Meditation is a practice that involves the self-regulation of the body and mind to achieve mental, physical and spiritual well-being. The main mechanism of meditation is the training of attention and awareness to bring automatic mental and physical processes under voluntary control, thereby inducing a state of calmness, heightened alertness, and blissfulness[1]. Recent research indicates that such experiences produced by meditation practices can be related to changes in default mode network (DMN) activity, where meditation appears to reduce activity in the main nodes related to generation of wandering thoughts, and increase connectivities of regions implicated in cognitive control and self-awareness[2]. Neuroimaging studies also indicate a number of functional and structural changes related to meditation, such as thickening of cortical gray matter[3]. These cortical changes seem to link meditation with a number of long-term effects on learning and plasticity, stress and depression, and pain perception. Furthermore, meditation has been shown to have positive effects for people diagnosed with epilepsy, possibly through inducing cortical thickening and changes in DMN connectivity[4]. Meditation has been shown to have some clinical applications, and have been integrated into therapies such as Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). Through current scientific literature, it is clear that mediation is not just a spiritual practice, but also one that neuroscientists should take seriously in their understanding and research.
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https://neurowiki2012.wikispaces.com/Mindfulness+Practices+and+Meditation
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