Successful Aging: A Neuroscientist Explores the Power and Potential of Our Lives

by Daniel J. Levitin

Long-term meditators show structural changes in the brain as well, including increases in cortical thickness, hippocampal gray-matter density, and the size of the hippocampus. Additional changes are enlargement of the insula, somatomotor areas, orbitofrontal cortex, parts of the prefrontal cortex that help in paying attention and in self-awareness, and regions of the cingulate cortex instrumental in self-regulation and staying focused. Even brief meditation reduces fatigue and anxiety and increases visuospatial processing, working memory, and executive functioning, and in many cases these benefits persist even after meditation practice is stopped. Meditators show lower levels of cortisol following a stressful task and decreased inflammation, not just during meditation, but day-to-day, and the benefits show up after as little as four weeks (or thirty hours) of mindfulness practice.