Whiskers
It's a small world
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On the balance of probabilities from the empirical evidence and the statistical correlation of equally being right or wrong... is it him?
My Good Battle Plan
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On the balance of probabilities from the empirical evidence and the statistical correlation of equally being right or wrong... is it him?
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The meaning of life .......... or was it pr0n
Can't Remember A F@#&ing Thnig
What do we want?
A cure for Tourette's!
When do we want it?
F@#&ing NOW!
:
Julia
In Memoriam
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Typical Minchin brilliance. Such an amazing mixture of astute observation, fundamental wisdom, and acerbic humour. And that's before you even consider his musical talent.
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Full article here: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog...dfulness-training-and-the-compassionate-brain
Different Types of Meditation Create Different Brain Changes
A study from November of 2012 found that participating in an 8-week meditation training program can have measurable effects on how the brain functions even when someone is not actively meditating. In their report in the November issue of Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, investigators at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), Boston University (BU), and several other research centers also found differences in those effects based on the specific type of meditation practiced.
"The two different types of meditation training our study participants completed yielded some differences in the response of the amygdala − a part of the brain known for decades to be important for emotion − to images with emotional content," says Gaëlle Desbordes, PhD, 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. "This is the first time that meditation training has been shown to affect emotional processing in the brain outside of a meditative state."
Several previous studies have supported the hypothesis that meditation training improves practitioners' emotional regulation. While neuroimaging studies have found that meditation training appeared to decrease activation of the amygdala those changes were only observed while study participants were meditating. The 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).
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. But 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. No significant changes were seen in the control group or in the left amygdala of any study participants.
"We think these two forms of meditation cultivate different aspects of mind," Desbordes explains. "Since compassion meditation is designed to enhance compassionate feelings, it makes sense that it could increase amygdala response to seeing people suffer. Increased 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. Overall, 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.
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Some of this is good I think. Hard to interpret, however. In some ways, mindfulness and compassion meditation are heading in opposite directions. With complete selflessness, compassion might even be said to disappear. Anyway... one can experiment. I've done both styles (and many others) and found compassion meditation will lift mood, whereas mindfulness doesn't do much but create a feeling of calm. I still have a few sticking points with compassion, and I'm not sure if it's the be all and end all.
Different Types of Meditation Create Different Brain Changes
A study from November of 2012 found that participating in an 8-week meditation training program can have measurable effects on how the brain functions even when someone is not actively meditating. In their report in the November issue of Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, investigators at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), Boston University (BU), and several other research centers also found differences in those effects based on the specific type of meditation practiced.
"The two different types of meditation training our study participants completed yielded some differences in the response of the amygdala − a part of the brain known for decades to be important for emotion − to images with emotional content," says Gaëlle Desbordes, PhD, 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. "This is the first time that meditation training has been shown to affect emotional processing in the brain outside of a meditative state."
Several previous studies have supported the hypothesis that meditation training improves practitioners' emotional regulation. While neuroimaging studies have found that meditation training appeared to decrease activation of the amygdala those changes were only observed while study participants were meditating. The 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).
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. But 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. No significant changes were seen in the control group or in the left amygdala of any study participants.
"We think these two forms of meditation cultivate different aspects of mind," Desbordes explains. "Since compassion meditation is designed to enhance compassionate feelings, it makes sense that it could increase amygdala response to seeing people suffer. Increased 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. Overall, 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.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Some of this is good I think. Hard to interpret, however. In some ways, mindfulness and compassion meditation are heading in opposite directions. With complete selflessness, compassion might even be said to disappear. Anyway... one can experiment. I've done both styles (and many others) and found compassion meditation will lift mood, whereas mindfulness doesn't do much but create a feeling of calm. I still have a few sticking points with compassion, and I'm not sure if it's the be all and end all.
