The is linked to positive emotions, increased

The main premise in the article, What is Meditation and How It Affects OurBrains, written by Belle Beth Cooper is that meditation positively affectsour brains. She singles out two specific types of meditation that creates thiseffect: focused-attention meditation, also referred to as mindful meditation, andopen-monitoring meditation. In focused-attention meditation, an individual’sfocus is centered on one thing while in open-monitoring meditation, an individual’sfocus is on multiple things.

Belle Beth Cooper states that during meditationthe brain sees a decrease in beta waves which are viewed via fMRI scans. Thefollowing are four pieces of evidence used by Cooper to support her mainpremise. Firstly, meditation improves attention (Cooper, 2016). Cooper statesthat the more meditation an individual does, the better their ability to focusand control their attention (2016). The research article from where thisinformation originates states that an improvement in attention is noted due toan increase in perceptual sensitivity as a result of an improvement in visualdiscrimination (MacLean et al., 2010).

Furthermore, Cooper states thatmeditation improves memory (2016). She states that focused-attention meditationleads to an adjustment in brain waves which minimize distractions to increaseproductivity leading to rapid memorization and recall (Cooper, 2016). Subsequently, regular meditation increases compassion and empathy (Cooper, 2016). Cooper cites a 2008 study which found that upon hearing sounds ofindividuals suffering there was an increased activation in the part of thebrain tied to empathy, the temporal parietal junctures, as compared to thecontrol group (2016). Lastly, the hippocampus and frontal area of the braindepict an increase in gray matter (Cooper, 2016).

Gray matter is linked topositive emotions, increased emotional stability and attention (Cooper, 2016). Hence, regular meditation is beneficial for our minds.