By Rebecca Gladding, MD Waking Times
I realized today that in all my posts about the brain and how to shape it with mindfulness, I never really explained it how and Why meditation works. In particular, the science behind how your brain changes the longer you meditate. I think this is important for many reasons, but one of the most notable is that this information is a great motivator for maintaining a daily practice (or starting one).
I’m sure you’ve heard people extol the virtues of meditation. You may be skeptical of the claim that it helps in all aspects of life. But the truth is that it is. Sitting for at least 15 to 30 minutes every day makes a huge difference in how you approach life, how personally you take things and how you interact with others. It enhances compassion, allows you to see things more clearly (including yourself) and creates a sense of calm and centeredness that is indescribable. There really is no replacement.
For those of you curious about how meditation changes the brain, this is for you. Even though this may be a bit technical, bear with me because it is really interesting. The brain, and how we can shape it, is fascinating and nothing short of amazing. These are the brain areas you need to know:
- Lateral prefrontal cortex: the part of the brain that allows you to look at things from a rational, logical and balanced perspective. In the book we call this the Assessment Center. It is involved in modulating emotional responses (emanating from the fear center or other parts of the brain), predominating automatic behaviors/habits, and reducing the brain’s tendency to take things personally (by modulating the I center of the brain, see below).
- Medial prefrontal cortex: the part of the brain that constantly refers to you, your perspective and experiences. Many people call this the “I Center” of the brain because it processes information that relates to you, including when you are daydreaming, thinking about the future, thinking about yourself, engaging in social interactions, inferring the moods of others, or feeling empathy for others. We call it the Self-Reference Center.
The interesting thing about the Medial PreFrontal Cortex (mPFC) is that this is indeed the case two sections:
- Ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) – involved in processing information related to you and people you consider comparable to you. This is the part of the brain that can cause you to take things too personally. That’s why we call this the useless aspect of the Self-Reference Center in the book. (In reality, this area of the brain has many important and useful functions – because we focused on overcoming anxiety, depression and habits you want to change, we called it useless because it often causes an increase in rumination/rumination and worsens feelings of anxiety or depression thoughts/states/feelings.)
- Dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) – involved in processing information related to people you like uneven yours. This very important part of the brain is involved in feeling empathy (especially for people we think are not like us) and maintaining social connections.
- Insula: The part of the brain that controls physical sensations and is involved in experiencing feelings at ‘gut level’. Together with other brain regions, it helps you “determine” how strongly you will respond to what you sense in your body (i.e., is this sensation something dangerous or benign?). It is also strongly involved in experiencing/feeling empathy.
- Amygdala: the brain’s alarm system, what mostFear Center.” It is a part of the brain responsible for many of our initial emotional reactions and reactions, including the ‘fight or flight’ response. (Together with the Insula we called this the Uh Oh Center.)
The brain without meditation – sticks to me
If you were to look at people’s brains before they started meditation, you would probably see strong neural connections inside the I-center and between the ego center and the physical sensation/fear centers of the brain. This means that when you feel anxious, scared or have a sensation in your body (e.g. tingling, pain, itching, whatever), you are much more likely to assume there is a problem (related to you or your safety). This is precisely because the Me Center processes most of the information. Furthermore, this overconfidence in the Self Center explains why we often get stuck in repetitive thoughts about our lives, the mistakes we have made, how people think about us, about our bodies (for example: ‘I have had this before, does that mean something serious is going on?) and so on.
Why is the Ik Center allowed to process information in this way essentially unabated? Part of the reason this happens is because the connection from the Assessment Center to the Me Center is relatively weak. If the Assessment Center were operating at a higher capacity, it would modulate the excessive activity of the vmPFC (the part that takes things personally) and the activity of the dmPFC (the part involved in understanding the thoughts and feelings of others ) increase. This would lead us to take in all the relevant information, throw away erroneous data (which the Self Center may want to focus exclusively on) and view everything that happens from a more balanced perspective – eliminating the overthinking, worrying and worrying which the I Center deals with essentially decreases. is known for proclaiming. A useful way to think of the Assessment Center is as a kind of ‘brake’ on the useless parts of the Self-center.
The Mind on Meditation – I can see clearly now
On the other hand, if you meditate regularly, several positive things happen. First, the strong, tight connection between the ego center (particularly the useless vmPFC) and the bodily sensation/fear centers begins to break down. As this connection fades, you will no longer assume that a physical feeling or a momentary sense of fear means that there is something wrong with you or that you are the problem! This partly explains why anxiety decreases the more you meditate – it’s because the neural pathways that connect these disturbing sensations to the Self Center diminish. In other words, your ability to ignore feelings of fear increases as you begin to sever the connection between the useless parts of the ego center and the bodily sensation/fear centers. The result is that you can more easily see these sensations for what they are and not react to them as strongly (thanks to your enhanced Assessment Center).
Second, it creates a stronger, healthier connection between the Assessment Center and the body sensation/anxiety centers. This means that when you experience a physical sensation or something potentially dangerous or disturbing, you can look at it from a rational perspective (rather than automatically reacting and assuming it has something to do with you). For example, when you experience pain, instead of becoming anxious and assuming that it means something is wrong with you, you can watch the pain wax and wane without getting caught up in a story about what it could mean .
Finally, an added bonus of meditating is that it connects the useful aspects of the ego center (i.e. the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex) – the part involved in processing information relating to people we perceive as not like us – and the bodily sensation center – involved in empathy – becomes stronger. This healthy connection increases your ability to understand where another person is coming from, especially those you cannot intuitively understand because you think or perceive things differently than they do (that is, differently from others). This increased connection explains why meditation increases empathy – it helps us use the part of the brain that infers other people’s moods, their motivations, desires, dreams and so on, while at the same time activating the part of the brain involved in actual experience of emotions. empathy (insula). The end result is that we are better able to put ourselves in the shoes of someone else (especially those who are not like us), increasing our ability to feel empathy and compassion for everyone.
Daily practice is important
Essentially, science “proves” what we know to be true based on the actual experience of meditating. What the data shows is that meditation facilitates strengthening of the Assessment Center, weakens the unhelpful aspects of the Self-center (which can cause you to take things personally), strengthens the useful parts of the Self-center (which are involved in empathy and understanding others) and changing the connections to/from the body’s sensation/fear centers so that you experience sensations in a less reactive, more balanced and holistic way. In a very real way, you literally change your brain for the better when you meditate.
Ultimately, this means you can see yourself and everyone around you from a clearer perspective, while at the same time being more present, compassionate, and empathetic to people, no matter the situation. With time and practice, people actually become calmer, have a greater capacity for empathy and find that they tend to respond in a more balanced way to things, people or events in their lives.
However, to maintain your gains, you must continue to meditate. Why? Because the brain can very easily return to its old ways if you are not vigilant (I refer to the idea of neuroplasticity here). This means you need to keep meditating to ensure that the new neural pathways you’ve worked so hard to build remain strong.
To me, this amazing brain science and the very real rewards you get from meditation make a compelling case for developing and/or maintaining a daily practice. It certainly motivates me on those days when I don’t feel like sitting. So try to remind yourself that meditating every day, even for just fifteen minutes, will keep the newly formed connections strong and the useless connections of the past at bay.
Addendum: For those who want to start meditation or who may experience emotional problems, memories, etc. while meditating, seek out an experienced meditation teacher. I’ve received some comments from people saying they don’t believe meditation works (which is probably true for some people) or that it could be harmful if done incorrectly. Obviously meditation has been very positive for me, but I have always worked with a meditation teacher or mentor and I would encourage you to do the same as a teacher can help you figure out what is right for you and guide you through any can lead to difficulties. maybe has.
About the author
Rebecca Gladding, MDis author of the book, You are not your brainco-authored with Jeffrey M. Schwartz, MD Dr. Gladding served as a clinical instructor and attending psychiatrist at UCLA and was featured on A&E’s critically acclaimed series Obsessed. She is an expert in the field of anxiety, depression, mindfulness and the Four Steps. More excellent articles from Dr. You can read Gladding on her blog Use your mind to change your brain on PsychologyToday.com.
This article was originally published on PsychologyToday.com.
Featured Image Source: http://www.wakingtimes.com/
Comments
