In addition to improving attention and concentration, meditation might also create long-term changes in the brain that improve focus even when a person is no longer in a meditative state, according to a recent UW-Madison study of Buddhist monks and meditation scholars.
Culminating a research process that included a visit from the Dalai Lama in 2001, researchers examined what was actually happening inside the brains of experienced meditation practitioners before, during and after entering meditative states.
The study, led by UW-Madison professor of psychology and psychiatry Richard Davidson and Waisman Center assistant scientist Antoine Lutz, recorded a difference in brain wave patterns between eight experienced Buddhist practitioners, or adepts, and a control group of student volunteers.
Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, in addition to other techniques, the researchers found the adepts showed a higher degree of \gamma-band phase-synchrony"" than the students did. Neural synchrony is the firing of neurons in phase, a state in which normally independent neurons harmonize, which researchers believe indicates increased mental functioning. The researchers studied the gamma-band specifically because it relates to higher brain functions such as concentration, learning and attention processes.
The baseline, measured before meditation, was predictably higher for the adepts than for the students, with the difference increasing further during the meditative state. Perhaps most significantly, the difference persisted even when the adepts were no longer in a meditative state.
The researchers concluded that the significantly higher degree of gamma-band synchronization they observed in the Buddhist adepts suggests that training and meditation can induce long-term brain changes.
""There are certainly data to suggest that meditation can improve attention and concentration,"" Davidson said. This means the experienced Buddhist practitioners, even in everyday life, might enjoy an increased ability to concentrate and pay attention, thanks to the training their brains received through meditation.
The study's results are similar to what Kelsang Drubwang, a Buddhist monk and teacher at the Akanishta Buddhist Center in Madison, observed about meditation.
""Normally meditation is done to reduce stress, improve focus, and overcome the distractions of everyday life,"" he said.
Drubwang conducts classes specifically designed to help students accomplish these goals.
""We practice basic breathing meditation, examine the mental processes that lead to anger, discipline the body and speech. All of these factors affect performance,"" he said.
The data seem to imply that gamma-band phase-synchrony does relate to higher brain functions, and that meditation could be a key to helping students control the stresses of school and achieve a higher focus in their general lives.
Greta Guenther, a senior clinical nurse specialist at University Health Services, said most students who participate in meditation do so for just these reasons.
""It decreases stress and worry, makes them happier, more aware of their surroundings, and generally gives them permission to slow down,"" she said.
