The Countless Benefits of Mindfulness Meditation

            Mindfulness meditation is a practice that has been done since the ancient times, and probably for a reason. But first off, what exactly is mindfulness meditation? Mindfulness, to start, is to be aware of the present moment without judgment. Mindfulness meditation, therefore, is to focus your attention on the present moment and to observe the things around you without judgment, while having a nonreactive response (Grabowecky).  Mindfulness meditation is a set of practices to train and habituate the mind, and most commonly it is used as attention training (Grabowecky). According to Marcia Grabowecky’s talk during our Neuroscience Seminar on November 18, 2014, there are many benefits to mindfulness meditation. These benefits include training the mind, stabilizing attention, gaining insight, cultivating particular mental and emotional states, relaxation, increases in cortical thickness, and changes in emotional reactivity in long-term meditators. Furthermore, according to recent research studies, meditation may do more than just that; it may also help boost test scores.

            In Marcia Grabowecky’s talk, she discussed the many clear benefits of mindfulness meditation, such as training the mind, stabilizing attention, gaining insight, cultivating particular mental and emotional states, stress reduction, and improved sleep. However, she also went on to explain two experiments where she found that mindfulness meditation also increased cortical thickness and caused changes in emotional reactivity in long-term meditators. In one experiment, which was a correlational study, she compared a group of meditators with a group of people who did not meditate. They discovered with fMRI imaging that the meditators, in their frontal lobes in particular, had a thicker cortex. Therefore, the study concluded that meditation is correlated to a thicker cortex (Grabowecky).

            Furthermore, another study Grabowecky did showed that meditation in long term-meditators caused changes in emotional reactivity. In the study, they had participants consist of “professional” monks, who had 10,000 to 50,000 hours of meditative experience. While the monks were meditating, the researchers played upsetting noises and looked to see the responsiveness of the monks’ amygdalas. They found that their amygdalas’ responses to negative distracting sounds decreased with years of meditative practice. Therefore, meditation can be seen to help with emotional reactivity (Grabowecky).

            Besides the benefits given by Marcia Grabowecky’s talk, Jan Hoffman, in a recent news article, discusses how meditation may also have further benefits, such as increasing one’s test scores. Researchers at the University of California, Santa Barbara, published a study in 2013 in the journal, Psychological Science. In their study, they had a group of undergraduates randomly assigned to take part in a nutrition program, and another group assigned to a two-week intensive mindfulness-training program. They had the students take a reading comprehension test from the Graduate Record Examination, before and after their assigned group (nutrition group or meditation training). They found that with the nutrition group, there was no change in scores before and after their group sessions. However, with the meditation group, their scores went from 460 before the meditation sessions, to 520 afterwards. They also found that their working memory capacity increased and their mind wandering decreased (Hoffman).

            Clearly, it has been found time and time again that there are many benefits to meditation. Such benefits include training the mind, stabilizing attention, gaining insight, cultivating particular mental and emotional states, stress reduction, improved sleep, increased cortical thickness, and decreased emotional reactivity in long-term meditators. But according to the new study by the University of California, Santa Barbara, meditation may also boost test scores by increasing working memory capacity and decreasing mind wandering.

Hoffman, Jan. "How Meditation Might Boost Your Test Scores." The New York Times. N.p., 03 Apr. 2013. Web. 29 Nov. 2014. <http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/03/how-meditation-might-boost-your-test-scores/?_r=0>.

Grabowecky, Marcia. "Meditation." Neuroscience Seminar. Loyola University Chicago, Chicago. 18 Nov. 2014. Speech.