{"id":71172,"date":"2011-01-21T14:17:00","date_gmt":"2011-01-21T19:17:00","guid":{"rendered":"\/gazette\/?p=71172"},"modified":"2019-09-12T15:24:55","modified_gmt":"2019-09-12T19:24:55","slug":"eight-weeks-to-a-better-brain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2011\/01\/eight-weeks-to-a-better-brain\/","title":{"rendered":"Eight weeks to a better brain"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t
\"Meditator\"

"Although the practice of meditation is associated with a sense of peacefulness and physical relaxation, practitioners have long claimed that meditation also provides cognitive and psychological benefits that persist throughout the day," says study senior author Sara Lazar.<\/p>

Credit: pexels.com<\/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\tEight weeks to a better brain\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\tMGH Communications\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/address>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t

\n\t\t\tMeditation study shows changes associated with awareness, stress\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t\n<\/header>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\t\t

Participating in an eight-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 Jan. 30 issue of Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging<\/a>, a team led by Harvard-affiliated researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital<\/a> (MGH) reported the results of their study, the first to document meditation-produced changes over time in the brain\u2019s gray matter.<\/p>\n

“Although the practice of meditation is associated with a sense of peacefulness and physical relaxation, practitioners have long claimed that meditation also provides cognitive and psychological benefits that persist throughout the day,” says study senior author Sara Lazar<\/a> of the MGH Psychiatric Neuroimaging Research Program<\/a> and a Harvard Medical School instructor in psychology. “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.”<\/p>\n

Previous studies from Lazar\u2019s group and others found structural differences between the brains of experienced meditation practitioners and individuals with no history of meditation, observing thickening of the cerebral cortex in areas associated with attention and emotional integration. But those investigations could not document that those differences were actually produced by meditation.<\/p>\n

For the current study, magnetic resonance (MR) images were taken of the brain structure of 16 study participants two weeks before and after they took part in the eight-week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) Program at the University of Massachusetts Center for Mindfulness. In addition to weekly meetings that included practice of mindfulness meditation \u2014 which focuses on nonjudgmental awareness of sensations, feelings, and state of mind \u2014 participants received audio recordings for guided meditation practice and were asked to keep track of how much time they practiced each day. A set of MR brain images was also taken of a control group of nonmeditators over a similar time interval.<\/p>\n\n

Meditation group participants reported spending an average of 27 minutes each day practicing mindfulness exercises, and their responses to a mindfulness questionnaire indicated significant improvements compared with pre-participation responses. The analysis of MR images, which focused on areas where meditation-associated differences were seen in earlier studies, found increased gray-matter density in the hippocampus, known to be important for learning and memory, and in structures associated with self-awareness, compassion, and introspection.<\/p>\n

Participant-reported reductions in stress also were correlated with decreased gray-matter density in the amygdala, which is known to play an important role in anxiety and stress. Although no change was seen in a self-awareness-associated structure called the insula, which had been identified in earlier studies, the authors suggest that longer-term meditation practice might be needed to produce changes in that area. None of these changes were seen in the control group, indicating that they had not resulted merely from the passage of time.<\/p>\n

“It is fascinating to see the brain\u2019s plasticity and that, by practicing meditation, we can play an active role in changing the brain and can increase our well-being and quality of life,\u201d says Britta H\u00f6lzel, first author of the paper and a research fellow at MGH and Giessen University<\/a> in Germany. “Other studies in different patient populations have shown that meditation can make significant improvements in a variety of symptoms, and we are now investigating the underlying mechanisms in the brain that facilitate this change.”<\/p>\n

Amishi Jha<\/a>, a University of Miami<\/a> neuroscientist who investigates mindfulness-training’s effects on individuals in high-stress situations, says, “These results shed light on the mechanisms of action of mindfulness-based training. They demonstrate that the first-person experience of stress can not only be reduced with an eight-week mindfulness training program but that this experiential change corresponds with structural changes in the amygdala, a finding that opens doors to many possibilities for further research on MBSR’s potential to protect against stress-related disorders, such as post-traumatic stress disorder.” Jha was not one of the study investigators.<\/p>\n

James Carmody<\/a> of the Center for Mindfulness at University of Massachusetts Medical School is one of the co-authors of the study, which was supported by the National Institutes of Health<\/a>, the British Broadcasting Company<\/a>, and the Mind and Life Institute<\/a>. For more information<\/a> on the work of Lazar’s team.<\/p>\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Harvard researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital find that participating in an eight-week mindfulness meditation program appears to make measurable changes in brain regions associated with memory, sense of self, empathy, and stress.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":105622744,"featured_media":241988,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"gz_ga_pageviews":404,"gz_ga_lastupdated":"2026-04-10 20:05","document_color_palette":"crimson","author":"Sue McGreevey","affiliation":"MGH 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practice of meditation is associated with a sense of peacefulness and physical relaxation, practitioners have long claimed that meditation also provides cognitive and psychological benefits that persist throughout the day,\" says study senior author Sara Lazar.","mediaId":241988,"mediaSize":"full","mediaType":"image","mediaUrl":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/calm-daylight-evening-267967.jpg","poster":"","title":"Eight weeks to a better brain","subheading":"Meditation study shows changes associated with awareness, stress","centeredImage":true,"className":"is-style-full-width-text-below","mediaHeight":1667,"mediaWidth":2500,"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=\"Meditator\" height=\"1667\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/calm-daylight-evening-267967.jpg\" width=\"2500\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><p class=\"wp-element-caption--caption\">"Although the practice of meditation is associated with a sense of peacefulness and physical relaxation, practitioners have long claimed that meditation also provides cognitive and psychological benefits that persist throughout the day," says study senior author Sara Lazar.<\/p><p class=\"wp-element-caption--credit\">Credit: pexels.com<\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","innerContent":["<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img alt=\"Meditator\" height=\"1667\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/calm-daylight-evening-267967.jpg\" width=\"2500\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><p class=\"wp-element-caption--caption\">"Although the practice of meditation is associated with a sense of peacefulness and physical relaxation, practitioners have long claimed that meditation also provides cognitive and psychological benefits that persist throughout the day," says study senior author Sara Lazar.<\/p><p class=\"wp-element-caption--credit\">Credit: pexels.com<\/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=\"Meditator\" height=\"1667\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/calm-daylight-evening-267967.jpg\" width=\"2500\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><p class=\"wp-element-caption--caption\">"Although the practice of meditation is associated with a sense of peacefulness and physical relaxation, practitioners have long claimed that meditation also provides cognitive and psychological benefits that persist throughout the day," says study senior author Sara Lazar.<\/p><p class=\"wp-element-caption--credit\">Credit: pexels.com<\/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\tEight weeks to a better brain\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\tMGH Communications\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/address>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t<time class=\"article-header__date\" datetime=\"2011-01-21\">\n\t\t\tJanuary 21, 2011\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\tMeditation study shows changes associated with awareness, stress\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>Participating in an eight-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 Jan. 30 issue of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.elsevier.com\/wps\/find\/journaldescription.cws_home\/522789\/description#description\">Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging<\/a>, a team led by Harvard-affiliated researchers at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.massgeneral.org\/\">Massachusetts General Hospital<\/a> (MGH) reported the results of their study, the first to document meditation-produced changes over time in the brain\u2019s gray matter.<\/p>\n<p>\"Although the practice of meditation is associated with a sense of peacefulness and physical relaxation, practitioners have long claimed that meditation also provides cognitive and psychological benefits that persist throughout the day,\" says study senior author <a href=\"http:\/\/connects.catalyst.harvard.edu\/profiles\/profile\/person\/12961\">Sara Lazar<\/a> of the MGH <a href=\"https:\/\/www.massgeneral.org\/psychiatry\/research\/neuroimaging_home.aspx\">Psychiatric Neuroimaging Research Program<\/a> and a Harvard Medical School instructor in psychology. \"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.\"<\/p>\n<p>Previous studies from Lazar\u2019s group and others found structural differences between the brains of experienced meditation practitioners and individuals with no history of meditation, observing thickening of the cerebral cortex in areas associated with attention and emotional integration. But those investigations could not document that those differences were actually produced by meditation.<\/p>\n<p>For the current study, magnetic resonance (MR) images were taken of the brain structure of 16 study participants two weeks before and after they took part in the eight-week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) Program at the University of Massachusetts Center for Mindfulness. In addition to weekly meetings that included practice of mindfulness meditation \u2014 which focuses on nonjudgmental awareness of sensations, feelings, and state of mind \u2014 participants received audio recordings for guided meditation practice and were asked to keep track of how much time they practiced each day. A set of MR brain images was also taken of a control group of nonmeditators over a similar time interval.<\/p>\n\n<p>Meditation group participants reported spending an average of 27 minutes each day practicing mindfulness exercises, and their responses to a mindfulness questionnaire indicated significant improvements compared with pre-participation responses. The analysis of MR images, which focused on areas where meditation-associated differences were seen in earlier studies, found increased gray-matter density in the hippocampus, known to be important for learning and memory, and in structures associated with self-awareness, compassion, and introspection.<\/p>\n<p>Participant-reported reductions in stress also were correlated with decreased gray-matter density in the amygdala, which is known to play an important role in anxiety and stress. Although no change was seen in a self-awareness-associated structure called the insula, which had been identified in earlier studies, the authors suggest that longer-term meditation practice might be needed to produce changes in that area. None of these changes were seen in the control group, indicating that they had not resulted merely from the passage of time.<\/p>\n<p>\"It is fascinating to see the brain\u2019s plasticity and that, by practicing meditation, we can play an active role in changing the brain and can increase our well-being and quality of life,\u201d says Britta H\u00f6lzel, first author of the paper and a research fellow at MGH and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.uni-giessen.de\/cms\/target-groups\/welcome\/view%3fset_language=en\">Giessen University<\/a> in Germany. \"Other studies in different patient populations have shown that meditation can make significant improvements in a variety of symptoms, and we are now investigating the underlying mechanisms in the brain that facilitate this change.\"<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amishi.com\/lab\/people\/\">Amishi Jha<\/a>, a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.miami.edu\/\">University of Miami<\/a> neuroscientist who investigates mindfulness-training's effects on individuals in high-stress situations, says, \"These results shed light on the mechanisms of action of mindfulness-based training. They demonstrate that the first-person experience of stress can not only be reduced with an eight-week mindfulness training program but that this experiential change corresponds with structural changes in the amygdala, a finding that opens doors to many possibilities for further research on MBSR's potential to protect against stress-related disorders, such as post-traumatic stress disorder.\" Jha was not one of the study investigators.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.umassmed.edu\/behavmed\/faculty\/carmody.cfm\">James Carmody<\/a> of the Center for Mindfulness at University of Massachusetts Medical School is one of the co-authors of the study, which was supported by the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nih.gov\/\">National Institutes of Health<\/a>, the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/\">British Broadcasting Company<\/a>, and the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.mindandlife.org\/\">Mind and Life Institute<\/a>. For <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nmr.mgh.harvard.edu\/~lazar\/\">more information<\/a> on the work of Lazar's team.<\/p>\n","innerContent":["\n\t\t<p>Participating in an eight-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 Jan. 30 issue of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.elsevier.com\/wps\/find\/journaldescription.cws_home\/522789\/description#description\">Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging<\/a>, a team led by Harvard-affiliated researchers at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.massgeneral.org\/\">Massachusetts General Hospital<\/a> (MGH) reported the results of their study, the first to document meditation-produced changes over time in the brain\u2019s gray matter.<\/p>\n<p>\"Although the practice of meditation is associated with a sense of peacefulness and physical relaxation, practitioners have long claimed that meditation also provides cognitive and psychological benefits that persist throughout the day,\" says study senior author <a href=\"http:\/\/connects.catalyst.harvard.edu\/profiles\/profile\/person\/12961\">Sara Lazar<\/a> of the MGH <a href=\"https:\/\/www.massgeneral.org\/psychiatry\/research\/neuroimaging_home.aspx\">Psychiatric Neuroimaging Research Program<\/a> and a Harvard Medical School instructor in psychology. \"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.\"<\/p>\n<p>Previous studies from Lazar\u2019s group and others found structural differences between the brains of experienced meditation practitioners and individuals with no history of meditation, observing thickening of the cerebral cortex in areas associated with attention and emotional integration. But those investigations could not document that those differences were actually produced by meditation.<\/p>\n<p>For the current study, magnetic resonance (MR) images were taken of the brain structure of 16 study participants two weeks before and after they took part in the eight-week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) Program at the University of Massachusetts Center for Mindfulness. In addition to weekly meetings that included practice of mindfulness meditation \u2014 which focuses on nonjudgmental awareness of sensations, feelings, and state of mind \u2014 participants received audio recordings for guided meditation practice and were asked to keep track of how much time they practiced each day. A set of MR brain images was also taken of a control group of nonmeditators over a similar time interval.<\/p>\n\n<p>Meditation group participants reported spending an average of 27 minutes each day practicing mindfulness exercises, and their responses to a mindfulness questionnaire indicated significant improvements compared with pre-participation responses. The analysis of MR images, which focused on areas where meditation-associated differences were seen in earlier studies, found increased gray-matter density in the hippocampus, known to be important for learning and memory, and in structures associated with self-awareness, compassion, and introspection.<\/p>\n<p>Participant-reported reductions in stress also were correlated with decreased gray-matter density in the amygdala, which is known to play an important role in anxiety and stress. Although no change was seen in a self-awareness-associated structure called the insula, which had been identified in earlier studies, the authors suggest that longer-term meditation practice might be needed to produce changes in that area. None of these changes were seen in the control group, indicating that they had not resulted merely from the passage of time.<\/p>\n<p>\"It is fascinating to see the brain\u2019s plasticity and that, by practicing meditation, we can play an active role in changing the brain and can increase our well-being and quality of life,\u201d says Britta H\u00f6lzel, first author of the paper and a research fellow at MGH and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.uni-giessen.de\/cms\/target-groups\/welcome\/view%3fset_language=en\">Giessen University<\/a> in Germany. \"Other studies in different patient populations have shown that meditation can make significant improvements in a variety of symptoms, and we are now investigating the underlying mechanisms in the brain that facilitate this change.\"<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amishi.com\/lab\/people\/\">Amishi Jha<\/a>, a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.miami.edu\/\">University of Miami<\/a> neuroscientist who investigates mindfulness-training's effects on individuals in high-stress situations, says, \"These results shed light on the mechanisms of action of mindfulness-based training. They demonstrate that the first-person experience of stress can not only be reduced with an eight-week mindfulness training program but that this experiential change corresponds with structural changes in the amygdala, a finding that opens doors to many possibilities for further research on MBSR's potential to protect against stress-related disorders, such as post-traumatic stress disorder.\" Jha was not one of the study investigators.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.umassmed.edu\/behavmed\/faculty\/carmody.cfm\">James Carmody<\/a> of the Center for Mindfulness at University of Massachusetts Medical School is one of the co-authors of the study, which was supported by the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nih.gov\/\">National Institutes of Health<\/a>, the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/\">British Broadcasting Company<\/a>, and the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.mindandlife.org\/\">Mind and Life Institute<\/a>. For <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nmr.mgh.harvard.edu\/~lazar\/\">more information<\/a> on the work of Lazar's team.<\/p>\n"],"rendered":"\n\t\t<p>Participating in an eight-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 Jan. 30 issue of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.elsevier.com\/wps\/find\/journaldescription.cws_home\/522789\/description#description\">Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging<\/a>, a team led by Harvard-affiliated researchers at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.massgeneral.org\/\">Massachusetts General Hospital<\/a> (MGH) reported the results of their study, the first to document meditation-produced changes over time in the brain\u2019s gray matter.<\/p>\n<p>\"Although the practice of meditation is associated with a sense of peacefulness and physical relaxation, practitioners have long claimed that meditation also provides cognitive and psychological benefits that persist throughout the day,\" says study senior author <a href=\"http:\/\/connects.catalyst.harvard.edu\/profiles\/profile\/person\/12961\">Sara Lazar<\/a> of the MGH <a href=\"https:\/\/www.massgeneral.org\/psychiatry\/research\/neuroimaging_home.aspx\">Psychiatric Neuroimaging Research Program<\/a> and a Harvard Medical School instructor in psychology. \"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.\"<\/p>\n<p>Previous studies from Lazar\u2019s group and others found structural differences between the brains of experienced meditation practitioners and individuals with no history of meditation, observing thickening of the cerebral cortex in areas associated with attention and emotional integration. But those investigations could not document that those differences were actually produced by meditation.<\/p>\n<p>For the current study, magnetic resonance (MR) images were taken of the brain structure of 16 study participants two weeks before and after they took part in the eight-week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) Program at the University of Massachusetts Center for Mindfulness. In addition to weekly meetings that included practice of mindfulness meditation \u2014 which focuses on nonjudgmental awareness of sensations, feelings, and state of mind \u2014 participants received audio recordings for guided meditation practice and were asked to keep track of how much time they practiced each day. A set of MR brain images was also taken of a control group of nonmeditators over a similar time interval.<\/p>\n\n<p>Meditation group participants reported spending an average of 27 minutes each day practicing mindfulness exercises, and their responses to a mindfulness questionnaire indicated significant improvements compared with pre-participation responses. The analysis of MR images, which focused on areas where meditation-associated differences were seen in earlier studies, found increased gray-matter density in the hippocampus, known to be important for learning and memory, and in structures associated with self-awareness, compassion, and introspection.<\/p>\n<p>Participant-reported reductions in stress also were correlated with decreased gray-matter density in the amygdala, which is known to play an important role in anxiety and stress. Although no change was seen in a self-awareness-associated structure called the insula, which had been identified in earlier studies, the authors suggest that longer-term meditation practice might be needed to produce changes in that area. None of these changes were seen in the control group, indicating that they had not resulted merely from the passage of time.<\/p>\n<p>\"It is fascinating to see the brain\u2019s plasticity and that, by practicing meditation, we can play an active role in changing the brain and can increase our well-being and quality of life,\u201d says Britta H\u00f6lzel, first author of the paper and a research fellow at MGH and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.uni-giessen.de\/cms\/target-groups\/welcome\/view%3fset_language=en\">Giessen University<\/a> in Germany. \"Other studies in different patient populations have shown that meditation can make significant improvements in a variety of symptoms, and we are now investigating the underlying mechanisms in the brain that facilitate this change.\"<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amishi.com\/lab\/people\/\">Amishi Jha<\/a>, a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.miami.edu\/\">University of Miami<\/a> neuroscientist who investigates mindfulness-training's effects on individuals in high-stress situations, says, \"These results shed light on the mechanisms of action of mindfulness-based training. They demonstrate that the first-person experience of stress can not only be reduced with an eight-week mindfulness training program but that this experiential change corresponds with structural changes in the amygdala, a finding that opens doors to many possibilities for further research on MBSR's potential to protect against stress-related disorders, such as post-traumatic stress disorder.\" Jha was not one of the study investigators.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.umassmed.edu\/behavmed\/faculty\/carmody.cfm\">James Carmody<\/a> of the Center for Mindfulness at University of Massachusetts Medical School is one of the co-authors of the study, which was supported by the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nih.gov\/\">National Institutes of Health<\/a>, the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/\">British Broadcasting Company<\/a>, and the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.mindandlife.org\/\">Mind and Life Institute<\/a>. For <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nmr.mgh.harvard.edu\/~lazar\/\">more information<\/a> on the work of Lazar's team.<\/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>Participating in an eight-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 Jan. 30 issue of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.elsevier.com\/wps\/find\/journaldescription.cws_home\/522789\/description#description\">Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging<\/a>, a team led by Harvard-affiliated researchers at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.massgeneral.org\/\">Massachusetts General Hospital<\/a> (MGH) reported the results of their study, the first to document meditation-produced changes over time in the brain\u2019s gray matter.<\/p>\n<p>\"Although the practice of meditation is associated with a sense of peacefulness and physical relaxation, practitioners have long claimed that meditation also provides cognitive and psychological benefits that persist throughout the day,\" says study senior author <a href=\"http:\/\/connects.catalyst.harvard.edu\/profiles\/profile\/person\/12961\">Sara Lazar<\/a> of the MGH <a href=\"https:\/\/www.massgeneral.org\/psychiatry\/research\/neuroimaging_home.aspx\">Psychiatric Neuroimaging Research Program<\/a> and a Harvard Medical School instructor in psychology. \"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.\"<\/p>\n<p>Previous studies from Lazar\u2019s group and others found structural differences between the brains of experienced meditation practitioners and individuals with no history of meditation, observing thickening of the cerebral cortex in areas associated with attention and emotional integration. But those investigations could not document that those differences were actually produced by meditation.<\/p>\n<p>For the current study, magnetic resonance (MR) images were taken of the brain structure of 16 study participants two weeks before and after they took part in the eight-week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) Program at the University of Massachusetts Center for Mindfulness. In addition to weekly meetings that included practice of mindfulness meditation \u2014 which focuses on nonjudgmental awareness of sensations, feelings, and state of mind \u2014 participants received audio recordings for guided meditation practice and were asked to keep track of how much time they practiced each day. A set of MR brain images was also taken of a control group of nonmeditators over a similar time interval.<\/p>\n\n<p>Meditation group participants reported spending an average of 27 minutes each day practicing mindfulness exercises, and their responses to a mindfulness questionnaire indicated significant improvements compared with pre-participation responses. The analysis of MR images, which focused on areas where meditation-associated differences were seen in earlier studies, found increased gray-matter density in the hippocampus, known to be important for learning and memory, and in structures associated with self-awareness, compassion, and introspection.<\/p>\n<p>Participant-reported reductions in stress also were correlated with decreased gray-matter density in the amygdala, which is known to play an important role in anxiety and stress. Although no change was seen in a self-awareness-associated structure called the insula, which had been identified in earlier studies, the authors suggest that longer-term meditation practice might be needed to produce changes in that area. None of these changes were seen in the control group, indicating that they had not resulted merely from the passage of time.<\/p>\n<p>\"It is fascinating to see the brain\u2019s plasticity and that, by practicing meditation, we can play an active role in changing the brain and can increase our well-being and quality of life,\u201d says Britta H\u00f6lzel, first author of the paper and a research fellow at MGH and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.uni-giessen.de\/cms\/target-groups\/welcome\/view%3fset_language=en\">Giessen University<\/a> in Germany. \"Other studies in different patient populations have shown that meditation can make significant improvements in a variety of symptoms, and we are now investigating the underlying mechanisms in the brain that facilitate this change.\"<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amishi.com\/lab\/people\/\">Amishi Jha<\/a>, a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.miami.edu\/\">University of Miami<\/a> neuroscientist who investigates mindfulness-training's effects on individuals in high-stress situations, says, \"These results shed light on the mechanisms of action of mindfulness-based training. They demonstrate that the first-person experience of stress can not only be reduced with an eight-week mindfulness training program but that this experiential change corresponds with structural changes in the amygdala, a finding that opens doors to many possibilities for further research on MBSR's potential to protect against stress-related disorders, such as post-traumatic stress disorder.\" Jha was not one of the study investigators.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.umassmed.edu\/behavmed\/faculty\/carmody.cfm\">James Carmody<\/a> of the Center for Mindfulness at University of Massachusetts Medical School is one of the co-authors of the study, which was supported by the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nih.gov\/\">National Institutes of Health<\/a>, the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/\">British Broadcasting Company<\/a>, and the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.mindandlife.org\/\">Mind and Life Institute<\/a>. For <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nmr.mgh.harvard.edu\/~lazar\/\">more information<\/a> on the work of Lazar's team.<\/p>\n\n\n<\/div>\n"}},"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":123068,"url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2012\/11\/meditations-positive-residual-effects\/","url_meta":{"origin":71172,"position":0},"title":"Meditation’s positive residual effects","author":"harvardgazette","date":"November 13, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"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.","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\/2012\/11\/meditation_mri_desbordes-11-12_605crop1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/meditation_mri_desbordes-11-12_605crop1.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/meditation_mri_desbordes-11-12_605crop1.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":71172,"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":247084,"url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2018\/06\/mindfulness-meditation-and-relaxation-response-affect-brain-differently\/","url_meta":{"origin":71172,"position":2},"title":"Mindfulness meditation and relaxation response affect brain differently","author":"harvardgazette","date":"June 20, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"A Harvard study shows mindfulness meditation and \"The Relaxation Response\" provide distinct effects on brain areas associated with awareness and with deliberate relaxation.","rel":"","context":"In "Health"","block_context":{"text":"Health","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/health\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"graphic of brain","src":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Mindfulness-Study.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Mindfulness-Study.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Mindfulness-Study.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Mindfulness-Study.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":357799,"url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2023\/04\/harvard-chan-school-opens-thich-nhat-hanh-center-for-mindfulness\/","url_meta":{"origin":71172,"position":3},"title":"\u2018Happiness is not a destination \u2026 Happiness is the way\u2019","author":"harvardgazette","date":"April 28, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Harvard Chan School of Public Health celebrates opening of $25 million Thich Nhat Hanh Center for research, approaches to mindfulness.","rel":"","context":"In "Health"","block_context":{"text":"Health","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/health\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Brother Ch\u00e2n\u00a0Ph\u00e1p\u00a0H\u1eefu.","src":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Brother-Phap.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Brother-Phap.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Brother-Phap.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Brother-Phap.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":80249,"url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2011\/04\/turn-down-the-volume\/","url_meta":{"origin":71172,"position":4},"title":"\u2018Turn down the volume\u2019","author":"harvardgazette","date":"April 22, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"The positive effects of mindfulness meditation on pain and working memory may result from an improved ability to regulate a crucial brain wave called the alpha rhythm. This rhythm is thought to \"turn down the volume\" on distracting information, which suggests that a key value of meditation may be helping\u2026","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\/2011\/04\/meditate605.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/meditate605.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/meditate605.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":237640,"url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2018\/04\/harvard-researchers-study-how-mindfulness-may-change-the-brain-in-depressed-patients\/","url_meta":{"origin":71172,"position":5},"title":"When science meets mindfulness","author":"gazettejohnbaglione","date":"April 9, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School are examining how mindfulness meditation may change the brain in depressed patients.","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\/2018\/02\/mindful-science_2500.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/mindful-science_2500.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/mindful-science_2500.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/mindful-science_2500.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71172","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/105622744"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71172"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71172\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":286241,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71172\/revisions\/286241"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/241988"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71172"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71172"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71172"},{"taxonomy":"format","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/gazette-formats?post=71172"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=71172"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}