EL29 Mindfulness Meditation

Transcription

1 EL29 Mindfulness Meditation Lecture 1.5: Recent scientific and neuroscience findings Quick check: How much can you recall so far? Which of the following traits are NOT common to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam? a) Belief in one God b) Critical importance of chanting & meditation c) Importance of holy books d) Originated in the middle east 1

2 Lectio Divina! In Christianity, Lectio Lectio Divina is a Divina form (Latin of Christian for Divine mediation. Reading is a traditional Benedictine practice of What is its purpose reading or intention?! Intended to promote Chat with your communion neighbors. with God and to increase knowledge of God s Word.! Topics: Lecture Overview Meditative states and science Meditation and ASCs Brain responses to meditation 2

3 Key Learnings:! Key Learning #1:. Meditative states are not linked to paranormal or metaphysical/mystical interpretations as were long believed by most religious traditions.! Key Learning #2: : Meditative states are really just another ASC, but long-term practice seems to have considerable benefits. Dozens of psychological and wellness benefits accruing from meditation have now been documented scientifically.! Key Learning #3: Different meditation practices engage different brain circuitry that result in different internal psychological states of mind and external behaviors. Key Learnings:! Key Learning #1:. Meditative states are not linked to paranormal or metaphysical/mystical interpretations as were long believed by most religious traditions.! Key Learning #2: : Meditative states are really just another ASC, but long-term practice seems to have considerable benefits. Dozens of psychological and wellness benefits accruing from meditation have now been documented scientifically.! Key Learning #3: Different meditation practices engage different brain circuitry that result in different internal psychological states of mind and external behaviors. 3

4 Consciousness States: Medical Awareness allows us to receive and process information communicated by the five senses and thereby relate to ourselves and the rest of the world. Awareness has psychological and physiological components Meditative Sate? NWC Arousal is regulated solely by physiological functioning. Its primitive responsiveness to the world is demonstrated by predictable reflex to involuntary response to stimuli The Neuroscience of Consciousness: Consciousness not confined to one region of the brain.! Global Workspace Model: A dynamic integration of millions of neurons processing information constant flux where your attention is at any given moment. 4

5 Altered States of Consciousness! Mental experiences that transcend ordinary experiences. Literally an altered state deviating from one s normal mental state. May induce emotions like: fear/anxiety, well-being, connection to supernatural entities. Encouraged and interpreted by many different cultures as important religious experiences.! Stroke of Insight: Jill Bolte Taylor on TED.com Meditative state! Many forms such as yoga, Zen and transcendental meditation each of which has its basis in Eastern religion like Buddhism and Hinduism.! Meditation involves the use of a technique to deliberately alter Normal Waking Consciousness (NWC) in order to induce an ASC characterized by a deep state of relaxation.! It typically involves altering the normal flow of conscious thoughts by focusing on a simple stimulus like breathing or a body part.! Suppresses activity of the sympathetic nervous system 5

6 Religious interpretations of ASCs 1. Spirit Possession! A supernatural force (a spirit/god) enters a person s body.! An individual may be able to control the spirit, to heal/divine or the spirit may control the body and heal/divine without the host s knowledge.! Spirit possession may also be negative or unwanted. In this case exorcism rituals may be needed.! Trance state in which the Soul has left the body. Interpretations of the Altered State are based around the Soul s experience out of body. 2. Unity with God/gods Long periods of intense prayer or meditation Loud music with a repetitive beat, ecstatic dancing, trance. Brings members into a Unitary State with God, a state in which the individual experiences a feeling of becoming one with the supernatural. 3. Liberation from Suffering Intense mediation practice over years Practitioner comes to realize higher wisdom and overcome suffering Out of body experiences (OBE)! Commonly reported in parapsychology literature for decades.! Once thought to be the soul leaving the body.! OBEs can be induced by brain traumas, sensory deprivation, near-death experiences, dissociative and psychedelic drugs, dehydration, sleep, and electrical stimulation of the brain,! Modern explanation relates to damage to the Parietal Lobe and/or other brain regions 6

7 Ghosts! 40-50% of people in the modern western world still believe in ghosts.! No scientific evidence that any spirit matter survives death.! Scientifically demonstrated causes include: Electromagnetic fields induced in the temporal lobes. Low frequency infrasound can lead to auditory and visual hallucinations. Toxic mold & CO poisoning can also lead to hallucinations Social psychology and the will to believe others and an longing for an afterlife Altered States of Consciousness and the Brain Cerebral Cortex (when we think of the brain this is what usually comes to mind) Divided into right and left hemispheres, with each hemisphere's lobes responsible for specific functions: Frontal Lobes Have you ever experienced the phenomenon of arriving at school and not remembering driving there? The planning, organization and self-correction skills controlled by the frontal lobes are responsible for your safe arrival at school. If there had been a detour on the way, the frontal lobes' mental flexibility would have allowed you to alter your route and successfully complete your trip. Carrying out daily functions requires you to remain in control and generate alternatives when problems arise. Temporal Lobes Right Temporal Lobe. This is the place for the senses, without worries, burdens, etc. produced in the Left Temporal lobe. It is this lobe that is stimulated most during an Altered State. Parietal Lobes Allows you to find your way in the dark and sense your relationship with surroundings. Visual perception and analysis of space, as demonstrated by the ability to read a map or follow a maze, are also processed in these lobes. Location of the Orientation Association Structure Ex: If these are damaged, may not know where you end and the outside world begins. -The ability to understand a teacher during a lecture (language comprehension), to name your friends and family (naming ability) Limbic System In addition to the easily identifiable lobes, there are systems within the brain that connect the lobes. The system most sensitive to the results of head injury is the limbic system, which mediates mood, emotions, motivation, attention and memory. Injury to the system may be manifested in behaviors ranging from flat affect (no expression) to aggressiveness; from mild distractibility to the inability to pay attention for one minute; from almost imperceptible memory problems to the inability to recall dialing numbers on a phone. Brain Stem Life-sustaining functions such as regulation of blood pressure, heart rate, breathing and body temperature. The system that is responsible for the level of arousal and alertness is also in the brain stem and is known as the Reticular Activating System (RAS). The RAS, referred to in the book as the Sympathetic System functions like a dimmer in a light switch, increasing and decreasing the responsiveness to the environment. If the RAS is damaged, like a light that has been dimmed an altered state of consciousness such as a coma or a vegetative condition may result. An altered state may also result from overstimulation of this system. 7

8 Scientific interpretations of meditative ASCs! Still a new field in neuroscience.! However, general conclusion would be that most religious interpretations of meditative states are probably wrong.! Most meditative states are just another form of ASC that is purely organic-brain driven in nature and not metaphysical.! Many claimed psychological & wellness benefits now have scientific backing! Different meditation styles produce different brain responses. Which of the following statements is true regarding meditative ASCs? 1. Allows you to see ghosts 2. Enables out of body experiences 3. Is just another organic induced state 4. Is a state where you are unified with God/gods 8

9 Key Learnings:! Key Learning #1:. Meditative states are not linked to paranormal or metaphysical/mystical interpretations as were long believed by most religious traditions.! Key Learning #2: : Meditative states are really just another ASC, but long-term practice seems to have considerable benefits. Dozens of psychological and wellness benefits accruing from meditation have now been documented scientifically.! Key Learning #3: Different meditation practices engage different brain circuitry that result in different internal psychological states of mind and external behaviors. Early research using EEG 9

10 Scientifically demonstrated benefits of meditation 10

11 Bad habits meditation helps overcome 1. Overeating due to lack of mindfulness 2. Bad posture 3. Acting on impulse 4. Addiction to technology 5. Forgetting things you should be able to remember 6. Obsessing over your to-do list. 7. Never being able to get a quality night s sleep 8. Worrying over small personal problems 9. Bad management of bigger personal problems 10. Inability to accept yourself the way your are What happens in the brain during meditation?! Large portions of the brain become quiet. 1. A relaxed state of mind! When your mind is in an aroused state, your brain releases alpha waves, keeping you hyped up.! MRI scans have shown that during meditation, your brain predominantly releases theta waves, which has been associated with a relaxed state of mind. 2. Reduces anxiety! When you are in an upsetting situation, the prefrontal cortex makes you feel scared or anxious. However, mediation enables a lesser reaction in the prefrontal cortex, reducing pangs of anxiety, allowing you to evaluate the situation more rationally. 3. Increases resilience! When analyzing MRI images of Tibetan monks, researchers at Wisconsin Madison University discovered that meditation and resilience have a deep-rooted connection. 4. Diminishes stress! Perhaps one of the most renowned benefits of meditation. A study conducted in 2012 analyzed three groups to test which group is able to handle stress better. A multi-tasking, stress inducing test portrayed that those who meditated showed less stress than either group. 11

12 Decreased mind-wandering! The default mode of humans appears to be that of mind-wandering, which correlates with unhappiness, and with activation in a network of brain areas associated with self-referential processing.! Several different meditations (Concentration/ mindfulness, Loving-Kindness, Choiceless Awareness) were studied using experienced meditators.! We found that the main nodes of the default-mode network (medial prefrontal and posterior cingulate cortices) were relatively deactivated in experienced meditators across all meditation types (0r a decrease in mind-wandering) Key Learnings:! Key Learning #1:. Meditative states are not linked to paranormal or metaphysical/mystical interpretations as were long believed by most religious traditions.! Key Learning #2: : Meditative states are really just another ASC, but long-term practice seems to have considerable benefits. Dozens of psychological and wellness benefits accruing from meditation have now been documented scientifically.! Key Learning #3: Different meditation practices engage different brain circuitry that result in different internal psychological states of mind and external behaviors. 12

13 Functional MRI studies! Watching blood flow in meditating monks.! fmri tracks where blood is being utilized in the brain. What happens in the brain during meditation?! Bright yellow and red areas are regions of the brain rapidly firing and using oxygen! Blue and green areas are relatively quite 13

14 Lovingkindness/Compassion meditation increases gray matter in the brain! The study was led by a Harvard-affiliated team of researchers based at Massachusetts General Hospital, and the team s MRI scans documented for the very first time in medical history how meditation produced massive changes inside the brain s gray matter.! The participants spent an average of 27 minutes per day practicing mindfulness exercise. Lovingkindness/Compassion meditation increases gray matter in the brain - RESULTS! A major increase in gray matter density in the hippocampus, the part of the brain associated with selfawareness, compassion, and introspection.! Participant-reported reductions in stress also were correlated with decreased gray-matter density in the amygdala, which is known to play an important role in anxiety and stress.! None of these changes were seen in the control group, indicating that they had not resulted merely from the passage of time.! May help offset cognitive decline as we age. 14

15 Mindfulness meditation s impact on the brain! MRI scans show that after an eightweek course of mindfulness practice, the brain s fight or flight center, the amygdala, appears to shrink.! This primal region of the brain, associated with fear and emotion, is involved in the initiation of the body s response to stress.! As the amygdala shrinks, the prefrontal cortex associated with higher order brain functions such as awareness, concentration and decision-making becomes thicker. Mindfulness meditation s impact on the brain (cont.)! The functional connectivity between these regions i.e. how often they are activated together also changes.! The connection between the amygdala and the rest of the brain gets weaker, while the connections between areas associated with attention and concentration get stronger 15

16 What happens during prayer meditation?! In the prayer image, the frontal lobe region ("attention") is red, more activated than during the baseline.! Similarly, the "language center" (lower left) is more activated (redder) during prayer than for the baseline.! Metabolic activity of the brain is color coded--blue is least, red is most; the color coding is on a relative, not absolute scale. What happens when you are trying to meditate? Default mode network Scientific American, Nov

17 How much can you recall about fmri studies related to various types of meditation practices? Chat with your neighbors. Part 2: Hand s on practice - Tranquil sounds meditation 17