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augusti 08, 2003
Forskning om meditationens påverkan
Alterations in Brain and Immune Function Produced by Mindfulness Meditation (PDF) av Richard J. Davidson et.al. beskriver forskning kring hjärnans påverkan av meditation. Rapporten är publicerad i Psychosomatic Medicine. De har funnit vissa positiva effekter.
Abstract: OBJECTIVE: The underlying changes in biological processes that are associated with reported changes in mental and physical health in response to meditation have not been systematically explored. We performed a randomized, controlled study on the effects on brain and immune function of a well-known and widely used 8-week clinical training program in mindfulness meditation applied in a work environment with healthy employees.
METHODS: We measured brain electrical activity before and immediately after, and then 4 months after an 8-week training program in mindfulness meditation. Twenty-five subjects were tested in the meditation group. A wait-list control group (N = 16) was tested at the same points in time as the meditators. At the end of the 8-week period, subjects in both groups were vaccinated with influenza vaccine.
RESULTS: We report for the first time significant increases in left-sided anterior activation, a pattern previously associated with positive affect, in the meditators compared with the nonmeditators. We also found significant increases in antibody titers to influenza vaccine among subjects in the meditation compared with those in the wait-list control group. Finally, the magnitude of increase in left-sided activation predicted the magnitude of antibody titer rise to the vaccine.
CONCLUSIONS: These findings demonstrate that a short program in mindfulness meditation produces demonstrable effects on brain and immune function. These findings suggest that meditation may change brain and immune function in positive ways and underscore the need for additional research.
Posted by hakank at augusti 8, 2003 07:16 EM Posted to Diverse
Comments
Finns även en relaterad bok av en neurolog vid namn James H. Austin som jag fått rekommenderad: Zen and the Brain. Har inte läst den själv, dock.
Posted by: Peter Lindberg at augusti 8, 2003 08:57 EM
Tack för tipset.
Boken får dock ligga i min TO ORDER-lista ett tag.
Posted by: Håkan Kjellerstrand at augusti 9, 2003 12:51 FM