Scientists at the University of California, specifically the Los Angeles Campus (UCLA), are currently studying the relationship between meditation and the physical structure of the brain, this practice has long been known to have beneficial effects on people’s psychological health, as it decreases anxiety levels, helps concentration and brings similar benefits to sleep.
But now, in addition to the aforementioned benefits, it has been found that people who meditate regularly for a few years develop a thicker layer of cells in the cerebral cortex. Neuroscientists have observed that the cerebral cortex of these individuals has developed more connections between neurons than those manufactured in the brains of people who have not meditated on their lives and that the longer they practice this activity, the greater the number of synapses (communication between brain cells) performed.
- This research is closely related to others on brain plasticity.
- More than ten years ago.
- It was believed that dead brain cells could not be replaced.
- As could some cells in other parts of the body.
- The result of this situation was that when an area of the brain was damaged.
- It would remain so forever and there was no way to restore functions lost due to damage.
For example, a person who was hit in the head and lost his sight was condemned to remain blind. The same goes for memory and other functions. Current neuroscientific analyses have shown that the brain is more ‘plastic’ than previously thought, it is possible to restore communication between neurons, even if one of them dies, which facilitates the return of skills that were believed to be lost forever.
Meditation, according to neuroscientists, is a mechanism that can generate exchanges of information between cells that did not occur before and that physically manifests itself in the thickening of the cerebral cortex and in the folds that form in that organ.
UCLA researchers recruited 49 people who had been meditating for at least 20 years in various places where meditation was practiced, who had an MRI of their brains. Instead, from an MRI database, they selected 16 other individuals of the same sex, age, and right-handed or left-handed, with the same characteristics as those who meditated.
The most striking result of the study was to observe that the longer the individual practiced meditation, the greater the neural relationships generated, which was highly visible in individuals who had never practiced meditation. The areas where more neurons have been generated are related to the following mental functions of the brain: thought, memory, judgment and decision.
Without a doubt, science is getting closer and closer to solving riddles about the practice of meditation.
Image credits: Hartwig HKD