Scientific research shows Yoga/Meditation causes happiness

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independent.co.uk

Can Buddhists transcend mental reservations?

By Steve Connor Science Editor

22 May 2003

 

 

Buddhists who meditate may be able to train their brains to feel

genuine happiness and control aggressive instincts, research has

shown.

 

According to Owen Flanagan, professor of philosophy at Duke University

in North Carolina, Buddhists appear to be able to stimulate the left

prefrontal lobe - an area just behind the forehead - which may be why

they can generate positive emotions and a feeling of well being.

 

Writing in today's New Scientist, Professor Flanagan cites early

findings of a study by Richard Davidson, of the University of

Wisconsin, who used scanners to analyse the active regions of a

Buddhist's brain.

 

Professor Flanagan said the findings are "tantalising" because the

left prefrontal lobes of Buddhist practitioners appear to "light up"

consistently, rather than just during acts of meditation.

 

"This is significant, because persistent activity in the left

prefrontal lobes indicates positive emotions and good mood," he

writes. "The first Buddhist practitioner studied by Davidson showed

more left prefrontal lobe activity than anyone he had ever studied

before.

 

"Buddhists are not born happy. It is not reasonable to suppose that

Tibetan Buddhists are born with a 'happiness gene'. The most

reasonable hypothesis is there is something about conscientious

Buddhist practice that results in the kind of happiness we all seek,"

he writes.

 

Another study of Buddhists by scientists at the University of

California has also found that meditation might tame the amygdala, the

part of the brain involved with fear and anger.

 

Professor Flanagan writes: "Antidepressants are currently the favoured

method for alleviating negative emotions, but no antidepressant makes

a person happy. On the other hand, Buddhist meditation and

mindfulness, which were developed 2,500 years before Prozac, can lead

to profound happiness