Patty Loew:
We begin with research that could train your brain to feel more positive. Using hi-tech tools, a University of Wisconsin neuroscientist is peering inside the human brain to unlock secrets. As "In Wisconsin's" Liz Koerner reports it could lead to some very positive discoveries in Madison.
Liz Koerner:
There is a place on the UW-Madison campus where the spiritualism of the east meets the scientific inquiry of the west in the laboratory of Richard Davidson. Davidson is searching for something we all want to own, the key to happiness. And along the way, he's attracted a lot of media attention. From Madison Magazine to TIME magazine. Even Oprah. Davidson is a neuroscientist and the director of the Waisman laboratory for brain imaging and behavior at the University of Wisconsin. He's been looking into the brain for decades studying how we create and process emotions, especially happiness. In the year 2000 Davidson began a branch of research with an unusual group of subjects. He calls them long-term practitioners. What they practice is meditation. And all of them have devoted more than 10,000 hours to this mental discipline. Mathieu Ricard has traveled from Nepal five times to participate in Davidson's research and also helped design these studies. During this experiment he meditates on positive emotions like love and compassion.
Mathieu Ricard:
If we can show some evidence that altruistic love, compassion, attention, emotion and balance is a skill that can be trained you can imagine this is a conservation to society.
Man:
We're ready for the next scan, seven minutes long.
Richard Davidson:
The study as a long term practitioner is important because these are individuals who have spent a significant portion of their life in formal, intensive practice learning to train their mind. You can think of these people as the Olympic athletes of meditation.
Researcher:
Also have here to here.
Liz Koerner:
Davidson and his team wanted the find out if the brains of long-term practitioners were different both in structure and how they function especially when processing emotion. Antoine Lutz is a principal investigator.
Antoine Lutz:
We know that if you are a juggler or a violinist, your brain is going to be affected by your training.
Liz Koerner:
To study the brain, Davidson's researchers use a pair of high-tech tools, one is a head net of electrical sensors wired to a computer. It creates what's called an EEG.
Antoine Lutz:
What we're measuring here is electrical activity on the surface of the skull.
Liz Koerner:
The electrical activity reflects the intensity of brain waves produced during meditation.
Researcher:
That's the end of that block. I'm going to quickly reset things up and we'll move into the next block.
Liz Koerner:
The researchers also use functional MRI to learn more about how the brain works. This test measures oxygen consumption showing which areas of the brain are active, while the subject meditates on feelings like compassion for others, the researchers play sounds that provoke an emotional response. Both the EEG and the functional MRI data show that compared to novices the long-term practitioners have much more brain activity especially when meditating about compassion.
Antoine Lutz:
There is an indication that maybe the training that the meditation has produced some long term change in brain function, in particular the emotions.
Liz Koerner:
Further research indicates these brain changes last beyond the meditation session.
Richard Davidson:
The practices that these meditation practitioners do are really only good if they produce changes that are enduring. If they simply produce a change during the meditation period itself it would really be no different than taking a drink of alcohol.
Liz Koerner:
Davidson knew that there was a possibility that the long-term practitioners were born with this ability, that it wasn't a result of their mental training. So the researchers set out to study people who are new to meditation. They measure their brain activity before they learn to meditate and then after they've put in some practice.
Woman:
Of course, making any adjustments that you need to make to help yourself feel that balance.
Richard Davidson:
In fact, we have some new -- very new evidence that just a half hour of training a day for two weeks produces demonstrable changes that we can measure in the brain.
Liz Koerner:
These research results appear to be good news for people who want to create more happiness in their lives by practicing meditation.
Richard Davidson:
All the evidence that we now have on the topic of happiness indicates that one of the best and most enduring ways to promote one's happiness is to express compassion toward others and that actually improves our own well-being.
Patty Loew:
Richard Davidson's center for investigating healthy minds is set to open in August. Besides the neuroscience behind compassion and forgiveness they'll also focus on meditation research with children including those with autism or attention deficit disorder.
