Mindfulness Meditation Training Changes Brain Structure in Eight Weeks

Image by TZA via Flickr

ScienceDaily (Jan. 21, 2011) — Participating in an 8-week mindfulness meditation program appears to make measurable changes in brain regions associated with memory, sense of self, empathy and stress. In a study that will appear in the January 30 issue of Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging, a team led by Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) researchers report the results of their study, the first to document meditation-produced changes over time in the brain’s grey matter. Read a summary of the article here. Jim Carmody, who was one of the researchers, is a New Zealander working with Jon Kabat- Zinn in Massachusetts and was the person who first introduced me to mindful practice back in the late 90s. Thanks Jim!