brain cell building with meditation

meditation can build brain cells which in turn increases grey matter. this has been backed up by research. there was a study done years ago. The study was led by a Harvard affiliated team of researchers based at Massachusetts General Hospital. Through the use of magnetic resonance imaging scans, The researchers came to the conclusion that meditation produced physiological changes in the brain's gray matter. Some areas in the brain showed thickening after only eight weeks of mindfulness practice. The research was published in 2011 and was the first research of its kind to detail physical changes within the brain due to meditative practice. Research was conducted at the Massachusetts General Hospital by researchers from Harvard University. The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine of the NIH funded the research and Research subjects spend eight weeks practicing mindfulness meditation. For an average of 27 minutes a day, the study participants were required to listened to audio recordings of guided meditation during the eight-week trial. Magnetic resonance imaging scans (MRI) were taken of the participants' brains a fortnight before the trial started and again at the end of the eight-week program to compare results. The also had a control group of several people who also had brain imaging but were not required to listen to any audio-recordings.

The Study participants did report feeling less stressed out after the eight-weeks and the MRI scans revealed decreased gray matter in the amygdalae region of the brain and an increased of gray matter in the hippocampus region of the brain. The amygdalae are the parts of the brain that help the body deal with anxiety and stress and controls the "fight or flight" mechanism. The hippocampus is the area of the brain that controls learning , memory, self-awareness, introspection and compassion.

The study concluded that meditation can indeed build brain cells and the shrinking of the amygdalae indicated a reduction in the body's stress response and lowered cortisol levels, which led to feelings of relaxation.It has been concluded that meditation also increases gray matter and allows the brain to slow responses to stress, providing better concentration, learning and memory.

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