Originally published August 4 2005
Experts explore how much meditation matters to the mind
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
National Public Radio's Katie Unger reports that meditation is widely practiced as a method of inducing well-being and emotional balance, but a group of neuroscientists are working to see if meditation actually changes the way the brain is wired.
Scientists are taking advantage of new technologies to see exactly what goes on inside the brains of Buddhist monks and other so-called "Olympian" meditators -- individuals who meditate intensively and regularly.
The neuroscientists hypothesize that regular meditation actually alters the way the brain is wired, and that these changes could be at the heart of claims that meditation can improve health and well-being.
But the rigors of the scientific method might never have been applied to studying the practice of meditation if it weren't for a vocal population of scientist-meditators.
For decades, several of these individuals have been spreading the word about the beneficial effects of this traditional Eastern practice to the Western world.
In 1998, Dr. James Austin, a neurologist, wrote the book Zen and the Brain: Toward an Understanding of Meditation and Consciousness.
In it, Austin examines consciousness by intertwining his personal experiences with Zen meditation with explanations backed up by hard science.
In 1975, Sharon Salzberg and Jack Kornfield co-founded the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Mass., where they continue to practice and teach meditation.
Jon Kabat-Zinn brought mindfulness into the mainstream by developing a standardized teaching method that has introduced multitudes of beginners to the practice of meditation.
One center with which Kabat-Zinn has had a long-standing association -- the Mind and Life Institute -- took a particular interest in partnering "modern science and Buddhism -- the world's two most powerful traditions for understanding the nature of reality and investigating the mind."
Until recently, most of them simply observed correlations between meditating and improved mood or decreased disease symptoms.
But with so many scientists -- and thousands of consumers -- becoming "believers" in meditation, researchers seek to move beyond simply showing that meditation can influence the brain, to knowing exactly how that influence is accomplished.
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