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#1 2006-01-29 02:31:54
- andrewbarnett
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- From: Melbourne, Australia
- Registered: 2005-09-12
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Meditation found to increase brain size
Here: http://www.physorg.com/news10312.html
It seems plausible to me. I know all too well how depression can induce physical changes in the brain, so why shouldn't a mental discipline like meditation.
I don't meditate. Perhaps with the Swiss cheese in my head that now does for a brain, I should.
Via Warren Ellis, which site is often usually NSFW unless, you know, work is an underground-comic publishing house or something.
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#3 2006-01-29 19:22:14
Re: Meditation found to increase brain size
andrewbarnett wrote:
It seems plausible to me. I know all too well how depression can induce physical changes in the brain, so why shouldn't a mental discipline like meditation.
Depression as in "I'm despondent for months" or depression as in "I have a chemical imbalance in my brain"? Just going through a terrible period in your life can cause physical changes in the brain?
Or do you mean long-term chemical imbalances can cause physical changes in the brain? Hm...
Freiheit ist immer die Freiheit der Andersdenkenden. - Rosa Luxemburg
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#5 2006-01-29 19:36:54
- andrewbarnett
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Re: Meditation found to increase brain size
Not chemical changes: physical changes. Apparently, months to years of chronic depression can cause significant shrinkage of certain parts of the brain.
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#7 2006-01-29 21:36:28
- andrewbarnett
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- From: Melbourne, Australia
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Re: Meditation found to increase brain size
Ah, I see.
From my perspective, depression is depression is depression. And, purely because it makes sense to me and seems best to explain my own experience, I tend to side with the view that the chemical and physical changes are caused by the depression, and that the depression is caused by sub-optimal (well, duh) thinking patterns including, but not limited to, excessive introspection.
All that aside, I posted the link because I thought it was pretty cool that a few hours a week of meditation could cause a noticeable and seemingly positive difference. And I wondered if anyone here has experience or an opinion. On the positive effects of meditation that is.
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#8 2006-01-29 21:47:21
Re: Meditation found to increase brain size
What this article says to me is that in the same way that depression can cause certain parts of
the brain to atrophie with non-use, regular practice can also help strengthen these
otherwise less developed areas. See, I have come to see mental and physical health in much
the same light.
The more one relents one's self to inaction, the less apt one is liable to be when the opportunity
for action is ripe. The more one practices constant reaction in response to one's environment,
the more ready and willing one will be to act upon one's opportunities. Meditation represents
in this case a state of constant awareness about one's environment on the sub-concious level.
In short, these findings do not surprise me in the least.
So which are you, a mental body-builder or a mental couch potato?
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#9 2006-01-29 22:07:23
- andrewbarnett
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- From: Melbourne, Australia
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Re: Meditation found to increase brain size
I think you have a point, but it's more subtle than that. Depression actually arises from too much mental activity, of the wrong kind. And it's not atrophy that occurs but, I think, wholesale physical damage. That's the way it feels at least.
So I think the issue is not action vs inaction, but of the kind of action/activity. A metaphor: consider running endlessly in tight circles, sweating and out of breath, smacking one's knees and shins on the furniture, panicking... or consider calm, smooth, disciplined exercise movements where one listens to one's body. That's how I see it.
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#10 2006-01-30 12:17:57
Re: Meditation found to increase brain size
KevBurns wrote:
The more one relents one's self to inaction, the less apt one is liable to be when the opportunity for action is ripe. The more one practices constant reaction in response to one's environment, the more ready and willing one will be to act upon one's opportunities.
I needed that. You are officially my hero of the week, just so you know.
KevBurns wrote:
So which are you, a mental body-builder or a mental couch potato?
Um, both? It kind of depends on the task at hand, which is a bit of a problem. Sometimes I'm Charles Atlas; sometimes I'm Homer Simpson.
"Peculiar travel suggestions are dancing lessons from God." -- Kurt Vonnegut
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#11 2006-02-03 21:49:24
Re: Meditation found to increase brain size
Wow,
I'm Famous!
I know what you mean about playing the roles of Atlas and Homer.
Stability is something that I've been working a lot recently to get a better handle on.
In the end i believe that I have found myself mistaken to think that I have the ability to exercise any reasonable amount of control over who I am. I think the most we can hope to do in directing our lives is to pay close attention to how the world around us effects our emotions, and try our best to respond accordingly.
A difficult task in a society so wrought with complacency as ours.
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