How does transcendental meditation affect the human brain?

Description: http://www.davidlynchfoundation.org/ In this clip from the launch of Operation Warrior Wellness NYC at the Urban Zen Center, neuroscientist Dr. Fred Travis provides an insight into how Transcendental Meditation can help restructure the parts of the brain that have been damaged by severe trauma. He explains how the brain functions and how every experience we have changes the brain: Traumatic experiences physically change the brain structure, effecting memory, fight or flight response, and causing fragmentation in the brain. He goes on to explain how Transcendental Meditation actually gives the brain a uniquely healing experience that restores integrated functioning to the brain—and holistic thinking to the mind.

Listening to music lights up the whole brain

Researchers have developed a groundbreaking new method that allows to study how the brain processes different aspects of music, such as rhythm, tonality and timbre (sound color) in a realistic listening situation.

Tuning out: How brains benefit from meditation

Experienced meditators seem to be able switch off areas of the brain associated with daydreaming as well as psychiatric disorders such as autism and schizophrenia, according to a new brain imaging study by Yale researchers.

Unexplained communication between brain hemispheres without corpus callosum

Could the brain be using electromagnetic fields to communicate between hemispheres

13 year old researcher finds tree inspired solar collection more efficient

(PhysOrg.com) -- Aidan Dwyer, a 13 year old Junior High School student from New York state, noticed that the phyllotaxy of the leaves on trees he was observing while hiking through the Catskill Mountains, did so in the form of a Fibonacci sequence. Wondering if there was a reason for it, he deduced that it might be because such an arrangement provides the most efficient means of solar power collection for the trees. To find out if this was the case, he built a small solar tree from PVC pipe and small solar panels, then built another in a normal flat panel array, attached voltage readers to both, and lo and behold, discovered the tree model array was indeed more efficient, at least during times of low or indirect sunlight. Dwyer won a Young Naturist Award for his efforts after writing and submitting his essay, The Secret of the Fibonacci Sequence in Trees.

Yoga boosts stress-busting hormone, reduces pain, study finds

A new study finds that practicing yoga reduces the physical and psychological symptoms of chronic pain in women with fibromyalgia. The study is the first to look at the effects of yoga on cortisol levels in women with fibromyalgia. Participants

Whale thanks saviors with incredible ‘dance’

This week the amazing story of how Michael Fishbach saved a humpback whale that was entangled in a mesh of netting has taken the online community by storm. The

Brain co-opts the body to promote moral behavior, study finds

The human brain may simulate physical sensations to prompt introspection, capitalizing on moments of high emotion to promote moral behavior, according to a researcher.

Does quantum theory explains consciousness?

Just because consciousness is a mystery and quantum theory is mysterious, it doesn't mean they're connected.

'Time' not necessarily deeply rooted in our brains. In the Amazonian rainforest a small tribe have successfully managed to ignore the pressures of time so successfully that they don’t even have a word for it

(Medical Xpress) -- Hidden away in the Amazonian rainforest a small tribe have successfully managed what so many dream of being able to do – to ignore the pressures of time so successfully that they don’t even have a word for it.

Music changes perception, research shows

Music is not only able to affect your mood -- listening to particularly happy or sad music can even change the way we perceive the world, according to new research.

Tai Chi appears to benefit quality of life for patients with chronic heart failure, study finds

Tai chi exercise appears to be associated with improved quality of life, mood and exercise self-efficacy in patients with chronic heart failure, according to a new study.

Functional MRI shows how mindfulness meditation changes decision-making process

Neuroimaging research shows that Buddhist meditators use different areas of the brain than other people when confronted with unfair choices, enabling them to make decisions rationally rather than emotionally.