{"id":123068,"date":"2012-11-13T14:08:58","date_gmt":"2012-11-13T19:08:58","guid":{"rendered":"\/gazette\/?p=123068"},"modified":"2019-03-22T13:19:40","modified_gmt":"2019-03-22T17:19:40","slug":"meditations-positive-residual-effects","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2012\/11\/meditations-positive-residual-effects\/","title":{"rendered":"Meditation’s positive residual effects"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t
\"\"

Study participants who completed an eight-week meditation training course had reduced activity in the right amygdala (highlighted structure) in response to emotional images, even when not meditating. <\/p>

Image courtesy of Ga\u00eblle Desbordes\/Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, MGH<\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\t

\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tHealth\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\n\t\t

\n\t\tMeditation’s positive residual effects\t<\/h1>\n\n\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\tSue McGreevey\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t

\n\t\t\tMassachusetts General Hospital Public Affairs\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/address>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t

\n\t\t\tImaging finds different forms of meditation may affect brain structure\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t\n<\/header>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\t\t

A new study has found that participating in an eight-week meditation training program can have measurable effects on how the brain functions even when someone is not actively meditating.\u00a0In their report in the November issue of Frontiers in Human Neuroscience<\/a>, investigators at Harvard Medical School<\/a>-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital<\/a> (MGH), Boston University<\/a> (BU), and several other research centers also found differences in those effects based on the specific type of meditation practiced.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe two different types of meditation training our study participants completed yielded some differences in the response of the amygdala \u2014 a part of the brain known for decades to be important for emotion \u2014 to images with emotional content,\u201d says Ga\u00eblle Desbordes<\/a>, a research fellow at the Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging at MGH and at the BU Center for Computational Neuroscience and Neural Technology, corresponding author of the report. \u201cThis is the first time that meditation training has been shown to affect emotional processing in the brain outside of a meditative state.\u201d<\/p>\n

Several previous studies have supported the hypothesis that meditation training improves practitioners\u2019 emotional regulation.\u00a0Although neuroimaging studies have found that meditation training appeared to decrease activation of the amygdala (a structure at the base of the brain that is also known to have a role in processing memory and emotion), those changes were only observed while study participants were meditating.\u00a0The current study was designed to test the hypothesis that meditation training could also produce a generalized reduction in amygdala response to emotional stimuli, measurable by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).<\/p>\n

Participants had enrolled in a larger investigation into the effects of two forms of meditation: mindful attention meditation and compassion meditation.\u00a0Based at Emory University in Atlanta, healthy adults with no experience meditating participated in eight-week courses in either mindful attention meditation \u2014 which focuses on developing attention to and awareness of breathing, thoughts, and emotions \u2014 and compassion meditation, a less-studied form that includes methods designed to develop loving kindness and compassion for oneself and for others.\u00a0A control group participated in an eight-week health education course.<\/p>\n

Within three weeks before beginning and three weeks after completing the training, 12 participants from each group traveled to Boston for fMRI brain imaging at the Martinos Center\u2019s state-of-the-art imaging facilities.\u00a0Brain scans were performed as the volunteers viewed a series of 216 different images \u2014 108 per session \u2014 of people in situations with either positive, negative, or neutral emotional content.\u00a0Meditation was not mentioned in preimaging instructions to participants, and investigators confirmed afterward that the volunteers had not meditated while in the scanner.\u00a0Participants also completed assessments of symptoms of depression and anxiety before and after the training programs.<\/p>\n

In the mindful attention group, the after-training brain scans showed a decrease in activation in the right amygdala in response to all images, supporting the hypothesis that meditation can improve emotional stability and response to stress. In the compassion meditation group, right amygdala activity also decreased in response to positive or neutral images.\u00a0But among those who reported practicing compassion meditation most frequently outside of the training sessions, right amygdala activity tended to increase in response to negative images, all of which depicted some form of human suffering.\u00a0No significant changes were seen in the control group or in the left amygdala of any study participants.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe think these two forms of meditation cultivate different aspects of mind,\u201d Desbordes explains.\u00a0\u201cSince compassion meditation is designed to enhance compassionate feelings, it makes sense that it could increase amygdala response to seeing people suffer.\u00a0Increased amygdala activation was also correlated with decreased depression scores in the compassion meditation group, which suggests that having more compassion towards others may also be beneficial for oneself.\u00a0Overall, these results are consistent with the overarching hypothesis that meditation may result in enduring, beneficial changes in brain function, especially in the area of emotional processing.\u201d<\/p>\n

The study was supported by grants from the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, including an American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grant to Boston University.<\/p>\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A new study has found that participating in an eight-week meditation training program can have measurable effects on how the brain functions even when someone is not actively meditating.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":105622744,"featured_media":123094,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"gz_ga_pageviews":35,"gz_ga_lastupdated":"2022-05-16 11:40","document_color_palette":"crimson","author":"Sue McGreevey","affiliation":"Massachusetts General Hospital Public Affairs","_category_override":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[39644],"tags":[4016,5018,6310,8975,12275,12278,13486,13884,13929,13997,15922,22099,23037,23459,23720,24187,25027,25429],"gazette-formats":[],"series":[],"class_list":["post-123068","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","tag-amygdala","tag-athinoula-a-martinos-center-for-biomedical-imaging","tag-boston-university","tag-compassion","tag-emotional-regulation","tag-emotions","tag-fmri","tag-frontiers-in-human-neuroscience","tag-functional-magnetic-resonance-imaging","tag-gaelle-desbordes","tag-harvard-medical-school","tag-loving-kindness","tag-massachusetts-general-hospital","tag-meditation","tag-metta-meditation","tag-mindfulness-meditation","tag-national-center-for-complementary-and-alternative-medicine","tag-neuroimaging-studies"],"yoast_head":"\nMeditation's positive residual effects — Harvard Gazette<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A new study has found that participating in an eight-week meditation training program can have measurable effects on how the brain functions even when someone is not actively meditating.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2012\/11\/meditations-positive-residual-effects\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Meditation's positive residual effects — Harvard Gazette\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A new study has found that participating in an eight-week meditation training program can have measurable effects on how the brain functions even when someone is not actively meditating.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2012\/11\/meditations-positive-residual-effects\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Harvard Gazette\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-11-13T19:08:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-03-22T17:19:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/meditation_mri_desbordes-11-12_605crop1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"605\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"403\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"harvardgazette\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2012\/11\/meditations-positive-residual-effects\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2012\/11\/meditations-positive-residual-effects\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"harvardgazette\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/#\/schema\/person\/78d028cf624923e92682268709ffbc4b\"},\"headline\":\"Meditation’s positive residual effects\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-11-13T19:08:58+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-03-22T17:19:40+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2012\/11\/meditations-positive-residual-effects\/\"},\"wordCount\":709,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2012\/11\/meditations-positive-residual-effects\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/meditation_mri_desbordes-11-12_605crop1.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Amygdala\",\"Athinoula A. 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","mediaId":123094,"mediaSize":"full","mediaType":"image","mediaUrl":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/meditation_mri_desbordes-11-12_605crop1.jpg","poster":"","title":"Meditation’s positive residual effects","subheading":"Imaging finds different forms of meditation may affect brain structure","centeredImage":true,"className":"is-style-full-width-text-below","mediaHeight":403,"mediaWidth":605,"backgroundFixed":false,"backgroundTone":"light","coloredBackground":false,"displayOverlay":true,"fadeInText":false,"isAmbient":false,"mediaLength":"","mediaPosition":"","posterText":"","titleAbove":false,"useUncroppedImage":false,"lock":[],"metadata":[]},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img alt=\"\" height=\"403\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/meditation_mri_desbordes-11-12_605crop1.jpg\" width=\"605\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><p class=\"wp-element-caption--caption\">Study participants who completed an eight-week meditation training course had reduced activity in the right amygdala (highlighted structure) in response to emotional images, even when not meditating. <\/p><p class=\"wp-element-caption--credit\">Image courtesy of Ga\u00eblle Desbordes\/Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, MGH<\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","innerContent":["<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img alt=\"\" height=\"403\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/meditation_mri_desbordes-11-12_605crop1.jpg\" width=\"605\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><p class=\"wp-element-caption--caption\">Study participants who completed an eight-week meditation training course had reduced activity in the right amygdala (highlighted structure) in response to emotional images, even when not meditating. <\/p><p class=\"wp-element-caption--credit\">Image courtesy of Ga\u00eblle Desbordes\/Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, MGH<\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n"],"rendered":"<header\n\tclass=\"wp-block-harvard-gazette-article-header alignfull article-header is-style-full-width-text-below centered-image\"\n\tstyle=\" \"\n>\n\t<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img alt=\"\" height=\"403\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/meditation_mri_desbordes-11-12_605crop1.jpg\" width=\"605\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><p class=\"wp-element-caption--caption\">Study participants who completed an eight-week meditation training course had reduced activity in the right amygdala (highlighted structure) in response to emotional images, even when not meditating. <\/p><p class=\"wp-element-caption--credit\">Image courtesy of Ga\u00eblle Desbordes\/Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, MGH<\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\t<div class=\"article-header__content\">\n\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\tclass=\"article-header__category\"\n\t\t\thref=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/health\/\"\n\t\t>\n\t\t\tHealth\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\n\t\t<h1 class=\"article-header__title wp-block-heading \">\n\t\tMeditation’s positive residual effects\t<\/h1>\n\n\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t<div class=\"article-header__meta\">\n\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-post-author\">\n\t\t\t<address class=\"wp-block-post-author__content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"author wp-block-post-author__name\">\n\t\tSue McGreevey\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p class=\"wp-block-post-author__byline\">\n\t\t\tMassachusetts General Hospital Public Affairs\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/address>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t<time class=\"article-header__date\" datetime=\"2012-11-13\">\n\t\t\tNovember 13, 2012\t\t<\/time>\n\n\t\t<span class=\"article-header__reading-time\">\n\t\t\t4 min read\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n\t\t\t<h2 class=\"article-header__subheading wp-block-heading\">\n\t\t\tImaging finds different forms of meditation may affect brain structure\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t\n<\/header>\n"},"2":{"blockName":"core\/group","attrs":{"templateLock":false,"metadata":{"name":"Article content"},"align":"wide","layout":{"type":"constrained","justifyContent":"center"},"tagName":"div","lock":[],"className":"","style":[],"backgroundColor":"","textColor":"","gradient":"","fontSize":"","fontFamily":"","borderColor":"","ariaLabel":"","anchor":""},"innerBlocks":[{"blockName":"core\/freeform","attrs":{"content":"","lock":[],"metadata":[]},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"\n\t\t<p>A new study has found that participating in an eight-week meditation training program can have measurable effects on how the brain functions even when someone is not actively meditating.\u00a0In their report in the November issue of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/human_neuroscience\">Frontiers in Human Neuroscience<\/a>, investigators at <a href=\"http:\/\/hms.harvard.edu\/\">Harvard Medical School<\/a>-affiliated <a href=\"http:\/\/www.massgeneral.org\/\">Massachusetts General Hospital<\/a> (MGH), <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bu.edu\/\">Boston University<\/a> (BU), and several other research centers also found differences in those effects based on the specific type of meditation practiced.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe two different types of meditation training our study participants completed yielded some differences in the response of the amygdala \u2014 a part of the brain known for decades to be important for emotion \u2014 to images with emotional content,\u201d says <a href=\"http:\/\/connects.catalyst.harvard.edu\/profiles\/profile\/person\/107091\">Ga\u00eblle Desbordes<\/a>, a research fellow at the Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging at MGH and at the BU Center for Computational Neuroscience and Neural Technology, corresponding author of the report. \u201cThis is the first time that meditation training has been shown to affect emotional processing in the brain outside of a meditative state.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Several previous studies have supported the hypothesis that meditation training improves practitioners\u2019 emotional regulation.\u00a0Although neuroimaging studies have found that meditation training appeared to decrease activation of the amygdala (a structure at the base of the brain that is also known to have a role in processing memory and emotion), those changes were only observed while study participants were meditating.\u00a0The current study was designed to test the hypothesis that meditation training could also produce a generalized reduction in amygdala response to emotional stimuli, measurable by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).<\/p>\n<p>Participants had enrolled in a larger investigation into the effects of two forms of meditation: mindful attention meditation and compassion meditation.\u00a0Based at Emory University in Atlanta, healthy adults with no experience meditating participated in eight-week courses in either mindful attention meditation \u2014 which focuses on developing attention to and awareness of breathing, thoughts, and emotions \u2014 and compassion meditation, a less-studied form that includes methods designed to develop loving kindness and compassion for oneself and for others.\u00a0A control group participated in an eight-week health education course.<\/p>\n<p>Within three weeks before beginning and three weeks after completing the training, 12 participants from each group traveled to Boston for fMRI brain imaging at the Martinos Center\u2019s state-of-the-art imaging facilities.\u00a0Brain scans were performed as the volunteers viewed a series of 216 different images \u2014 108 per session \u2014 of people in situations with either positive, negative, or neutral emotional content.\u00a0Meditation was not mentioned in preimaging instructions to participants, and investigators confirmed afterward that the volunteers had not meditated while in the scanner.\u00a0Participants also completed assessments of symptoms of depression and anxiety before and after the training programs.<\/p>\n<p>In the mindful attention group, the after-training brain scans showed a decrease in activation in the right amygdala in response to all images, supporting the hypothesis that meditation can improve emotional stability and response to stress. In the compassion meditation group, right amygdala activity also decreased in response to positive or neutral images.\u00a0But among those who reported practicing compassion meditation most frequently outside of the training sessions, right amygdala activity tended to increase in response to negative images, all of which depicted some form of human suffering.\u00a0No significant changes were seen in the control group or in the left amygdala of any study participants.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe think these two forms of meditation cultivate different aspects of mind,\u201d Desbordes explains.\u00a0\u201cSince compassion meditation is designed to enhance compassionate feelings, it makes sense that it could increase amygdala response to seeing people suffer.\u00a0Increased amygdala activation was also correlated with decreased depression scores in the compassion meditation group, which suggests that having more compassion towards others may also be beneficial for oneself.\u00a0Overall, these results are consistent with the overarching hypothesis that meditation may result in enduring, beneficial changes in brain function, especially in the area of emotional processing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The study was supported by grants from the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, including an American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grant to Boston University.<\/p>\n","innerContent":["\n\t\t<p>A new study has found that participating in an eight-week meditation training program can have measurable effects on how the brain functions even when someone is not actively meditating.\u00a0In their report in the November issue of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/human_neuroscience\">Frontiers in Human Neuroscience<\/a>, investigators at <a href=\"http:\/\/hms.harvard.edu\/\">Harvard Medical School<\/a>-affiliated <a href=\"http:\/\/www.massgeneral.org\/\">Massachusetts General Hospital<\/a> (MGH), <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bu.edu\/\">Boston University<\/a> (BU), and several other research centers also found differences in those effects based on the specific type of meditation practiced.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe two different types of meditation training our study participants completed yielded some differences in the response of the amygdala \u2014 a part of the brain known for decades to be important for emotion \u2014 to images with emotional content,\u201d says <a href=\"http:\/\/connects.catalyst.harvard.edu\/profiles\/profile\/person\/107091\">Ga\u00eblle Desbordes<\/a>, a research fellow at the Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging at MGH and at the BU Center for Computational Neuroscience and Neural Technology, corresponding author of the report. \u201cThis is the first time that meditation training has been shown to affect emotional processing in the brain outside of a meditative state.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Several previous studies have supported the hypothesis that meditation training improves practitioners\u2019 emotional regulation.\u00a0Although neuroimaging studies have found that meditation training appeared to decrease activation of the amygdala (a structure at the base of the brain that is also known to have a role in processing memory and emotion), those changes were only observed while study participants were meditating.\u00a0The current study was designed to test the hypothesis that meditation training could also produce a generalized reduction in amygdala response to emotional stimuli, measurable by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).<\/p>\n<p>Participants had enrolled in a larger investigation into the effects of two forms of meditation: mindful attention meditation and compassion meditation.\u00a0Based at Emory University in Atlanta, healthy adults with no experience meditating participated in eight-week courses in either mindful attention meditation \u2014 which focuses on developing attention to and awareness of breathing, thoughts, and emotions \u2014 and compassion meditation, a less-studied form that includes methods designed to develop loving kindness and compassion for oneself and for others.\u00a0A control group participated in an eight-week health education course.<\/p>\n<p>Within three weeks before beginning and three weeks after completing the training, 12 participants from each group traveled to Boston for fMRI brain imaging at the Martinos Center\u2019s state-of-the-art imaging facilities.\u00a0Brain scans were performed as the volunteers viewed a series of 216 different images \u2014 108 per session \u2014 of people in situations with either positive, negative, or neutral emotional content.\u00a0Meditation was not mentioned in preimaging instructions to participants, and investigators confirmed afterward that the volunteers had not meditated while in the scanner.\u00a0Participants also completed assessments of symptoms of depression and anxiety before and after the training programs.<\/p>\n<p>In the mindful attention group, the after-training brain scans showed a decrease in activation in the right amygdala in response to all images, supporting the hypothesis that meditation can improve emotional stability and response to stress. In the compassion meditation group, right amygdala activity also decreased in response to positive or neutral images.\u00a0But among those who reported practicing compassion meditation most frequently outside of the training sessions, right amygdala activity tended to increase in response to negative images, all of which depicted some form of human suffering.\u00a0No significant changes were seen in the control group or in the left amygdala of any study participants.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe think these two forms of meditation cultivate different aspects of mind,\u201d Desbordes explains.\u00a0\u201cSince compassion meditation is designed to enhance compassionate feelings, it makes sense that it could increase amygdala response to seeing people suffer.\u00a0Increased amygdala activation was also correlated with decreased depression scores in the compassion meditation group, which suggests that having more compassion towards others may also be beneficial for oneself.\u00a0Overall, these results are consistent with the overarching hypothesis that meditation may result in enduring, beneficial changes in brain function, especially in the area of emotional processing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The study was supported by grants from the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, including an American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grant to Boston University.<\/p>\n"],"rendered":"\n\t\t<p>A new study has found that participating in an eight-week meditation training program can have measurable effects on how the brain functions even when someone is not actively meditating.\u00a0In their report in the November issue of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/human_neuroscience\">Frontiers in Human Neuroscience<\/a>, investigators at <a href=\"http:\/\/hms.harvard.edu\/\">Harvard Medical School<\/a>-affiliated <a href=\"http:\/\/www.massgeneral.org\/\">Massachusetts General Hospital<\/a> (MGH), <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bu.edu\/\">Boston University<\/a> (BU), and several other research centers also found differences in those effects based on the specific type of meditation practiced.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe two different types of meditation training our study participants completed yielded some differences in the response of the amygdala \u2014 a part of the brain known for decades to be important for emotion \u2014 to images with emotional content,\u201d says <a href=\"http:\/\/connects.catalyst.harvard.edu\/profiles\/profile\/person\/107091\">Ga\u00eblle Desbordes<\/a>, a research fellow at the Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging at MGH and at the BU Center for Computational Neuroscience and Neural Technology, corresponding author of the report. \u201cThis is the first time that meditation training has been shown to affect emotional processing in the brain outside of a meditative state.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Several previous studies have supported the hypothesis that meditation training improves practitioners\u2019 emotional regulation.\u00a0Although neuroimaging studies have found that meditation training appeared to decrease activation of the amygdala (a structure at the base of the brain that is also known to have a role in processing memory and emotion), those changes were only observed while study participants were meditating.\u00a0The current study was designed to test the hypothesis that meditation training could also produce a generalized reduction in amygdala response to emotional stimuli, measurable by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).<\/p>\n<p>Participants had enrolled in a larger investigation into the effects of two forms of meditation: mindful attention meditation and compassion meditation.\u00a0Based at Emory University in Atlanta, healthy adults with no experience meditating participated in eight-week courses in either mindful attention meditation \u2014 which focuses on developing attention to and awareness of breathing, thoughts, and emotions \u2014 and compassion meditation, a less-studied form that includes methods designed to develop loving kindness and compassion for oneself and for others.\u00a0A control group participated in an eight-week health education course.<\/p>\n<p>Within three weeks before beginning and three weeks after completing the training, 12 participants from each group traveled to Boston for fMRI brain imaging at the Martinos Center\u2019s state-of-the-art imaging facilities.\u00a0Brain scans were performed as the volunteers viewed a series of 216 different images \u2014 108 per session \u2014 of people in situations with either positive, negative, or neutral emotional content.\u00a0Meditation was not mentioned in preimaging instructions to participants, and investigators confirmed afterward that the volunteers had not meditated while in the scanner.\u00a0Participants also completed assessments of symptoms of depression and anxiety before and after the training programs.<\/p>\n<p>In the mindful attention group, the after-training brain scans showed a decrease in activation in the right amygdala in response to all images, supporting the hypothesis that meditation can improve emotional stability and response to stress. In the compassion meditation group, right amygdala activity also decreased in response to positive or neutral images.\u00a0But among those who reported practicing compassion meditation most frequently outside of the training sessions, right amygdala activity tended to increase in response to negative images, all of which depicted some form of human suffering.\u00a0No significant changes were seen in the control group or in the left amygdala of any study participants.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe think these two forms of meditation cultivate different aspects of mind,\u201d Desbordes explains.\u00a0\u201cSince compassion meditation is designed to enhance compassionate feelings, it makes sense that it could increase amygdala response to seeing people suffer.\u00a0Increased amygdala activation was also correlated with decreased depression scores in the compassion meditation group, which suggests that having more compassion towards others may also be beneficial for oneself.\u00a0Overall, these results are consistent with the overarching hypothesis that meditation may result in enduring, beneficial changes in brain function, especially in the area of emotional processing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The study was supported by grants from the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, including an American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grant to Boston University.<\/p>\n"}],"innerHTML":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignwide\">\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n","innerContent":["\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignwide\">\n\n","\n\n<\/div>\n"],"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignwide has-global-padding is-content-justification-center is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n\n\n\t\t<p>A new study has found that participating in an eight-week meditation training program can have measurable effects on how the brain functions even when someone is not actively meditating.\u00a0In their report in the November issue of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/human_neuroscience\">Frontiers in Human Neuroscience<\/a>, investigators at <a href=\"http:\/\/hms.harvard.edu\/\">Harvard Medical School<\/a>-affiliated <a href=\"http:\/\/www.massgeneral.org\/\">Massachusetts General Hospital<\/a> (MGH), <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bu.edu\/\">Boston University<\/a> (BU), and several other research centers also found differences in those effects based on the specific type of meditation practiced.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe two different types of meditation training our study participants completed yielded some differences in the response of the amygdala \u2014 a part of the brain known for decades to be important for emotion \u2014 to images with emotional content,\u201d says <a href=\"http:\/\/connects.catalyst.harvard.edu\/profiles\/profile\/person\/107091\">Ga\u00eblle Desbordes<\/a>, a research fellow at the Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging at MGH and at the BU Center for Computational Neuroscience and Neural Technology, corresponding author of the report. \u201cThis is the first time that meditation training has been shown to affect emotional processing in the brain outside of a meditative state.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Several previous studies have supported the hypothesis that meditation training improves practitioners\u2019 emotional regulation.\u00a0Although neuroimaging studies have found that meditation training appeared to decrease activation of the amygdala (a structure at the base of the brain that is also known to have a role in processing memory and emotion), those changes were only observed while study participants were meditating.\u00a0The current study was designed to test the hypothesis that meditation training could also produce a generalized reduction in amygdala response to emotional stimuli, measurable by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).<\/p>\n<p>Participants had enrolled in a larger investigation into the effects of two forms of meditation: mindful attention meditation and compassion meditation.\u00a0Based at Emory University in Atlanta, healthy adults with no experience meditating participated in eight-week courses in either mindful attention meditation \u2014 which focuses on developing attention to and awareness of breathing, thoughts, and emotions \u2014 and compassion meditation, a less-studied form that includes methods designed to develop loving kindness and compassion for oneself and for others.\u00a0A control group participated in an eight-week health education course.<\/p>\n<p>Within three weeks before beginning and three weeks after completing the training, 12 participants from each group traveled to Boston for fMRI brain imaging at the Martinos Center\u2019s state-of-the-art imaging facilities.\u00a0Brain scans were performed as the volunteers viewed a series of 216 different images \u2014 108 per session \u2014 of people in situations with either positive, negative, or neutral emotional content.\u00a0Meditation was not mentioned in preimaging instructions to participants, and investigators confirmed afterward that the volunteers had not meditated while in the scanner.\u00a0Participants also completed assessments of symptoms of depression and anxiety before and after the training programs.<\/p>\n<p>In the mindful attention group, the after-training brain scans showed a decrease in activation in the right amygdala in response to all images, supporting the hypothesis that meditation can improve emotional stability and response to stress. In the compassion meditation group, right amygdala activity also decreased in response to positive or neutral images.\u00a0But among those who reported practicing compassion meditation most frequently outside of the training sessions, right amygdala activity tended to increase in response to negative images, all of which depicted some form of human suffering.\u00a0No significant changes were seen in the control group or in the left amygdala of any study participants.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe think these two forms of meditation cultivate different aspects of mind,\u201d Desbordes explains.\u00a0\u201cSince compassion meditation is designed to enhance compassionate feelings, it makes sense that it could increase amygdala response to seeing people suffer.\u00a0Increased amygdala activation was also correlated with decreased depression scores in the compassion meditation group, which suggests that having more compassion towards others may also be beneficial for oneself.\u00a0Overall, these results are consistent with the overarching hypothesis that meditation may result in enduring, beneficial changes in brain function, especially in the area of emotional processing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The study was supported by grants from the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, including an American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grant to Boston University.<\/p>\n\n\n<\/div>\n"}},"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":155921,"url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2014\/05\/calming-the-working-mind\/","url_meta":{"origin":123068,"position":0},"title":"Calming the working mind","author":"harvardgazette","date":"May 13, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Marianne Bergonzi first tried yoga when she was 50 years old. Describing the experience as life-changing, Bergonzi soon began teaching classes. \u201cI knew I had to pass the yogic philosophy on to people who [may] never get a chance to learn the body, mind, and breath connection.\u201d","rel":"","context":"In "Campus & Community"","block_context":{"text":"Campus & Community","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/campus-community\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/040214_yoga_068-cr2_-1_605.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/040214_yoga_068-cr2_-1_605.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/040214_yoga_068-cr2_-1_605.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":177416,"url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2015\/12\/building-calm-into-the-day\/","url_meta":{"origin":123068,"position":1},"title":"Building calm into the day","author":"harvardgazette","date":"December 15, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"The Center for Wellness at Harvard University Health Services sponsors a range of meditation options for students.","rel":"","context":"In "Health"","block_context":{"text":"Health","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/health\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/meditator-mitchell-joyce-e28093-flickr_creative-commons_605.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/meditator-mitchell-joyce-e28093-flickr_creative-commons_605.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/meditator-mitchell-joyce-e28093-flickr_creative-commons_605.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":385910,"url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2024\/05\/altered-states-through-yoga-meditation-more-common-than-thought\/","url_meta":{"origin":123068,"position":2},"title":"Had a bad experience meditating? 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