Monks help scientists study brain, Buddhists 'really are happier'

[Guest guest]

[moderator note: this is probably a little tangential to this list's purpose,

but I appove it thinking that some of the meditation-related information might

also be of interest to people trying to understand the scientific basis of

devotees' meditation]

 

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/3142874.stm

 

Monks help scientists study brain

 

Buddhist monks from South Asia have been giving scientists an insight

into the workings of the human brain.

 

The Dalai Lama took part in the experiments during his tour of the US

They took part in a conference at the Massachusetts Institute of

Technology, which explored visual perception with the aid of images

on a computer screen.

 

The monks - including the Dalai Lama - were drafted in to help.

 

The scientists were trying to find out if concentrating intently on

an image had any effect on brain patterns.

 

The monks, as experts in meditation techniques, were seen as perfect

subjects for the tests.

 

"What science and Buddhism really share is the goal of understanding

the nature of reality," Adam Ingle of the MindLife Institute, who

organised the experiment, told BBC World Service's Reporting Religion

programme.

 

"The difference is that science uses the scientific method and a lot

of technology and objectives - it starts from the outside and probes

the nature of reality.

 

"Buddhism uses the human mind, reformed through meditation, starting

from the inside, looking at the same questions."

 

Hypothesis

 

The conference was part of an ongoing experimental project.

 

"Our hypothesis has been that a collaboration - a genuine

collaboration between the two - in investigating the mind would be

very helpful and beneficial," Dr Ingle explained.

 

 

These practices actually lead to better states of well-being

 

 

Although some may see a contradiction between science, which measures

and verifies, and Buddhism, which is experiential, Dr Ingle added

that he felt Buddhism had a great deal to offer in attempting to

understand the brain.

 

"If you're a Western scientist investigating the mind, does it make

any sense to you to have what we're calling the Olympic athletes of

mental training on your research team?" he pointed out.

 

"The brain imaging technologies that have been developed are enabling

the scientists to objectively verify what these guys are saying."

 

Scientists recently announced that experiments suggested that

Buddhists, who try to focus on achieving inner peace, really did seem

to enjoy life more.

 

Dr Ingle said part of what he was doing would try to find how and why

this was happening.

 

"At this level what's happening is that we're trying to find out

whether these mental practices that these monks have been doing are

creating brain changes - actual structural changes in the brain -

over a period of time," he said.

 

"If so, where do those changes reside and what are the possible

effects of them?

 

"On a longer-term basis, it may well be very true and that seems to

suggest that these practices actually lead to better states of well-

being, better states of health - and in some of the experiments, it's

shown to increase the immune function."

 

 

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3047291.stm

Buddhists 'really are happier'

 

 

Buddhism may be good for your mental health

Scientists say they have evidence to show that Buddhists really are

happier and calmer than other people.

Tests carried out in the United States reveal that areas of their

brain associated with good mood and positive feelings are more

active.

 

The findings come as another study suggests that Buddhist meditation

can help to calm people.

 

Researchers at University of California San Francisco Medical Centre

have found the practise can tame the amygdala, an area of the brain

which is the hub of fear memory.

 

There is something about conscientious Buddhist practice that

results in the kind of happiness we all seek

 

Paul Ekman,

University of California San Francisco Medical Centre

They found that experienced Buddhists, who meditate regularly, were

less likely to be shocked, flustered, surprised or as angry compared

to other people.

 

Paul Ekman, who carried out the study, said: "The most reasonable

hypothesis is that there is something about conscientious Buddhist

practice that results in the kind of happiness we all seek."

 

Brain activity

 

In a separate study, scientists at the University of Wisconsin at

Madison used new scanning techniques to examine brain activity in a

group of Buddhists.

 

Their tests revealed activity in the left prefrontal lobes of

experienced Buddhist practitioners.

 

This area is linked to positive emotions, self-control and

temperament.

 

Their tests showed this area of the Buddhists' brains are constantly

lit up and not just when they are meditating.

 

This, the scientists said, suggests they are more likely to

experience positive emotions and be in good mood.

 

"We can now hypothesise with some confidence that those apparently

happy, calm Buddhist souls one regularly comes across in places such

as Dharamsala, India, really are happy," said Professor Owen

Flanagan, of Duke University in North Carolina.

 

Dharamsala is the home base of exiled Tibetan leader the Dalai Lama.

 

The studies are published in New Scientist magazine.

 

----

 

All glory to the avesa of Sri Krishna who preaches Buddhism.

 

Hare Krishna

 

Your Servant Always

Sumeet.