Psychology has for some time now borrowed from the philosophies and practices of Buddhism (e.g., meditation and mindfulness), to help treat conditions like depression and anxiety and to help people increase their general psychological well-being.
New breakthroughs in neuropsychology and neuroscience have allowed us to better understand how these practices work to actually rewire the brain to allow for more calmness and greater happiness.
Over the past several years researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the United States, with the help of Tibetan Buddhist monks, have undertaken research on the effects of meditation on the brain. They found that meditation helped with attention focus and orienting, with changes seen on imaging in the brain areas responsible for these functions: including the prefrontal cortex, frontal sulcus and visual cortex.
Expert meditators also showed less activation in the amygdala (responsible for processing emotions) during meditation in response to emotion-provoking sounds. This supports the idea that advanced levels of concentration are associated with a decrease in emotionally reactive behaviour.
Research has also shown that learning to overcome the brain's negativity bias (the tendency of the brain to focus on negative situations and dismiss positive ones), stop focusing on worrisome thoughts and becoming more compassionate can alter the workings of brain areas including the prefrontal cortex, basal ganglia and autonomic nervous system to actually rewire your brain's networks, change your thinking and ultimately your life.
Many of these findings are explained, and practical strategies for using them in daily life are outlined, in Buddha's Brain: The Practical Neuroscience of happiness, love and wisdom, written by Neuropsychologist Dr Rick Hanson and Neurologist Dr Richard Mendius.
I would highly recommend this book. Please leave a comment if you've read it to let us know what you think.
As always, if you'd like to know more about what neuropsychology can do for you, please contact us.
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