That opens up the tantalizing possibility that the brain, like the rest of
the body, can be altered intentionally. Just as aerobics sculpt the muscles, so
mental training sculpts the gray matter in ways scientists are only beginning to
fathom.
In a striking difference between novices and monks, the latter showed a
dramatic increase in high-frequency brain activity called gamma waves during
compassion meditation. Thought to be the signature of neuronal activity that
knits together far-flung brain circuits, gamma waves underlie higher mental
activity such as consciousness. The novice meditators "showed a slight
increase in gamma activity, but most monks showed extremely large increases of a
sort that has never been reported before in the neuroscience literature,"
says Prof. Davidson, suggesting that mental training can bring the brain to a
greater level of consciousness.
"Of all the concepts in modern neuroscience, it is neuroplasticity that
has the greatest potential for meaningful interaction with Buddhism," says
neuroscientist Richard Davidson of the University of Wisconsin, Madison. The
Dalai Lama agreed, and he encouraged monks to donate (temporarily) their brains
to science.
The term refers to the brain's recently discovered ability to change its
structure and function, in particular by expanding or strengthening circuits
that are used and by shrinking or weakening those that are rarely engaged. In
its short history, the science of neuroplasticity has mostly documented brain
changes that reflect physical experience and input from the outside world. In
pianists who play many arpeggios, for instance, brain regions that control the
index finger and middle finger become fused, apparently because when one finger
hits a key in one of these fast-tempo movements, the other does so almost
simultaneously, fooling the brain into thinking the two fingers are one. As a
result of the fused brain regions, the pianist can no longer move those fingers
independently of one another.

.:: Divya Yog Mandir (Trust) ::.

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+kenwilber.com - blog

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NPR : Laughter Yoga: Relaxing, If a Bit Kooky

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Sniffle-Busting Personalities: Positive mood guards against getting colds: Science News Online, Dec. 16, 2006

Tags: education, spirituality on 2006-12-19 -All Annotations (0) -About

more fromwww.sciencenews.org

Studies of the impact of mood on physical health need to account for both positive and negative emotions, Cohen holds. He points to preliminary data from other teams suggesting that among depressed people, a lack of positive emotions is a more accurate predictor of stroke than is the extent of their negative emotions.
In that project, Cohen's team interviewed 193 healthy adults by phone each evening for 2 weeks. The participants reported their positive and negative emotions during that day. They then received nasal drops containing a rhinovirus or an influenza virus that causes a coldlike illness.
Each person was quarantined in a separate room and monitored for 5 or 6 days. Although a positive emotional style bore no relation to whether participants became infected, it protected against the emergence of cold symptoms. For instance, among people infected by the influenza virus, 14 of 50 (28 percent) who often reported positive emotions developed coughs, congestion, and other cold symptoms, as compared with 23 of 56 infected individuals (41 percent) who rarely reported positive emotions.
psychological traits related to a positive emotional style, rather than the emotions themselves, guard against cold symptoms. Those traits include high self-esteem, extroversion, optimism, and a feeling of mastery over one's life.
People with generally positive outlooks show greater resistance to developing colds than do individuals who rarely revel in upbeat feelings, a new investigation finds.

Global Orgasm - December 22nd, 2006 - Peace through Global Ecstasy

Tags: spirituality on 2006-12-09 and saved by8 people -All Annotations (0) -About

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