Meditation Can Change Your Brain Structure

Meditation is said to help you live longer, be happier, sleep better and achieve more. But meditation can do more than just make you feel good; regular meditation practice can change the physical structure of your brain.

Several scientific studies at different universities have recently confirmed that meditation can increase the amount of gray matter in certain parts of your brain. Gray matter is the collection of cell bodies in the brain, and gray matter loss is associated with memory loss and a decline in sensory-motor skills. Each part of the brain controls different actions, and there is a positive correlation between gray matter density and the success of the action that part of the brain is meant to perform. So, more gray matter is usually a good thing.

According to a 2008 study by the Department of Neurology at UCLA, people with a long-term meditation practice had more gray matter in the frontal and hippocampal regions of the brain than people who did not meditate. These areas of the brain are associated with emotional regulation and response control, which indicates that those with a meditation practice would likely be more successful at regulating their emotional responses.

But correlation does not always equal causation, so is it possible that those who already had more gray matter in those regions of the brain were drawn to meditation? Maybe, but a study published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease tested the effects of meditation on brain structure in an 8-week program. The study found a significant increase in blood flow to several parts of the brain; changes in blood flow may be connected to changes in gray matter density.

One of the most exciting things about the effects of meditation on brain structure is that meditation can keep your brain young. The studies observed a significant difference in gray matter density between younger and older participants in the non-meditating group, and some gray matter loss is considered normal with age. However, the difference in gray matter density between older and younger participants in the meditation group was smaller, and normal gray matter loss was less prevalent among the meditators. These findings indicate that meditation could help prevent the onset of diseases associated with gray matter loss, including Alzheimer's and Parkinson's Disease.

According to the UCLA study, it doesn't matter what type of meditation you practice. While different types of meditation may increase gray matter in different parts of the brain, research has not yet been thorough enough to determine these subtle distinctions. Any type of meditation, when practiced regularly, can change your brain structure, as well as increase your overall health and well-being.

Sources:

Journal of Alzheimer's Disease; Function and Cerebral Blood Flow in Subjects with Memory Loss: A Preliminary Study; Andrew B. Newberg, et al.; 2010

Medical News Today; Age-Related Changes In Gray Matter Volume, Attentional Performance Associated With The Practice Of Zen Meditation; 2007

MedicineNet.com; Definition of Gray Matter

NeuroImage; The underlying anatomical correlates of long-term meditation: Larger hippocampal and frontal volumes of gray matter; Eileen Luders, et al.; 2008

NeuroReport; Long-term meditation is associated with increased gray matter density in the brain stem; Peter Vestergaard-Poulsen, et al.; 2009