  •  Santa Barbara, United States  •  6 mths ago
      Lotta paraphrasing by the reporting... I don't doubt the results but the interpretation is told again by the writer with odd conclusions.
    • Ben H
      Ben H  •  6 mths ago
      I hope that Congress will stop meditating on the budget.
      • gary
        gary 6 mths ago
        silly, Congess doesnt have a brain.
    • Elma
      Elma  •  Frankfurt, Germany  •  6 mths ago
      Autism is a “neurodevelopmental disorder.” But aren’t many mental illnesses neurodevelopmental disorders? Conditions that first appear in childhood are especially likely to fit that description. Think of pervasive developmental disorder or early-onset schizophrenia. Those conditions stand at the core of child psychiatry. the same is true for autism
      the syndrome appears as a diagnosis in the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
      The primary treatments are behavioral and psychological; where medications play a role, they tend to be the ones that psychiatrists prescribe. Much of the finest research on autism was performed by psychiatrists
    • VS
      VS  •  Hillsborough, United States  •  6 mths ago
      Is Autism a psychiatric disorder???? What?? I know that this is wrong and insulting to people with this disorder. Can someone with more knowledge about this clarify please?
      • Lynnette
        Lynnette 6 mths ago
        I'm sorry if you're offended, but Autism Spectrum Disorders are indeed mental disorders. They fall under pervasive developmental disorders.
      • Jen
        Jen 6 mths ago
        Why in the world would a psychiatric disorder be insulting?
      • Old Grouch
        Old Grouch 6 mths ago
        I agree with Jen's comment. Why is it OK to have a cold, flu or appendicitis, but not OK to have a disorder which is psychiatric?
    • A Yahoo! User  •  6 mths ago
      Forget meditation, I use tequila, it seems to turn off everything!!!!!.......lol
    • Roy Letterman
      Roy Letterman  •  Winder, United States  •  6 mths ago
      Meditation is a good remedy for religious disorders.
    • leonardo
      leonardo  •  Blair, United States  •  6 mths ago
      Psychobabble from the de fault zone...
      • ErykBly
        ErykBly 6 mths ago
        Babblebabble from the Leonardo zone...
     Post a comment
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