BOSTON, Jan. 26 (UPI) -- A U.S. researcher says mindfulness meditation can change brain structure in eight weeks.
Senior author Sara Lazar of Boston's Massachusetts General Hospital says these changes may account for meditation practitioners' claims of persistent cognitive and psychological benefits.
The study, published in Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging, reports meditation produced changes over time in the brain's gray matter -- including increases in density in brain areas having to do with learning, memory, self-awareness and compassion. Decreased density was seen in the amygdala -- an area linked to anxiety -- in those reporting less stress. None of the changes were seen in the control group.
"This study demonstrates that changes in brain structure may underlie some of these reported improvements and that people are not just feeling better because they are spending time relaxing," Lazar says in a statement.
Lazar and colleagues studied magnetic resonance images of the brain structure of 16 study participants two weeks before and after they took part in the eight-week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Program involving daily sessions averaging 27 minutes as well as images of the brains of a matched control group of non-meditators.
During mindfulness meditation, participants were guided to focus on non-judgmental awareness of sensations, feelings and state of mind, Lazar says.
