From Panic to Peace: The Neuroscience Behind Meditation
Dawnbe Yu
At some point in our lives, whether it be facing a nerve-wracking final exam, a daunting job interview, or simply navigating the pressures of daily responsibilities, we have experienced stress. Even though stress is a natural human response to life’s challenges, it triggers a multitude of physiological and psychological reactions that impact our well-being. While stress is not inherently negative, chronic, or long-term stress can lead to debilitating symptoms and be a risk factor for many serious illnesses. As a result, many struggle to find effective ways to manage their stress (stressing over stress- ironic right?). Hence, clinical neuroscientists aim not only to investigate the significance of stress, but also to discover potential coping mechanisms and their effects on our brains, bodies, and behaviors.
When faced with apprehension, we often hear the simple advice- ‘just breathe’. It is a simple reminder to pause and refocus our attention on our breath, but is it as easy as it sounds? Could a coping mechanism for stress have been right under our noses all along? Sure, 'just breathe’ might seem a thoughtless, trite remark, but it highlights a fundamental concept called “mindful breathing”, which is at the heart of many meditation practices. As Eastern traditions become more popular in Western wellness culture, integrating mindfulness into your daily routine can offer profound benefits. Recent research provides support that these meditative techniques effectively alleviate stress as well as promote bodily awareness and reduce depression and anxiety symptoms. One method through which neuroscientists can achieve this is the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). Originally created for chronically ill patients who did not respond well to traditional treatments, MBSR is now widely used and includes a variety of meditative techniques, breathing exercises, yoga, and group meetings.
Researchers at Vietnam National University have demonstrated that this customizable and cost-effective therapy program has shown promising results. Over an 8-week period, college students in low-middle income countries participated in MBSR while researchers collected data based on the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-42) and electroencephalogram (EEG) signals during stress-induced cognitive tasks. The DASS-42 is a self-report questionnaire that assesses negative emotions while the EEG measures brain waves, or electrical impulses through which brain cells communicate. Each test was measured before MBSR, after, and two months following in order to compare differences and identify any long-term benefits. Results indicated that while the control group’s scores remained unchanged throughout the three data collecting sessions, the experimental group’s scores for DASS-42 substantially decreased between the first and third session, revealing an overall improvement in emotional wellbeing following the mindfulness-based training. Furthermore, the EEG results showed that the MBSR intervention was correlated with a sustained increase in alpha band power in the frontal, temporal, and occipital lobes. The alpha band power is a measure that depicts a state of stress reduction and relaxation, suggesting that those who underwent MBSR “might reflect the improvement of internal processing… enhanced ability to direct attention internally, with a decrease in thought dispersion”, according to the researchers involved in the study.
While the MBSR program itself does require certified instructors, it is one example of numerous methods of meditation that offer affordable alternatives to basic mental health intervention and wellness practice. I know as a college student myself, I would benefit immensely from mindful breathing exercises during finals season!
In addition, a study conducted by Adrienne Taren investigated how the neural mechanisms behind mindfulness meditation training improve cognitive functions related to executive control such as attention and working memory. This suggests a relationship between mindfulness meditation and increased functional connectivity, or in other words, more interactions between different parts of the brain. In this study, thirty-five adults who were experiencing high levels of psychological distress participated in a 3-day randomized controlled trial of either relaxation training or mindfulness meditation. Researchers utilized functional magnetic resonance, or fMRI scans, which measure changes in blood flow and depict which parts of the brain are most active.
Through comparing before and after brain imaging, they found that the mindfulness meditation training increased connections between the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) and other brain regions involved in executive functions. Specifically, the left dlPFC showed stronger connections with areas responsible for decision-making and attention, while the right dlPFC connected more with regions linked to cognitive control. These findings suggest that mindfulness training enhances brain connectivity in networks crucial for managing stress and improving mental focus, offering insights into how meditation can greatly aid individuals under high psychological distress.
While meditation cannot cure diseases and should not replace conventional medical treatments, it is important to recognize its complementary role and its therapeutic value in promoting overall well-being. Perhaps with neuroscience research revealing evidence of both physiological and psychological changes, more people will consider meditation as a valid method of de-stressing. By embracing mindfulness as a powerful tool in de-escalating stressful situations, caring for our emotional health, and cultivating more balanced lives, individuals can learn to better manage this demanding world. So, the next time you feel a moment of panic, remember to ‘just breathe’.
published XX/XX/2024