Chinese Meditation Has Positive Impact on White Matter of Brain

Researchers at Texas Tech University who have been studying integrative body-mind training (IBMT) — the Chinese mindfulness meditation – say they have confirmed and expanded on changes in the structural efficiency of white matter in the brain, which can be related to positive behavioral changes in subjects who practice the technique for a month and a minimum of 11 hours, in total.

According to the online early edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), scientists Yi-Yuan Tang, PhD, of Texas Tech and Michael Posner, PhD, of the University of Oregon reported that improved mood changes coincided with increased brain-signaling connections. In addition, they found an expansion of myelin, the protective fatty tissue that surrounds the nerves, in the brain’s anterior cingulate region. For more information, click here to read the full release.