Brain Science Podcast #44: Meditation and the Brain

Daniel Siegel, MD

In Episode 44 of the Brain Science Podcast I talk with Daniel Siegel, MD about meditation and the brain. Dr. Siegel is the author of several books including The Mindful Brain: Reflection and Attunement in the Cultivation of Well-Being. In this interview we review the scientific evidence about how mindfulness meditation changes the brain, both in terms of short term activity and in terms of long-term structural changes. The evidence is convincing that a regular mindfulness practice can be an important element of brain health.

Listen to Episode 44 of the Brain Science Podcast

Click here for detailed show notes and links

Episode 20 of Books and Ideas is an interview with forensic psychologist Delany Dean, PhD. Dr. Dean began her career as a criminal lawyer but his interest in the mind and the brain lead her to a second career as a clinical psychologist. Besides forensic psyschology she has extensive experience with therapies based on the use of mindfulness meditation. In this interview, Dr. Campbell and Dr. Dean share there personal experiences with meditation, and Dr. Dean explains why she feels mindfulness meditation provides a extremely valuable tool for helping people deal with a wide range of problems, including the stress that we all face from time to time. They also give practical advise for listeners interested in beginning a mindfulness practice.

Listen to Delany Dean's Interview.

Links and References:

Mind Expressions: Delany's Dean's blog

Teachers and Scientists mentioned in the interview:

• Jon Kabat-Zinn: pioneer in secular use of mindfulness meditation
• Marsha Linehan: another pioneer in the therapeutic use of meditation
• Sharon Salzberg: cofounder of the Insight Meditation Society
• Jeffery Schwarz, MD: pioneered the use of mindfulness in treating obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). He wrote The Mind and the Brain: Neuroplasticity and the Power of Mental Force with Sharon Begley
• Gil Fronsdal: respected teacher and director of the Insight Meditation Center in Redwood, CA

Books and Other Resources for Beginners:

• Mindfulness in Plain English by Bhante H. Gunaratana-one of Dr. Campbell's favorites
• Insight Meditation: A Step-By-Step Course on How to Meditate by Sharon Salzberg, Joseph Goldstein
• Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life by Jon Kabat-zinn
• For more books and videos go to Delany Dean's private practice site.

• Insight Meditation Society-learn more about Vipassana
• Spirit Rock- this is where Dr. Campbell did the retreat she mentions in the podcast

You can find more references at the Brain Science Podcast Discussion Forum where there is on-going thread devoted to meditation and the Brain. There is also a section for discussing episodes of Books and Ideas.

Listen to Episode 20

Subscribe to this podcast

Subscribe via iTunes™

Subscribe by email

Subscribe to Books and Ideas Blog

Leave comments at the Discussion Forum

Brain Science Podcast #10: Neuroplasticity

In this episode of the Brain Science Podcast we explore the recent research that has established, contrary to long-standing dogma, that our brains our able to change throughout our lives, based on our experience.

Listen Now

The Brain Science Podcast feed is available here.

Subscribe via iTunes™

Subscribe to Brain Science Podcast with Dr. Ginger Campbell by Email

Show Notes

The reference for this episode is Train Your Mind, Change Your Brain: How a New Science Reveals Our Extraordinary Potential to Transform Ourselves, by Sharon Begley. This book describes the 2004 meeting between the Dalai Llama and several leading neuroscientists. To learn more about these meetings go to the Mind and Life Institute website. All the studies that I mention in the podcast are referenced in the back of the book.

Here is a list of the some of the scientists and there work.

• Michael Meany- McGill University. He has shown that the way that a mother rat treats her babies determine which genes in the baby's brain are turned on and which are turned off.
• Fred Gage- the Salk Institute His work with lab animals to showed that adult brains do change. (more from Google)
• Helen Neville-University of Oregon. She has shown that the auditory and visual cortexes are rewired in people who are born blind or deaf.
• Phillip Shaver-UC-Davis. He is a pioneer in attachment theory: how people's sense of emotional security, acquired in childhood, effects their adult behavior including their response to other ethnic groups and their willingness to help others
• Richard Davidson-Wisconsin. He has done studies showing how the brain is changed by meditation

• Edward Taub- University of Alabama in Birmingham. He helped develop a revolutionary treatment for stroke victims
• Jeffery Schwartz-UCLA. He has used mindfulness meditation to treat obsessive compulsive disorder, showing that meditation can change the brain in beneficial ways.
• Jon Kabat-Zinn- University of Massachusetts. He has done many years of work using mindfulness meditation to treat stress related diseases.

More Links of Interest:

• Fast Forword™ Treatment for Dsylexia

• Imposed Constraint Treatment for Stroke
  • Auto CITE at the VA
  • Stroke Registry Clinical Trials
    
  • Taub Therapy at UAB

• Treatment of Anxiety Disorders with Mindfulness Meditation
  • Dr. Jeffery Schwartz

• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Depression
  • Brain Changes are different from those caused by medications
  • more Google links on how the brain changes

I am sure this list is incomplete. If you have a question or comment about a topic mentioned on the show, leave a comment below or send me email at docartemis at gmail.com