The brains of seasoned meditators have been shown stronger connectivity between the amygdala and the prefrontal cortex
In one study, the brains of meditators were scanned while they saw disturbing images of people suffering, like burn victims. The seasoned practitionersā brains revealed a lowered level of reactivity in the amygdala; they were more immune to emotional hijacking. The reason: their brains had stronger operative connectivity between the prefrontal cortex and the amygdala, and the strength of the connections between the amygdala and the prefrontal cortex determines a personās level of emotional reactivity. When these high-lifetime-hour meditators saw an image of a gruesome-looking burn victim, they had little amygdala reactivity. Age-matched volunteers did not show either the heightened connectivity or the equanimity on viewing the disturbing images.
While mindfulness training did reduce the reactivity of the amygdala, the long-term meditator group showed both this reduced reactivity in the amygdala plus strengthening of the connection between the prefrontal cortex and amygdala. This pattern implies that when the going gets toughāfor example, in response to a major life challenge such as losing a jobāthe ability to manage distress will be greater in long-term meditators.
Among those who show the most short-lived amygdala response, emotions come and go, adaptive and appropriate. This idea to the test with brain scans of 31 highly seasoned meditators (lifetime average was 8,800 hours of meditation practice, ranging from just 1,200 to more than 30,000). They saw the usual pictures ranging from people in extreme suffering (burn victims) to cute bunnies. On first analysis of the expert meditatorsā amygdalae, there was no difference in how they reacted from the responses of matched volunteers who had never meditated. But when the group divided the seasoned meditators into those with the least hours of practice (lifetime average 1,849 hours) and the most (lifetime average 7,118), the results showed that the more hours of practice, the more quickly the amygdala recovered from distress. This rapid recovery is the hallmark of resilience.
References
- Goleman, Daniel. Davidson, A., Richard. (2017). Altered Traits Science Reveals How Meditation Changes Your Mind, Brain, and Body Chapter 5. A Mind Undisturbed (p. 92). Garden City, NY: Avery.
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Type:š“ Tags: Biology / Neuroscience Status:āļø