Meditating for seven days rewires the brain

Meditating for just seven days completely rewires your brain.  It is as powerful as taking a psychedelic drug—and, as well as improving brain function, intense meditation also boosts immune signalling and increases natural pain relief chemicals in the blood.

Researchers from the University of California at San Diego followed the impact of meditation on a group of 20 healthy people who took part in a seven-day residential retreat which included lectures and 33 hours of guided meditation—which means they were meditating for slightly under five hours each day.

The brains of the participants were monitored before and after the retreat, and blood samples were also monitored.  In tests carried out after the retreat had finished, researchers found that activity decreased in regions of the brain linked to internal mental chatter, suggesting more efficient brain function; blood plasma collected after the retreat encouraged lab-grown neurons to extend and form new connections; cells exposed to post-retreat plasma showed increased glycolytic (sugar-burning) metabolism, indicating improved metabolic flexibility; levels of endogenous opioids, the body’s natural painkillers, rose following the retreat; both inflammatory and anti-inflammatory signals increased, pointing to a balanced and adaptive immune response, and small RNA and gene activity shifted in ways linked to brain-related biological pathways.

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