Mindfulness Meditation, Brain Fitness, and Gray Matter

Most people know that the brain is smaller with age, at least in part due to loss of brain cells in parts of the brain related to perception, memory, and executive processes. Anything that can slow down or reverse the process should be of interest to all of us, whatever our age. A study I mentioned in April of last year (see the post here) showed that even brief mindfulness meditation training can make a difference in brain functions that often show declines with increasing age.

Now another study shows that mindfulness meditation, even over short periods of time, can actually make a difference in how thick the gray matter is in some parts of the brain. Gray matter is made up of actual nerve cells. Other parts of the brain are the white matter (basically, the connections between brain cells), and other cells that provide a supportive scaffolding for nerve cells and immune functions.

The study shows that just 8 weeks of meditation training made changes in parts of the brain associated with memory (the hippocampus) and complex information integration (the temporoparietal junction).

You don’t need special equipment or even special training to get started with mindfulness meditation, although an experienced teacher may be helpful. You can download meditation training materials off the Internet in a number of sites (check out iTunes). A favorite site of mine is Zencast.org. You can download basic meditation training talks there (free), focused on Zen Buddhism. But you don’t have to be a Buddhist to do mindfulness meditation.

Reference:

Holzel BK et al (2011). Mindfulness practice leads to increases in regional brain gray matter density. Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging, 191, 36-43. You can read the abstract here.

Meditation for Brain Fitness

Back in April of this year, I wrote about an exciting, if preliminary, study that showed that even brief meditation practice can make a difference in thinking (click here to see that post). More and more evidence shows that meditation may be a key element of a brain fitness program.

A study from this past summer in the prestigious journal The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences shows that even 11 hours of a special kind of meditation can’t make a difference in the connections in your brain.

The technique, called “Integrative Body-Mind Training” or IBMT is based in Chinese method. The publications are a little sketchy on the exact details of the procedure, but it involves a combination of mental imagery, breathing, and posture exercises done under the guidance of a “coach,” all while listening to relaxing music.

Researchers at the University of Oregon, including the well-known cognitive neuroscientist Michael Posner as well as IBMT’s founder Yi-Yuan Tang used a neuroimaging technique called diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to study changes in the brains of students being trained in IBMT.

Results showed that just 11 hours of training resulted in significant changes in connections to the anterior cingulate cortex, a part of the brain involved in emotion and self-regulation. The researchers had already shown that IBMT increased activity in the anterior cingulate and improved self-regulation. The new study shows that even a brief intervention can actually change connections in the brain.

The implications are that specific types of meditation practice cna improve cognitive functions, such as attention and resistance to distractions. That could add up to better study skills, being more productive, and possibly even better memory.

References:

Tang YY et al. (2010). Short-term meditation induces white matter changes in the anterior cingulate. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 107, 15649-15652.

Tang YY et al. (2009). Central and autonomic nervous system interaction is altered by short-term meditation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 106, 8865-8870.