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How meditation changes the brain




People who meditate regularly feel more balanced and focused, among other things. A team from the Medical University of Innsbruck has now investigated what exactly happens in the brain: The thinking apparatus is re-networked.


“Get into a comfortable position. And then relax: breathe in and out, breathe in and out. Observe what breathing does to your body. And then again completely naturally: inhale and exhale, inhale and exhale.” Under the guidance of a professional yoga teacher, twelve men and 17 women without any relevant experience practiced meditation for seven weeks. “Usually you sit while doing these breathing exercises, but our test subjects are lying down,” says Elke Ruth Gizewski, neuroradiologist at the Medical University of Innsbruck.


Ö1 broadcast note:

There is also an article dedicated to this topic in Wissen Aktuell_11100000- 0000-0000-0000-000000000111_on March 16th. at 1:55 p.m.

This position adaptation had a specific reason: the test subjects were supposed to learn to put themselves in a meditative state in a magnetic resonance imaging tube, i.e. during an MRI examination. Gizewski and her colleague Nicolas Singewald wollten as part of a study to investigate how meditation affects brain metabolism. For this purpose, the test subjects' brains were analyzed using MRI before and after the study. “And we could see that changes had occurred in several regions after a short period of time. There has been increased activity in the basal ganglia.”


Re-connected

The Basal ganglia play a major role in a number of processes - such as movement sequences. But also the Forehead lobe, which controls motor and cognitive processes, and the temporal lobe, which in turn is responsible for stimulus processing, were influenced by the meditation exercises. The subjects' thinking apparatus has become reconnected. "This means that the brain is able to react differently to stimuli." This can be particularly helpful in times of crisis. Mental illnesses are currently on the rise. Especially in... Meditation can show positive effects for people with anxiety disorders, says Gizewski. The test subjects in her study had Although she did not have any related illness, her mental state was still examined. “And we could actually see in this group of test subjects that regular meditation practice reduced anxiety.” Ten to 15 minutes a day. Ten to 15 minutes of daily meditation are enough, says the neuroradiologist. She recommends getting tips from a professional yoga teacher or meditation trainer beforehand. This also works via online courses.Gizewski and Singewald - who conducted their study today as part of the Week of the brain presented online by the Medical University of Innsbruck - are planning further research in this area. “We want to examine the test subjects again in a year to see how meditation can have a long-term effect on our brain,” says Elke Ruth Gizewski.


Daphne Hruby, Ö1-Wissenschaft, March 16, 2021

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