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Tuning out: How brains benefit from meditation

Experienced meditators seem to be able switch off areas of the brain associated with daydreaming as well as psychiatric disorders such as autism and schizophrenia, according to a new brain imaging study by ...

Psychology & Psychiatry created Nov 21, 2011 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (47) | comments 20 | with audio podcast

Meditation produces enduring changes in emotional processing in the brain, study shows

A new study has found that participating in an 8-week meditation training program can have measurable effects on how the brain functions even when someone is not actively meditating. In their report in the ...

Neuroscience created Nov 12, 2012 | popularity 4.2 / 5 (24) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

Stanford study vanquishes social anxieties without drugs

For most of his life, 24-year-old Steven Bringas so feared humiliating himself if he spoke that only an emergency would get him to enter a store.

Psychology & Psychiatry created Aug 19, 2011 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (17) | comments 1

Teaching the neurons to meditate

In the late 1990s, Jane Anderson was working as a landscape architect. That meant she didn't work much in the winter, and she struggled with seasonal affective disorder in the dreary Minnesota winter months. ...

Psychology & Psychiatry created Jul 07, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (12) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

The benefits of meditation: Neuroscientists explain why the practice helps tune out distractions and relieve pain

Studies have shown that meditating regularly can help relieve symptoms in people who suffer from chronic pain, but the neural mechanisms underlying the relief were unclear. Now, MIT and Harvard researchers ...

Neuroscience created May 05, 2011 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (12) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

Long-term meditation leads to different brain organization

(Medical Xpress) -- People who practice mindfulness meditation learn to accept their feelings, emotions, and states of mind without judging or resisting them. They simply live in the moment.

Psychology & Psychiatry created May 24, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (10) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Is meditation the push-up for the brain?

(Medical Xpress) -- Two years ago, researchers at UCLA found that specific regions in the brains of long-term meditators were larger and had more gray matter than the brains of individuals in a control group. This suggested ...

Psychology & Psychiatry created Jul 14, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (9) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Chinese mindfulness meditation prompts double positive punch in brain white matter

Scientists studying the Chinese mindfulness meditation known as integrative body-mind training (IBMT) say they've confirmed and expanded their findings on changes in structural efficiency of white matter in the brain that ...

Neuroscience created Jun 11, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (9) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Evidence builds that meditation strengthens the brain, researchers say

Earlier evidence out of UCLA suggested that meditating for years thickens the brain (in a good way) and strengthens the connections between brain cells. Now a further report by UCLA researchers suggests yet another benefit.

Neuroscience created Mar 14, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (8) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Psychologists find meditation increases awareness of subliminal messages

(Phys.org) -- In our busy world most rarely have time to ponder the intricacies of subliminal messaging, despite the fact that it goes on all around us every day, in many cases as a direct means to incite ...

Psychology & Psychiatry created Jun 08, 2012 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (8) | comments 3 | with audio podcast report

Meditation expertise changes experience of pain

(Medical Xpress)—Meditation can change the way a person experiences pain, according to a new study by UW–Madison neuroscientists.

Neuroscience created Nov 16, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (6) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Meditation may help the brain 'turn down the volume' on distractions

The positive effects of mindfulness meditation on pain and working memory may result from an improved ability to regulate a crucial brain wave called the alpha rhythm. This rhythm is thought to "turn down the volume" on distracting ...

Neuroscience created Apr 21, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (5) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

Wandering minds associated with aging cells

Scientific studies have suggested that a wandering mind indicates unhappiness, whereas a mind that is present in the moment indicates well-being. Now, a preliminary UCSF study suggests a possible link between mind wandering ...

Psychology & Psychiatry created Nov 16, 2012 | popularity 3.1 / 5 (7) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Mindfulness meditation reduces loneliness, benefits immune system

Many elderly people spend their last years alone. Spouses pass and children scatter. But being lonely is much more than a silent house and a lack of companionship. Over time, loneliness not only takes a toll on the psyche ...

Psychology & Psychiatry created Aug 14, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Simple meditation shown to decrease symptoms of stress and depression

A simple form of mindful meditation can help breast cancer survivors stave off the symptoms of depression, new research suggests. But the potential benefits don't stop there.

Psychology & Psychiatry created Oct 07, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 0

Meditation

Meditation is a mental discipline by which one attempts to get beyond the reflexive, "thinking" mind into a deeper state of relaxation or awareness. Meditation often involves turning attention to a single point of reference. It is a component of many religions, and has been practiced since antiquity. It is also practiced outside religious traditions. Different meditative disciplines encompass a wide range of spiritual or psychophysical practices that may emphasize different goals—from achievement of a higher state of consciousness, to greater focus, creativity or self-awareness, or simply a more relaxed and peaceful frame of mind.

The word meditation comes from the Indo-European root med-, meaning "to measure." From the root med- are also derived the English words mete, medicine, modest, and moderate. It entered English as meditation through the Latin meditatio, which originally indicated any type of physical or intellectual exercise, then later evolved into the more specific meaning "contemplation."

Eastern meditation techniques have been adapted and increasingly practiced in Western culture.

For more information about Meditation, read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.