Meditation

New research suggests that the brain displays a similar pattern of chaotic activity during meditation as it does during the psychedelic experience. The findings, published in the journal Neuroscience, indicate that meditation is associated with increased brain entropy. "We are...

College students who complete an eight-week compassion meditation class tend to write more optimistic letters to a convicted murderer, according to new research published in the scientific journal Cognition and Emotion. The findings indicate the some forms of meditation can...

Active meditative techniques appear to be more effective at reducing migraine severity than distraction techniques, according to research published in the journal Complementary Therapies in Medicine. "Meditation practice has been associated with improved pain and decreased migraine headaches frequency in...

Many military veterans who receive care through the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) are using mindfulness meditation, according to new research. But nearly all of them appear to be using it outside the VHA. The findings have been published in the...

New scientific research published in the journal Memory & Cognition provides evidence that a brief mindfulness meditation exercise can enhance verbal learning. "A number of studies have shown that mindfulness can improve cognitive abilities, including certain verbal abilities. However, little...

Teaching medical and psychology students to increase their awareness of habitual patterns of thought can have enduring positive effects on mental distress and coping strategies, according to new research published in the journal Mindfulness. In the study, 288 students from...

Experienced meditators and people who are more mindful tend to score higher on several measures of social cognition, such as emotional recognition, according to new research published in Frontiers in Psychology. Despite the growing interested in meditation, "little is known...

In new research published in Psychoneuroendocrinology, scientists have shown that loving-kindness meditation has a positive impact at the cellular level. The study examined how different types of meditation influenced telomere length, an indicator of physiological aging. Telomeres are the end...

Meditation and yoga practice is associated with smaller right amygdala volume, a brain region involved in emotional processing, according to research published in Brain Imaging and Behavior. For their study, the researchers analyzed data that had been collected during the...

New research indicates that psilocybin-assisted mindfulness meditation is associated with changes in functional brain connectivity -- and these changes are related to an altered state of consciousness known as ego dissolution. The findings appear in the journal NeuroImage. A team...

Mindfulness meditation appears to have beneficial effects on various aspects of life. But new research suggests that mindfulness doesn't automatically enhance only the good side of people. The study, published in the European Journal of Social Psychology, provides preliminary evidence...

Mindfulness meditation training is associated with changes in resting-state brain activity, according to new research conducted with elementary school students. The study, published in the Journal of Psychophysiology, provides new insights into why mindfulness meditation could be effective in improving...

Mindfulness meditation programs have shown promise for the treatment of anxiety. Now, new research may help explain why. According to a study published in Biological Psychiatry, mindfulness meditation appears to help extinguish fearful associations. "Mindfulness interventions have been shown to...

Meditation and vacations appear to have overlapping effects, according to new research in The Journal of Positive Psychology. The study found that both meditation exercises and vacationing were associated with higher levels of wellbeing and increased mindfulness. "This research was...

New research suggests that people who meditate could end up decreasing negative emotions not only in themselves but in their relationship partners as well. The new findings have been published in the European Journal of Social Psychology. "Most research on...