I love how more and more research is coming out in the field of neuroscience pointing to neurological correlates of things we’ve all known for years. It’s validating.
One of the number one things that drive us nuts is outside noises we can’t control. It’s the car alarm, the neighbor’s noisy stereo, or a friend’s baby who can’t stop crying. Cathy Kerr, a neuroscientist at Harvard Medical School and her colleagues recently found that meditators are quicker and more precise at adjusting the alpha wave rhythms in the brain. These are brain waves that help regulate the transmission of sensory input from the outside and are also a sign of relaxed activity in the brain.
So, as she put it in a recent NY Times article, “If you’re reading something in a noisy environment and you want to be in a bubble, you might use your alpha rhythms like a volume knob, to turn down the volume on neurons that represent sound from the outside world.”
Participants in her study who took an 8-week mindfulness course were asked to turn their attention their left hand or foot. These participants showed quicker and more precise alpha waves than the people who did not practice the meditation.
What does this mean to the rest of us?
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Ryma Hady
5:14 am on
May 7th, 2011Kindly, can i have the full title of the published article and the reference?
my feet felt very cool
Jan
8:12 am on
May 16th, 2011Could this help me deal with tinnitus. I sort of had it under control–dealing with it–but this year has been horribly stressful and it seems to plague all my waking moments. Also any online Mindfulness Meditation courses I could take? Thanks.
It may help you with tinnitus, I know there is a man in Santa Clarita, ca that uses mindfulness with tinnitus. you can try emindful.com for online courses.
heather
8:55 pm on
June 30th, 2011I really wonder if this could help autistic people who are sensitive to sensory stimuli and fall apart when there’s too much noise.
MIH
10:09 am on
October 28th, 2011Who published this? There are spelling and grammatical errors all over this document. E.g. “Souls” of the feet?
Basic spelling mistakes make me question the credibility of this website and its author
Dennis
3:50 pm on
December 15th, 2011Well, that was interesting and so simple.
I have been trying some mindfulness with breathing, but this worked much better for some odd reason. I am currently at work (by the computer) and I could just switch off this disturbing unnatural fan noise around me. When I closed my eyes, I just sank down, away, and realized how relaxed (and sleepy) I was… .probably stressed.
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