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Meditation Rewires Brain in Just 7 Days
10 Aug
Summary
- Seven days of intensive meditation can create new brain connections.
- Meditation may foster adaptable, more efficient brain function.
- Retreat-induced changes mirror some effects of psychedelic drugs.
Intensive meditation, even for just seven days, can lead to profound biological changes, including the formation of new brain connections. A recent study explored the effects of a short, intensive mind-body program on 20 adults who participated in a week-long residential retreat. The program involved daily lectures, guided meditation, and other practices.
Researchers utilized MRI scans before and after the retreat to observe changes in brain activity and blood flow. They discovered that meditation reduced activity in brain regions associated with internal mental chatter, potentially indicating enhanced brain efficiency. Additionally, blood plasma from participants post-retreat stimulated lab-grown neurons to develop longer branches and form more connections, suggesting increased brain adaptability.
The study also identified more inflammatory and anti-inflammatory signals in participants' blood, pointing to a complex immune system adaptation. Intriguingly, the brain changes observed during meditation shared similarities with neural connectivity patterns typically associated with psychedelic experiences. This finding suggests that meditation and psychedelics may engage overlapping brain processes, though they do not produce identical effects.
