Meditation does a brain good

The secret to a healthy body and an open mind may lie in just that: lying still, or meditating, changes basic human neurology, a Harvard professor says.

About 30 Boston University students and staff members came to the Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences Monday evening to hear Harvard University history of science professor Anne Harrington discuss the effects that meditation has on the brain in "Eastern Brains: Probing the Partnership Between Buddhism and the Brain Sciences."

The lecture, hosted by the Albert and Jessie Danielson Institute - a mental health clinic and research center at BU - is part of a three-year series about religious and psychological well-being, Danielson Institute Executive Director Robert Neville said in his introduction.

"Long-term meditation rewires the brain and can make a person happier and maybe even healthier," Harrington said during the lecture. "In a 1969 study conducted by Robert Keith Wallace, monks who had been meditating for 20 or 30 years showed levels of attentiveness that were 30 times higher than those of controls."

Another study showed people sitting quietly and repeating their mantra, usually a symbolic syllable or poem, for 20 minutes displayed a decrease in metabolism, breathing rate and brain wave frequency, which lowers blood pressure and the risk of heart disease caused by stress, Harrington said.

Harrington focused on the history of the relationship between the world of neuroscience and Tibetan Buddhism. America's obsession with Eastern culture began in the 1960s, she said, when people turned toward meditation as a drug-free route to expanding their consciousness.

That relationship has gone through trials and tribulations since then, as some neurologists argue that the brain cannot be altered by outside forces, Harrington said.

"Some people think that neurology is the most important thing, that there is nothing more precious than the brain - there is no magic left," Harrington said in an interview. "But neuroscience can have soul. Tibetan Buddhists re-spiritualize neuroscience."

The hour-long lecture was followed by a question and answer session.

"The lecture was really interesting," College of Arts and Sciences junior Tessa Sanchez said. "I came with my boyfriend, who is a Buddhism and Psychology major, but I learned a lot about the history of the relationship between Buddhism and science."

CAS sophomore Courtney Allen said she came to the lecture to help her in her eastern religions class.

"I was interested in Buddhism and wanted to learn more about it since the Eastern culture is not that widespread in the U.S.," Allen said.

CAS sophomore Alissa Kuzinas, another attendee, said she learned about the science behind Buddhism and meditation.

"I never thought meditation could be used as a form of therapy," Kuzinas said.