Examine One Interaction b/t cognition and Physiology

In order to address this learning outcome, we’ll look at studies by Richard Davidson of the AMAZING UW-Madison.  This one from 2004 in which he analyzed the brain waves of monks versus non meditating indivuduals and found that Monks produced more gamma waves which contribute to increasing grey matter in the brain:

http://web.stanford.edu/group/hopes/cgi-bin/hopes_test/meditation-and-hd/

Years ago, he even famously scanned the brain of the Dalai Llama. You can read the ways in which the Dalai Llama’s brain are different here:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2944261/

Additional research by Davidson and colleagues is found below…this very recent study (2013) found that 8 weeks of mindfulness practice reduced the body’s stress response significantly:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3518553/

Additionally, Davidson conducted research with others that found gene expression altered as a result of mindfulness: 

http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-12-meditation-gene.html