antidepressant therapy.^38 One recent MBSR study showed greater gray matter
concentration for meditators in the right anterior insula and in the left inferior temporal
gyrus and right hippocampus.^39
- Similarly, the 2005 Lazar et al. study cited by Gordon and Benson was a breakthrough, in
that it found that a portion of the cerebral cortex of “regular meditators” (engaged in
Buddhist-inspired Insight Meditation, http://www.dharma.org/)) was thicker than those of
the control group.^40 The abstract expands on the potential significance of the findings:
“Previous research indicates that long-term meditation practice is associated with
altered resting electroencephalogram patterns, suggestive of long lasting changes in
brain activity. We hypothesized that meditation practice might also be associated with
changes in the brain's physical structure. Magnetic resonance imaging was used to
assess cortical thickness in 20 participants with extensive Insight meditation experience,
which involves focused attention to internal experiences. Brain regions associated with
attention, interception [perception of sensations from inside the body] and sensory
processing were thicker in meditation participants than matched controls, including the
prefrontal cortex and right anterior insula. Between-group differences in prefrontal
cortical thickness were most pronounced in older participants, suggesting that
meditation might offset age-related cortical thinning. Finally, the thickness of two
regions correlated with meditation experience. These data provide the first structural
evidence for experience-dependent cortical plasticity associated with meditation
practice.”^41
- Weil expresses this same radical thought in asserting that “learning to change our ways of
thinking and perceiving can actually change the function and structure of our brains.”^42 In
integrative medicine, the brain is not primary, as it has become under the medical model.
The mind can heal the brain.
- No side effects of meditation have been documented, but lack of skill could cause increased
anxiety and is certain to result in boredom and discontinuation of meditation practice. As
