How meditation affects the brain

How does meditation affect the brain?

What would happen if we turned our pessimistic thoughts into positive thoughts? Or if we could simply "turn off" all our thoughts for a while so that a little more space is created? Meditation is a well-known tool for this. Meditation is known for its neurological benefits: from making the brain more effective to improved connection between brain areas.

Here are the 7 effects of meditation on the brain:

1. Meditation protects your brain from aging

According to research by Australian and American scientists, people who practice meditation have better protected brains than those who do not. Participants in the study practiced meditation for 20 years, which created more gray matter (gray matter) in the brain. The more gray matter there is, the more effective the brain is.

2. Meditation reduces activity in the "I center" of the brain

A Yale University study has proven that meditation reduces activity in the default mode network (DMN). This part of the brain is responsible for allowing us to evaluate our own thoughts or wander off with our minds. The DMN is "on" when we are not thinking about anything specific or when we let our thoughts run wild.

Because it often doesn't make you happier if you're overthinking or brooding a lot, it's nice if you can reduce the activity of the DMN. Studies have shown that meditation is a fine way to do this. And even when your thoughts continue to wander, people who meditate can pick themselves up faster.

3. Meditation helps against depression

Researchers at Johns Hopkins University examined the link between meditation and its ability to reduce symptoms of depression, anxiety and pain. The effect of meditation was average, showing 0.3. This may sound low, but remember that the effect of antidepressants is also 0.3. This immediately makes the effect of meditation a lot better! In the end, meditation remains a way to train your brain.

Although many people think of meditation as sitting still and doing nothing, your brain is still actively engaged. Meditation is not a panacea for depression, but it can help reduce symptoms.

4. Meditation creates more volume in important parts of the brain

A study at Harvard University has shown that meditation can change the structure of the brain. After 16 healthy participants practiced Mindfullness-Based Stress Reduction for eight weeks, cortical thickness in the hippocampus (the most important part of the brain) had increased.

When cortical thickness increases, it has a positive effect on cognitive ability. This means that participants had improved concentration, perception and memory after practicing meditation.

The study also showed a reduction in brain cell volume in the amygdala (the part of the brain responsible for anxiety and stress). This change corresponded to the stress levels self-reported by the study participants. This shows that meditation changes not only our brains, but also the perception of our own feelings.

5. Meditation quickly improves concentration and attention

We are constantly stimulated. This makes it difficult to concentrate or keep our attention on one task.

It may not surprise you, but meditation can help you concentrate better. And you don't have to have meditated for years to do this. One study found that a few weeks of meditation helped people focus on a reading comprehension exercise. Scores actually increased by 16%.

During meditations, you often learn to focus on your breathing. Not surprisingly, meditation can also help improve other focusing tasks. This could come in handy in the workplace.

6. Meditation reduces (social) anxiety

Many people start meditation to reduce stress. Now there is a subgenre of meditation that focuses on reducing stress, mentally and physically. This "genre" is called Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and was first introduced by Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn in 1979.

This form of meditation was officially designed for stress management, but is now also used to treat depression, anxiety, chronic pain, cancer, diabetes mellitus, hypertension and skin and immune disorders. The effects of MBSR are said to be felt even years after taking an 8-week course.

But meditation can also be a fine tool if you suffer from social anxiety. A team at Stanford University has proven that MBSR reduces symptoms of social anxiety.

7. Meditation can help with addiction

More and more studies are showing that meditation can be helpful in overcoming addiction. This has everything to do with the effect meditation has on areas of the brain related to self-control.

A study conducted on a smoking cessation program showed that people who started meditating were more likely to quit smoking, compared to those who did not practice meditation.

This is because meditation "disconnects" the craving for a cigarette from the smoking itself. Thus, craving for a cigarette does not necessarily always lead to smoking the cigarette. Other studies have shown that meditation also helps with other forms of addiction such as drinking, drugs, and alcohol addictions.