Meditation Works for Increasing Brain Functions

Published on the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) website as well as in the June issue of PLOS Biology are findings from new research that supports previous evidence indicating that meditation increases attention span and the brain’s ability to focus and process multiple pieces of information.

Attention-blink is a term that describes how the brain takes in two pieces of information when presented in close succession.

Generally when this occurs the brain does not take in the second piece of information because it is still digesting the first. But for a person who has an intensely disciplined mind from mental training as a result of meditation, attention-blink is thought to be significantly reduced.

The study compared novice meditators to those who had been practicing long enough to be considered experts. At the end of a three-month testing period researchers discovered that the experts who practiced intensive meditations were more likely to process both pieces of presented information, thereby reducing attention-blink.

So, in addition to the natural health benefits of meditation that we already know of, such as slowing the heart rate and working as a natural cure for high blood pressure, we can now safely assume that meditation also aids in faster brain functioning.