My soulmate

I have found my soulmate, and her name is emmarlyb. We met online... Actually, she doesn't know who I am. I came across her bookmarks when I was searching for tags like meditation and psychology. After scanning her other tags, I am convinced that we are compatible. True, she does have over 2,000 tags, the majority of which have absolutely no relevance to my interests. But she also has 150 bookmarks under meditation, 224 under psychology, 40 under Buddhism, 82 combined for neuroscience and neuropsychology, 121 under spirituality, 28 under mindfulness and 33 consciousness, along with many other tags that take me exactly where I want to go. In fact, when I searched for bookmarks tagged meditation and psychology, I found 36 related tags. I would have appreciated some more organization, but we can't get everything we want out of a soulmate. It would be easier to navigate through her 14,000 bookmarked pages if she bundled them into broader categories. But, alas, there are only five tags within two bundles, the remaining 2,067 are free-floating.

"Thinking about Not-thinking": Neural Correlates of Conceptual Processing during Zen Meditation is a great resource that comes from PLoS One, a website that publishes peer-reviewed research articles. Certain parts of the brain are active when we are awake but resting, but inactive when we are doing things that require a lot of attention. This is called the "default network" The study showed that

Zen practitioners displayed a reduced duration of the neural response linked to conceptual processing in regions of the default network, suggesting that meditative training may foster the ability to control the automatic cascade of semantic associations triggered by a stimulus.

I had to re-read that a few times, and I'm still confused. But basically, meditation trains us to control our automatic thoughts, and this study demonstrates the physiological mechanism. Even if this is a little difficult to understand, it is an awesome source. It is a research study, so the methods, data, and results are outlined, along with a discussion of the results. So instead of accepting the information in blind faith, you can see for yourself how the information was obtained. It is also peer-edited, so you know it's reliable. You can also look to the reference list at the end of the article for further reading, if you felt so inclined.

Another great, and much more comprensible, resource is Which Cognitive Enhancers Really Work: Brain Training, Drugs, Vitamins, Meditation, or Exercise?, which you can find on PsyBlog. I like this article a lot because it isn't as intellectual and wordy as a research article, yet its claims are based on current science. And if you want to check out the studies that are mentioned, just click on the hyperlinked text. The article discusses five methods that are believed to slow down the aging process of the brain and their relative effectiveness. Here is its vedict on meditation:

Meditation still has to be considered unproven as a cognitive enhancer but it probably won't do you any harm, plus it's free.

I don't think the authors looked hard enough, or even at all, considering all the research I've found just in the past few weeks that connects meditation to enhanced brain functioning. But at least they admitted that there may be something common among the different types of meditation that improves the brain. Come to think of it, this probably isn't the greatest resource. But I think it's at least valuable because it reminds us that we cannot be overly convinced by what we read, especially if we only seek out information that confirms our beliefs. There may be just as much contrary evidence. Also, the authors concluded that exercise is the best way to keep your brain sharp. The research in the article about this might also help explain why yoga has so many benefits, although I really don't think you can attribute ALL the benefits to exercise alone.

People may say that there is not enough proof that meditation enhances our cognitive ability, but the scientists who have actually done the research, like neuroscientist Andrew Newberg, would disagree. His interview with Sharp Brains is discussed in Meditation and the Neuroscience of Inner Peace, which I found in emmarlyb's bookmarks. If you are interested in the current research on how meditation improves cognitive functioning or the direction that this research is going, then definitely check out the blog post. It's brief, but it's a nice simple overview of what's going on in the field, and it has links to some informative articles. Currently, scientists are researching how breathing techniques and meditation improve cognitive function (memory, attention, reduced levels of depression). Newberg wants to expand this research to include people who have alzheimer's and dementia. His lab is

conducting a study where 15 older adults with memory problems are practicing Kirtan Kriya meditation during 8 weeks, and we have found very promising preliminary outcomes in terms of the impact on brain function.

In a previous post I talked a bit about the research that suggested that meditation increases grey matter in the brain, slowing down the aging of the brain. This seems promising for people who want to prevent age-related cognitive problems (alzheimer's and dementia) from developing, but there may also be some hope that this is the cure scientists have been looking for. I'll definitely be keeping up with Newberg's research to see where it leads.

G'day!