Running head; MEDITATIVE POWER

Meditative PowerNoah Short

Florida State University

1

MEDITATIVE POWER

Meditative Power

Meditation, how is this ancient art with heavy association to religion beneficial for our

modern lives? This is the question I begin with in the search to understand and apply the

usefulness of meditation in our current society that is consumed with the constant struggle of

attention demanding distractions. What can meditation do for members of such a busy society

that can hardly find time to spare and how time consuming is meditation? What are the real

benefits of meditation on the neurology of the human brain? And what kind of fields are

implementing this ancient art along with modern technologies and what results are they

finding? All of these questions will illuminate just how important meditation is and what its

actual health benefits are. Beginning with the first traces of history of this practice researchers

have found that meditation is a practice with ancient roots, such depth and history immediately

shows that this art has been valued by various cultures, generations and religions for hundreds

of years, with some translations being dated back to the 5th or 6th centuries BCE and even with

such a lengthy history scientists are only just now beginning to uncover the truths behind

meditation, with the invention of modern brain analysis technologies such as the

computerized tomography or CT scans which use advanced imaging technology comprised

of putting many different angled x-rays together to form a model that shows in detail organs

and structures inside the body and also the magnetic imaging resonance or (MRI) tests

which shine powerful x-ray beams through a patient’s body in order to show structures

in the body with incredible detail, these technologies have revolutionized the study of

the brain and have allowed scientists to observe the brain while induced in a meditative

2

MEDITATIVE POWER

state leading to understandings that scientists have never been able to document.

Although the research is still in its early states there is increasing amounts of data with

interesting benefits from the meditative induced state. A key aspect of meditation that

almost all experts on meditation agree on is that it develops a better sense of

mindfulness often described by becoming observant of one’s own thoughts instead of

being affected by regular emotions one feels at any given moment. Those who practice

and master meditation can become less affected by those emotions and more

observant of them creating a sense of calm even when stressful events come into our

lives and being able to handle stress is a key determinant of success in this world.

Performance Enhancing Meditation

Along with numerous other benefits of meditative practices one that is particularly

interesting and is becoming increasingly popular is the use of meditation to increase

performance in a variety of fields such as athletic and cognitive performances.

According to Ivanovski and Mahli (2007) “ various techniques enhance an individual’s

ability to concentrate and inhibit distracting stimuli…” this evidence supports the idea

that meditative practices can in fact improve performance by improving concentration

3

MEDITATIVE POWER

and inhibiting distractions and to further this idea Noel L Ford, Sarah N Wyckoff and

Leslie H Sherlin(2016) go on to concur that with further testing using neurophysiological

measuring systems such as an electroencephalograph or EEG scanning systems a new

understanding of how our mind works will be unveiled. With these new studies and

available technologies scientists have been able to measure brain waves and notice

that there is a slight change and increase in brain wave amplitude in participants of their

studies under the experimental group practicing mindful calming practices such as

meditation in comparison with the control group of naive participants not practicing

mediation. These studies have led to conclusions such as found on page 153 in an

article where the authors Noel L Ford, Sarah N Wyckoff and Leslie H Sherlin (2016)

state that the findings In their experiments and those like them “practicing mindfulness

allows the individual to build attention control skills, both in directing attention and in

avoiding distractors.”(153) this supports the idea that meditating increases mental

mindfulness which is a crucial skill among athletes especially who rely on quick

reactions to perform at their peak. The article goes on to talk about the relative scarce

amount of literature found on the subject of the meditative states ability to demonstrate

the combined efficacy of biofeedback and mindfulness even with the well-known

positive effects of biofeedback for enhancing sport performance. With further studies I

predict that many more correlations of meditative mindfulness will accumulate and

project itself as a clear key to further athletic performance. Along with athletic

performance another performance based field that

4

MEDITATIVE POWER

meditation is being applied to is studies in motor memory consolidation which are

processes that aid in memory stabilization or learning in the period that follows training.

Scientists studying the effects of training on the brain find that the motor memory

consolidation is fragile and is often times lost due to disruption or competition between

thoughts or interference in the forms of distraction and as Shadmehr and Brashers-Krug

(1997) say that motor memory undergoes its first consolidation period within ten hours

of the exercise where the memory is reinforced and shielded from competing thoughts

For these studies meditation is becoming a novel approach in order to understand the

brain in a more full manner for it involves a valued set of cognitive processes to better

understand relaxed states of mind that are controlled and alert, studying these different

states and comparing them to other awake states of mind can allow scientists to

uncover the small differences In brain wave amplitude and allow for in depth

understanding of how the brain works and even uncover the mysteries of

consciousness. Immink, Maarten A. (2016) suggests that “experiencing meditation and

5

MEDITATIVE POWER

its associated cognitive processes and states following training can lend benefits for

motor memory consolidation.” This information provides that for trained sequences have

an increased ability to consolidate memories than that of novel sequences. Research

for meditation reaches wide and enters almost all fields, another which includes one of

true academic rigor that is medical school, who else to test the effects of meditation a

practice which calms the mind more than anything else than those attending medical

school which can be considered one of the most academic rigorous and stressful

environments for students that attend Medical school where the purpose of Saoij, Apar

is to understand the benefits of meditation to people functioning in a high stress

environment such as those attending medical school in a randomized, two-way

crossover study. The idea of this study is to see how meditation effects students in an

extremely stressful environment where mental and physical fatigue are the norm which

can have a detrimental effect on the capability of these doctors in training. The study

was put in place and a control group of forty two students were given a yogic

meditation session and the results according to Saoji Apar(2017) conclude that there

is a positive correlation in the students tested that the meditation showed real health

benefits not just mentally but physically as well and through the results of all of these

studies and articles a common result tends to appear which is that these variations of

meditative practices seem to have resounded effects for the groups who participated

in the meditation groups with not only greater performance but less stress, anxiety and

physiological ailments.

6

MEDITATIVE POWER

Neurologic Benefits of Meditation

In researching meditation finding the positive effects of such practices on athletic,

memory consolidation and medical student performance leads to the question of how

does meditation effect the neurology of the human brain? In an article that looks how

meditation affect the amount of grey matter in the brain in which the brain is closely

examined and in particular the effects of meditation on grey matter in the brain is

studied and the results found the grey matter region in the brains of those who practiced

mediation was larger than those who did not practice it and grey matter has a key role in

the brain according to authors Sergio Elías Hernández, José Suero , Alfonso Barros ,

José Luis González-Mora , Katya Rubia (2016) begin the article by stating the important

role in which grey matter plays in our mental health; Grey matter can be associated with

more focused attention, emotion control, and a better feeling of compassion.

Furthermore the state of mental calmness associated with meditation have been found

through

7

MEDITATIVE POWER

electroencephalography have found that those more experienced in the art of

meditation have denser grey matter regions of the brain and have a positive correlation

to the feelings of joy. Along with these experiments include a study which measures the

blockage of alpha waves from meditative states, alpha blocking correlates to healthier

physiological and mental health this state that changes the way our brain waves

function can be related to what Zen-Buddhists call finding the inner light and the study

conducted by researchers Pei-Chen Lo, Ming-Liang Huang and Kang-Ming Chang

reveal even blessings given to a control group who’s brain waves were measured using

electroencephalograms showed increased blockage of alpha waves from purely

Buddhist blessings that the subjects were unaware of receiving with these findings it

seems as if the meditative power effects real energy and can even span through one’s

body to another’s to promote a sense of well-being. This research conducted by Pei-

Chen Lo, Ming-Liang Huang and Kang-Ming Chang (2013) even states that those who

have implemented meditation into their regular routine can even have an improved

physical appearance and look significantly younger, this shows that those with

experienced meditative disciplines exhume a healthier and more active lifestyle in part

8

MEDITATIVE POWER

due to the mental benefits of mediation. With various known benefits perhaps one of the

greatest that meditation can bring us is the ability to relieve stress. Stress can play a

part in various diseases and are a start to the accumulation of even more in time

according to a Harvard health publication written by Julie Corliss(2016) who’s study’s

suggests mindful meditation can help ease physiological stressors. Further study of the

EEG measurements from those who practiced meditation on a frequent basis also

shows a change in the amplitude of beta waves in the brain, beta brainwaves dominate

our normal waking state of consciousness when attention is directed towards cognitive

tasks and the outside world and harnessing these practices can give beneficial results

to mindfulness of its practice. The results of these studies are so real that even the

United States military has incorporated it into a special training program designed to

teach soldiers the benefits of meditation on the battle field, this training is called mind

fitness training or M-fit and according to Hinduism today (2013) . M-Fit is proving to be a

useful tool for a variety of soldiers deployed in various responsibilities from battlefield

operators to intelligence officers in providing increased mental calmness and clarity in

stressful. This training was developed by a former United States Army captain named

Elizabeth Stanley who after being diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder found

that mediation not only could help her but also her fellow military men and women

soldiers although many times skeptical at first reported real benefits due to meditation.

Mindfulness meditation has even been used to treat detrimental diseases such as adult

aphasia which is a disorder caused by stroke that impairs many functions of the brain

including language skills. Studies are shown that adults suffering from aphasia when

treated with common occurrences of meditation increase in word productivity, phrase

9

MEDITATIVE POWER

length, word generation, decreased impulsivity, and increased attention. These findings

prove that the practice of mindfulness meditation can help

even severe diseases which will in turn lead to the further research of benefits of

meditation on mental health. In addition to all of these incredible health benefits another

disease that many health professionals are turning to meditation to combat depression

in the study State and Training Effects of Mindfulness Meditation on Brain Networks

Reflect Neuronal Mechanisms of Its Antidepressant Effect mediation is studied in efforts

to alleviate the detrimental effects of depression on the mental health of patients. To

investigate the impact of meditation practices on “the neuronal level and its

antidepressant effects, alteration in the activation pattern of the Default Mode Network

(DMN) is of particular interest and the DMN is thus selected as the target brain network“

as stated by Chuan-Chih Yang et al(2016) his findings indicate that not only does

meditation help ameliorate depression but it also aids in the reconstruction of better

neural networks than were in place before the practices were conducted. As we have

discussed up unto this point the articles so far have mostly been concerned about how

meditation affects cognition and performance while these are the most practical study

10

MEDITATIVE POWER

for the beautiful health reasons provided by this ancient art the most interesting effect

on the mind meditation causes to me is that of transpersonal and transcendent

experiences that some say come with mastery of the art. In the article transcendental

experiences during meditation practice the author begins by describing different focus

categories that cause different reactions with brain waves such as compassion

meditation which leads to higher electroencephalography and activation of limbic brain

circuits including insula and amygdala during its practice and in contrast mindfulness

meditation which leads to an increase in bilateral frontal theta waves(pg.1),

Conclusion

In conclusion these studies reveal a variety of different benefits for those who practice

meditation and even offer a peer into the future of how neurology will be studied. Meditating is a

practice that dates back centuries but its use has never before been needed so much with our busy

lives taking a moment to meditate can alleviate stress encourage better brain performance and

even boost the feeling of joy and with findings such as different meditation focuses leads to

different brain region and brain wave reactions this unlocks the minds ability to influence its own

11

MEDITATIVE POWER

biology, these breakthroughs I believe will lead us further into the study of what we are by

allowing us to explore the consciousness with a combination of old ancient practices and new

modern medical technologies.

12

MEDITATIVE POWER

References

Ford, N. L., Wyckoff, S. N., & Sherlin, L. H. (2016). Neurofeedback and mindfulness in peak

performance training among athletes. Biofeedback, 44(3), 152-159. doi:10.5298/1081-5937-

44.3.11

Hernandez, S. E., Suero, J., Barros, A., Gonzlez-Mora, J. L., & Rubia, K. (2016). Increased grey

matter associated with long-term sahaja yoga meditation: A voxel-based morphometry

study. PLoS ONE, 11(3), 1-16. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0150757

Immink, M. A. (2016). Post-training meditation promotes motor memory consolidation. Frontiers in

Psychology, 7, 1-10. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01698

Ivanovski, B., & Malhi, G. S. (2007). The psychological and neurophysiological concomitants of

mindfulness forms of meditation. Acta Neuropsychiatrica, 19(2), 76-91. doi:10.1111/j.1601-

5215.2007.00175.x

Laures-Gore, J., & Marshall, R. S. (2016). Mindfulness meditation in aphasia: A case

report doi:10.3233/NRE-161323

Lo, P., Huang, M., & Chang, K. (2003). EEG alpha blocking correlated with perception of inner light

during zen meditation. American Journal of Chinese Medicine, 31(4), 629-642.

Mindfulness meditation may ease anxiety, mental stress harvard health blog harvard health

publications

Saoji, A., Mohanty, S., & Vinchurkar, S. (2017). Effect of a single session of a yogic meditation

technique on cognitive performance in medical students: A randomized crossover trial. Journal

of Religion & Health, 56(1), 141-148. doi:10.1007/s10943-016-0195-x

References

13

MEDITATIVE POWER

Brain Pedia. (2016). Amygdalae-brain-computer-model. http://brainpedia.org/amygdala/:

brainpedia.com.

Brent Lambert. (2014). Harvard unveils MRI study proving meditation literally rebuilds the brains

grey matter in 8 weeks. https://www.feelguide.com/2014/11/19/harvard-unveils-mri-study-

proving-meditation-literally-rebuilds-the-brains-gray-matter-in-8-weeks/: Harvard University.

Brewer J A et al. (2011). Mindfulness meditation and brain

activity. http://neurowiki2014.wikidot.com/individual:mindfulness: University of Toronto.

Dr. Zoran Josipovic. (2017). Experience bliss brain scan. http://www.learnbliss.com/experience-bliss-

2/scientific-proof-that-bliss-exists/: New York University.

Mindfulness meditation may ease anxiety, mental stress harvard health blog harvard health

publications

Professor N. N. Lyubimov. (2015a). Improved memory. http://www.globalcountry.org/wp/scientific-

research-total-brain-development/: Moscow Brain Research Institute of the Russian Academy of

Medical Sciences.

Professor N. N. Lyubimov. (2015b). Optimizing brain-wave

chart. http://www.globalcountry.org/wp/scientific-research-total-brain-development/: Moscow

Brain Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences.

Shadmehr, R., & Brashers-Krug, T. (1997). Functional stages in the formation of human long-term

motor memory. The Journal of Neuroscience, 17(1), 409-419. Retrieved

from http://www.jneurosci.org/content/17/1/409.abstract

Teaching soldiers meditation. (2013). Hinduism Today, 35(2), 7.

14

MEDITATIVE POWER

15