|
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine are examining the effectiveness of meditation on early cognitive impairment. Once this new study is completed, the results could help answer lingering questions over whether or not stress-reducing techniques and mind exercises can lessen or even prevent cognitive decline. This is the first study at Penn's new "Center for Spirituality and the Mind," which evolved from work initiated in Penn's Department of Radiology to embrace and encourage researchers from the fields of medicine, pastoral care, religious studies, social work, nursing, and bioethics to expand our knowledge of how spirituality may affect the human brain.
"We'll be looking at patients with mild cognitive impairment or symptoms of early Alzheimer's disease," explains Andrew Newberg, MD, Associate Professor of Radiology, Psychiatry, and Religious Studies, who also directs the Center's investigations and is Principal Investigator of this pilot study. "We'll combine their meditation with brain imaging over a period of time to see if meditation improves cognitive function and is associated with actual change in the brain's activity levels. Specifically, we'll be looking for decreased activity in specific areas of the brain."
The dementia process causes a decreased function of neurons in the brain and can result in problems with memory, visual-spatial tasks, and handling emotional issues. As it worsens in a patient, it can also eventually lead to the need for round-the-clock care.
In this study, investigators want to look at the early symptoms of dementia. Study participants will learn a particular kind of meditation, called Kirtan Kriya, identified as one of the most fundamental types of meditation practice. It's a repeated chanting of sounds and finger movements designed to help the mind focus and become sharper. Study participants will perform this meditation program every day for eight weeks to see if this relaxation technique can change the brain's response to different tasks.
"This is a form of exercise for the brain which enables the brain to strengthen itself and battle the unknown processes working to weaken it. We want to keep the mind sharp and work that muscle," Newberg adds. "We might see improvements in baseline activity levels in the brain and these patients might be able to activate their brain in a more robust way in particular. So if this kind of meditation is successful in helping patients with neurological problems, it could then someday become a low-cost additional treatment to current therapy."
Newberg will use SPECT (Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography) imaging to capture the baseline image of the brain as well as the brain's activity during meditation. Images will be taken at the beginning of the study and then after the eight-week program.
Contact: Susanne Hartman
susanne.hartman@uphs.upenn.edu
215-349-5964
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
###
Related Articles
• Use the Power of the Mind to Improve Your Health and Well Being
• Chant 'Om' for Better Heart Health (press release)
• Meditation may improve cardiac risk factors in patients with coronary heart disease (press release)
• Meditation proven to lower blood pressure with no drugs, no side
effects, and zero cost
• Qigong Master Kenneth Cohen shares the secrets of qigong and energetic healing
 |
Additional Resources:
meditation
the brain
spirituality
|
Take Action: Support NaturalNews.com
 Email this article to a friend
 Share this article on: NewsVine | digg | del.icio.us
Permalink to this article: http://www.NaturalNews.com/020556.html
Reprinting this article: Non-commercial OK, cite NaturalNews.com with clickable link.
|
 |
 |
Receive our Natural Health Newsletter for FREE
 Subscribe now (it's free!) to win. We randomly choose a subscriber each month to send $100 in eco-home products or a RealGoods.com gift certificate (our choice). Plus, you'll receive FREE news, articles and action alerts from NaturalNews.com editors and join over 800,000 monthly readers who report extraordinary health improvements after becoming a subscriber!
- Receive breaking news alerts on natural health solutions, renewable energy, the environment, global warming and more.
- Receive a free instant download of our $29 Secret Sources guide that reveals top sources for little-known health and diet solutions.
|
|
 |
 |
Recommended Special Report:
 Seven Words that can Change the World
by Joseph R. Simonetta
Read this special report now...
"Seven Words That Can Change the World reveals the astonishing, simple truths that have the power to forever transform our world for the better while freeing our minds from the enslavement of limiting beliefs. This is not a text for the simple-minded; it is a guiding philosophy for the mindful, intelligent few who are wise enough to seek out -- and recognize -- the higher simplicities of truly purposeful living." - Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, editor of NaturalNews.com
|
More on NaturalNews.com:
• Streaming Health Ranger Videos
• CounterThink Cartoons
• FREE Special Reports
• Podcasts
|
 |
|
Printable Version
