Meditation Enhances Mood in Only 5 Weeks
MEDITATION: Researchers found changes in participants' brain activity after they received meditation training. (The Epoch Times) Relax with your eyes closed is something people ought to try, according to a new study in the journal Psychological Science that associates short periods of meditation with positive mood changes.
Titled Frontal EEG Asymmetry Associated with Positive Emotion is Produced by Very Brief Meditation Training, the study postulated and indicated brain activity changes after only five weeks of meditation.
Previous studies also examined the positive neurological effects in individuals, including a 2010 paper on meditation's effect on attention span, initiated following research with Buddhist monks.
Jane Anderson, an undergraduate at University of Wisonsin-Stout, was inspired to carry out the new study after trying meditation for a month and noticing positive health changes.
My experience was a sense of calmness, of better ability to regulate my emotions, Anderson tells the APS.
With a team of students and faculty members, Anderson measured the electrical activity of 21 peoples brains, using electroencaphalograms (EEG), while they were asked to meditate.
Eleven of the participants were offered two half-hour meditation trainings per week, and were encouraged to practice in between training sessions, while the remaining 10 people did not receive training.
On average, the 11 participants completed seven hours of meditation training and practice per day. Further EEG recordings were conducted after the five weeks.
Titled Frontal EEG Asymmetry Associated with Positive Emotion is Produced by Very Brief Meditation Training, the study postulated and indicated brain activity changes after only five weeks of meditation.
Previous studies also examined the positive neurological effects in individuals, including a 2010 paper on meditation's effect on attention span, initiated following research with Buddhist monks.
Jane Anderson, an undergraduate at University of Wisonsin-Stout, was inspired to carry out the new study after trying meditation for a month and noticing positive health changes.
My experience was a sense of calmness, of better ability to regulate my emotions, Anderson tells the APS.
With a team of students and faculty members, Anderson measured the electrical activity of 21 peoples brains, using electroencaphalograms (EEG), while they were asked to meditate.
Eleven of the participants were offered two half-hour meditation trainings per week, and were encouraged to practice in between training sessions, while the remaining 10 people did not receive training.
On average, the 11 participants completed seven hours of meditation training and practice per day. Further EEG recordings were conducted after the five weeks.
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Positive emotions are related to this type of brain activity as demonstrated in previous research.
It cant hurt and it might do you a lot of good, says co-author Christopher Moyer, describing the effects of meditation to the APS.
If someone is thinking about trying meditation and they were thinking, Its too big of a commitment, its going to take too much rigorous training before it has an effect on my mind, this research suggests thats not the case.
Previously, Anderson struggled with seasonal affective disorder in the late 1990s while living in Minnesota. Her findings concur with her experience.
I think this implies that meditation is likely to create a shift in outlook toward life," she concludes. "It has really worked for me.
- Falun Gong: An Ancient Meditation Revived for the Modern World
Positive emotions are related to this type of brain activity as demonstrated in previous research.
It cant hurt and it might do you a lot of good, says co-author Christopher Moyer, describing the effects of meditation to the APS.
If someone is thinking about trying meditation and they were thinking, Its too big of a commitment, its going to take too much rigorous training before it has an effect on my mind, this research suggests thats not the case.
Previously, Anderson struggled with seasonal affective disorder in the late 1990s while living in Minnesota. Her findings concur with her experience.
I think this implies that meditation is likely to create a shift in outlook toward life," she concludes. "It has really worked for me.
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