The Facts
Since the 1990s there has been an increase in research on meditation. It confirms that changes in the brain do take place when people meditate. Neuroscience tests such as MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) scanners, fMRI (functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging), EEG (electroencephalography) and rCBF (regional Cerebral Blood Flow) machines demonstrate and quantify these changes.
Researchers in the US have demonstrated that meditation changes the brain and increases its capacity for happiness, compassion, and awareness.
- Sara Lazer from Boston conducted a study which compared the MRI scans of 16 meditators with 17 non-meditators. The results showed that in the meditators group there was an increased thickness of the part of the brain associated with paying attention and sensory processing.
- Professor Richard Davidson, a neuroscientist in Wisconsin used advanced technology to scientifically prove that meditation not only changes the way the brain works but it also alters the structure of the brain.
- Katherine Maclean at University of California was one of the lead researchers on The Shamatha Project, one of the most comprehensive longitudinal studies of meditation ever conducted. The study used many measures including EEG and found an increase in participants' attentional skills over the course of the retreat and up to seven years after the retreat; an increase in emotional and psychological well-being, with the contemplatives’ behaviour also suggesting increased emotional engagement; and an increase in the activity of telomerase, an enzyme that is positively correlated with levels of well-being.
EEG machines measure the different frequency brain waves. Using this technique with people who meditate have demonstrated that brain wave activity changes during meditation. There are five different categories of brain waves: Beta, Alpha, Theta, Delta and Gamma.
Beta waves are fast, high frequency waves of 13 to 30 cycles per second. These waves would be detected by an EEG machine when we are carrying out our regular daily activities, we are awake, alert and thinking. We predominately live in this state and the more stressed we become, the more intense the waves are. Living in a beta wave state suppresses wisdom, intuition, and creativity.
Alpha waves of 8 to 12 cycles per second, are a slightly lower frequency than beta waves. It is these waves that our brains emit when we meditate. We can activate alpha waves by closing our eyes and focusing inwards as opposed to focusing our attention externally which we do when we are in beta wave state.
Theta waves of 4 to 8 cycles per second, are again a lower frequency than alpha waves. These brain waves are associated with creativity. Between the ages of two and five, theta waves are the most predominant brain wave frequency and therefore we are at our most imaginative during this period. Children of this age often have imaginary friends and are very creative in play. As adults, we experience these waves when we dream and when we are in a deep meditative state.
Delta waves of 0.5 to 4 cycles are very low frequency brain waves. We experience these when we are sleeping. Adults who have had a brain injury or are in a coma can also experience delta waves, as can babies.
Gamma waves of 40Hz to 70Hz are very fast, high frequency brain waves. They allow us to make sense of our lives by assisting the brain to understand and process information from different areas and create an overall picture. They are associated with perception and higher mental activity.
In Professor Richard Davidson’s study he was able to demonstrate that a group of Tibetan Monks who were long term meditators, had an increase in gamma waves activity during meditation, especially when they were practicing ‘loving kindness’ meditation. This was opposed to the control group of beginner meditators whose gamma wave activity only increased marginally.
Using EEG machines, scientists can now understand what happens when we meditate. As we enter a state of relaxed awareness our alpha wave activity increases. There can also be a change in our theta waves, and this can bring on feelings of bliss. The more theta wave activity shown on the EEG, the more blissful the meditation is.
Gamma wave activity can also increase as with the Tibetan Monks. Importantly, EEG tests show that not only do alpha, theta and gamma waves change during meditation, the changes continue after the practice has finished therefore proving that the benefits of meditation continue in our daily lives not just when we are practicing.
Brain waves were first shown to change during meditation in the 1970s. A study by Cade & Coxhead, 1978 cited in Nataraja, 2008 showed that lower frequency waves, alpha and theta, were normally produced during relaxed wakefulness, deep relaxation, and creativity-induced meditative states, plus gamma waves associated with transcendence.
Dr Herbert Benson also demonstrated in studies relating to the ‘Relaxation Response’ (1975) a series of identifiable physiological and emotional changes produced by meditation.
During the 1970s there was a lot of evidence demonstrating the benefits of meditation for conditions such as anxiety (Girodo, 1974), phobias (Boudreau, 1972), heart conditions (Tulpule, 1971), asthma (Hornsberger, 1973), insomnia (Woolfolk, 1975) and high blood pressure (Benson & Wallace, 1972).
The 1972 study by Benson & Wallace was a pioneering study looking at the effectiveness of TM (Transcendental Meditation) in reducing alcohol and substance abuse.
In1979 Jon Kabat-Zinn recruited chronically ill patients to his eight week stress reduction programme or MBSR (Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction). These patients had not been responding well to traditional treatment but after eight weeks of MBSR they demonstrated improvements in their mental and physical health.
More recently, in 2014 a review of studies including more than 3,500 participants concluded that meditating reduces stress, anxiety, depression and pain and can help improve sleep, lower blood pressure, and improve concentration.
One of the most interesting findings of this century is that of the brain’s potential for change. There is now a vast amount of evidence confirming that the brain can change and be changed. Through meditation it can adapt, heal, renew itself after trauma and compensate for disability.
Copyright Pura Vida 2021