Meditation. Tips to improve your brain
Meditation changes your brain physically. Learn how to make this magic trick.
The benefits of meditation or mindfulness (a meditation more adapted to the Western reality) are constantly praised. The actual effects to the brain seem to be proven and meditation practice is recommended by many neurologists as a way of preventing the aging of this organ. Experts say that meditation can change even the physical structure of the brain as it has been observed through magnetic resonance images. The benefits of meditation are real when it comes to neurons and their connections, and it can increase the ability to concentrate and memory, among other benefits.
Natural preservative
The brain, like the rest of the organism, ages over the years. It turns out that studies conducted by the UCLA pointed out that the brains of those who have a habit of meditating are better preserved than those of individuals who do not cultivate the art of meditation. The human brain has a plasticity feature, the continuous practice of new tasks has the ability to change the structure of the brain. The effects felt by those who practice meditation are due of a daily practice and prolonged in time. If you stop to practice, the process can reverse. A study conducted by neuroscientists at Harvard noted the influence of meditation on the brain elasticity. So, a new behavior successively repeated will affect the way neurons communicate with each other.
More gray matter
Investigations carried out by the team of the neuroscientist Sarah Lazar, conclude that individuals who have a habit of meditating have more areas of gray matter in different parts of the brain in relation to individuals who do not meditate, contributing to slow the natural process of aging of the brain. In one of the experiments carried out for this investigation were studied groups of individuals with meditation practices and groups of individuals who did not meditate. Through magnetic resonance imaging it was observed that the brains of men with about 50 years who practiced meditation had the same amount of the prefrontal cortex of young people of 25 years, that suggests that meditation can actually avoid the decline related to aging.
Another of the experiments conducted put individuals who had never meditated and who were requested to do it for eight weeks, 30 to 40 minutes a day, found that, after that period, the brain of these individuals were already benefiting from meditation practices as RMI demonstrated, also increased areas in the hippocampus (important to regulate emotions and in the process of learning and memory) , in the temporoparietal junction (important for the existence of feelings of empathy and compassion, and by preparation of perspective).
Decrease of the Amygdala
A decrease of the Amygdala, after a continued practice of meditation has also been observed through the MRI images. Regular practitioners of meditation showed a reduction of the amygdala, the brain’s alarm system. It is believed that meditation can change the way people relate to the surrounding reality, diminishing the stress, decreasing the amygdala in many occasions when you are not in any life threating risk. Individuals with a reduced amygdala indicate file with less stress and anxiety, and can take on a more rational and real perspective of reality by modulating innate survival reactions. Subject to the usual concerns, these individuals were able to show an amygdala reduction thanks to the practice of meditation.
