Brain: Meditation: Grow the Brain, Grow Your IQ

From Denny: Looks like science is beginning to catch up with what the truly spiritual people already know! Meditation makes us more intelligent! And now science has figured out the obvious.

Who did the study?

The study was published in the journal NeuroImage by the researchers from The University of California at Los Angeles.

Regular meditation has been found to enlarge the size of the brain. For those who have been meditating for a very long period of time brain scans revealed they had significantly larger amounts of the little grey cells.

Which area of the brain was larger?

Researchers using an MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) scanned the brain's hippocampus because it is the area of the brain that is associated with our memory and learning ability. They found the area to be much larger in those who practiced regular meditation.

What was found in those who did not practice meditation?

Turns out the areas of their brains linked to emotion were much larger. The study inferred that with a larger emotionally area it is more difficult for a person to control their emotions.

What are the benefits of meditation to our brains?

It helps tremendously to maintain emotional control. Those who meditate are better focused and can control their emotions far better than those who do not meditate. Another benefit is reduced levels of stress which help boost the immune system. Some of this has been known from previous studies.

What has not been known until now about the link between the brain structure and meditation?

They studied 44 people, only half had practiced meditation for 5 - 46 years. They tended to meditate for between 10 - 90 minutes each day. Deep concentration was said to be part of their meditation routine.

The MRI scans verified "significantly larger cerebral measurements in meditators." It is these changes in the brain structure that might explain why meditators "have a singular ability to cultivate positive emotions," according to Eileen Luders, lead researcher, "The differences in brain anatomy might give us a clue as to why meditators have these exceptional abilities." The brain has been proven to change its structure over time as revealed in previous studies.

Summary

Researchers found in meditators increased brain size in the area of the right hippocampus and in the right frontal cortex, enlarging the brains' measurements.

For now researchers are speculating about this area of the brain so closely linked to our emotions. Eileen Luders wonders, "These might be the neuronal underpinnings that give meditators' brains the outstanding ability to regulate their emotions and allow for well-adjusted responses to whatever life throws their way."

Written by Denny Lyon

People: light play art photo

lightplay-1, originally uploaded by ardenswayoflife.

Cool art photo!

Video: How Your Brain Looks in Love

From Denny: Now this is really cutting edge. Scientists do a scan of 3 areas of the brain to see if you are in love with your spouse. They check for lust, attachment and romance areas of the brain. Very interesting explanations of what the scan depicts.

Watch this video as a writer from Esquire decided to find out how his brain looked in love with his wife vs. how he thought about a sexy actress. Brave or very stupid guy; you decide.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Word Smithing: Those Funny Sayings We Hear Every Day

Word Smithing: Those Funny Sayings We Hear Every Day

By Denny Lyon

Have you ever wondered about the origins of odd sayings?

Check out the tattooed Viking blacksmith photo!

Take a look at the short article over at HubPages.

Word cloud photo by Denny Lyon

New Link Pages: List for Fav Bloggers and Fav Links!

Links Image by cobalt123 via Flickr

From Denny: Hi, everyone! Been busy on the blog's housekeeping and you all know how much I don't like (OK, despise) housework...

The Social Poets has become a bit of the Wild Wild West. Read that as too much overwhelming info on one page. Too much on one page has really slowed down the final load time of this blog too. Surely you find it as annoying as I do! So, something had to be done and two more blog pages were born:

The Social Poets Fav Bloggers

The Social Poets Fav Links

OK, so I'm one of those people who enjoys a clean house, everything in its place, neat and orderly - I just don't like the effort it takes to do it! (Hmmm... TMI...)

Seriously though, if you are a blogger or are thinking about starting a blog, maybe try out the same idea for your convenience. For both content and link worthiness it's a great idea to have links to other blogs and sites. I just choose to do so by fitting it into my niche because I'm a total information junkie. Sigh... TMI yet again... :)

Actually, I've been wanting to expand on finding additional blogs to fit my categories and have been limited - until now. I really see the potential for how I could create additional interesting pages/related blogs!

Currently, on The Social Poets Fav Bloggers there are blogs on general musings, poetry blogs, writing blogs, political and social issues, creativity blogs, and more will be added. If you have some interesting blogs or sites you have run across (or your own) you think warrant as an addition, feel free to drop me an email with the link and I'll be glad to consider it! (Always looking for new talent as life is a team effort.)

On the links list page, The Social Poets Fav Links, there are links to my original poems (parked in various places so required a link page area), links to my friends who write poetry (let me know if you want to add your poetry page, be glad to do so to help promote fellow poets), writing sites (let me know your contribution to helping others develop their writing skills and be glad to include your site), poetry sites, music and more.

For your convenience the new links are located right before the day's post. The link pages also have a link to navigate you back to the home page of The Social Poets blog too.

Blogging is a lot of fun! Always learning how to solve "all the problems of the world." Now if world politics and world peace were just this easy...

11 May 2009 Highlights: Articles and Recipes From Dennys Blogs

Thank you, everyone, for visiting! Have a good week!

From the quotations blog, Beautiful Illustrated Quotations, to start off your work week with food for your head, an interesting famous quote about a free society, go here.

From the photography blog, Visual Insights, from a wonderful French nature photographer Denis Collette, to make your heart feel good, a beautiful floral portrait for all the mothers out there, go here.

From the comfort food blog, Comfort Food From Louisiana, there is a minimum effort chocolate cake pudding recipe slow-cooked in a crock pot, go here.

From the science blog, The Soul Calendar, to keep you updated on the latest research, there is a write-up on the latest brain study about autism in young children, go here.

From the chocolate blog, Romancing The Chocolate, there is a yummy recipe for Marcarpone Chocolate Toffee Bars from one of our favorite Food Networks chefs we like to watch at our house, Giada, go here.

From the news, humor and poetry blog, The Social Poets, be sure to check out the Roundup of the Sunday Funnies from the late night shows that appears on Mondays, go here.

From the humor blog, Ouch Outrageous Obnoxious And Odd, get your work week started off right - laughing! - there is the always funny The Onion commenting about how Americans are handling the economy, go here.

Photo by aussiegall @ flickr

Video: Update on Swine Flu Stats

From Denny: The health folks are claiming this swine flu is milder than expected - that's the good news. The bad news? It is spreading rapidly. One day it's 400 cases and the next day it's up to 700, almost doubling here in America.

What's a bit disconcerting is to look at the USA map showing the flu has spread all across the country. Then view the world map and all of North America is engulfed in this outbreak.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy