MIT Study: Meditation Changes Brain

alt.yoga, alt.meditation.transcendental, sci.skpetic, sci.med added to mix

I listened to the show. I was VERY disappointed. The participants (was a Dr. Moore, not a Dr. Ochsner, BTW), were not at all familiar with meditation research in general, and were locked into a Buddhist meditative perspective.

Ironically, Dr. Moore pooh-poohed research on Transcendental Meditation by implying that it was guided by the beliefs of the researchers, while constantly implying strongly that the "real" meditation research was verifying what we already know about how the brain works (so much for scientific impartiality and open-mindedness). The example he gave was how meditation was using what neuroscientists had already found about how one uses plasticity in brain: train one to have a specific intent and the brain will consistently change.

As everyone who learns TM knows, there little-to-no intent involved in TM, likewise with Zen. According to TM theory, at least, the most dramatic and consistent changes in global brainwave patterns take place during meditation in the long-term BECAUSE there is no intent or control and in fact, there are radically different EEG patterns found in the various Buddhist meditators that Dr. Moore and company have studied compared to those found both during and outside TM practice.

I got the distinct impression that neither individual was familiar with research that they hadn't done themselves, nor with researchers whom they hadn't worked with personally. This is a rather sad state of affairs for people being presented as "experts in the field."

At least the TM researchers are upfront about their own agenda, and DO perform research in buttociation with researchers who study and practice other forms of meditation.