The Science of Mindfulness
Neuroplasticity
“One of the most important findings in past twenty years or so regarding our understanding of the brain has been the discovery that our brain constantly changes in response to what it experiences.”
“One of the most important findings in past twenty years or so regarding our understanding of the brain has been the discovery that our brain constantly changes in response to what it experiences.”
Research shows that how we use our brains – and particularly what we pay attention to and practice repeatedly – actually gets hardwired into it.
The brain can be thought of as a muscle that becomes stronger and more capable as it is used. What is even more fascinating is the fact that mental rehearsal produces exactly the same changes.
But it’s not only what we pay attention to that matters: how we pay attention is also critical. Studies show that when we are not paying attention to something, the brain clicks over into what we call default mode. You are probably quite familiar with this mode, characterized by inattention, judgement, criticism, mind wandering, and doing things on autopilot rather than experiencing things as they actually are. This impairs our ability to appraise accurately, think clearly, concentrate, and learn.
This habit is so ingrained in most of us that we are not even aware it is taking place.
Simply starting to notice what our attention is on immediately begins to change the habit of inattention. Simply by training our attention to be in the present, the default mode of the brain becomes less prevalent.
Executive Function
One of the key areas of the brain associated with the capacity to pay attention is the prefrontal cortex (PFC).
Cortex = surface
Prefrontal = area just behind forehead
One of the last parts to form and one of the most complex. Key region involved in executive functioning. It is the control panel of the brain that regulates planning, reasoning, problem solving, focusing and directing attention, short term memory, mental flexibility, managing emotions, controlling intentional behavior, and inhibiting unwanted behaviors.
If we are unmindful, the ability to project into the future and the past comes at a significant cost, because we lose the ability to discern between imagination and reality. When in default mode, we can imagine and remember things that are distressing and reduce our capacity to get a job done.
Mindfulness helps us to distinguish the reality of the present moment from imagination.
We become better at consciously responding to events rather than habitually reacting to them.
All text from Mindful Learning by Dr. Craig Hassed and Dr. Richard Chambers
The brain can be thought of as a muscle that becomes stronger and more capable as it is used. What is even more fascinating is the fact that mental rehearsal produces exactly the same changes.
But it’s not only what we pay attention to that matters: how we pay attention is also critical. Studies show that when we are not paying attention to something, the brain clicks over into what we call default mode. You are probably quite familiar with this mode, characterized by inattention, judgement, criticism, mind wandering, and doing things on autopilot rather than experiencing things as they actually are. This impairs our ability to appraise accurately, think clearly, concentrate, and learn.
This habit is so ingrained in most of us that we are not even aware it is taking place.
Simply starting to notice what our attention is on immediately begins to change the habit of inattention. Simply by training our attention to be in the present, the default mode of the brain becomes less prevalent.
Executive Function
One of the key areas of the brain associated with the capacity to pay attention is the prefrontal cortex (PFC).
Cortex = surface
Prefrontal = area just behind forehead
One of the last parts to form and one of the most complex. Key region involved in executive functioning. It is the control panel of the brain that regulates planning, reasoning, problem solving, focusing and directing attention, short term memory, mental flexibility, managing emotions, controlling intentional behavior, and inhibiting unwanted behaviors.
If we are unmindful, the ability to project into the future and the past comes at a significant cost, because we lose the ability to discern between imagination and reality. When in default mode, we can imagine and remember things that are distressing and reduce our capacity to get a job done.
Mindfulness helps us to distinguish the reality of the present moment from imagination.
We become better at consciously responding to events rather than habitually reacting to them.
All text from Mindful Learning by Dr. Craig Hassed and Dr. Richard Chambers