Wow! Lots of interest in meditation lately. The study suggests that meditation does something, as opposed to nothing. I imagine watching TV for 8 weeks changes

Wow! Lots of interest in meditation lately. The study suggests that meditation does something, as opposed to nothing. I imagine watching TV for 8 weeks changes brain structure too. Neuroscience based on imaging has a long way to go, but we have to start somewhere, right? As for haecib's point about improvements in cognitive function, I say it's tough to measure in the global sense we really care about. What's the value of being a more kind and patient person? Can you measure cleverness? Current tests of cognitive function are things like working memory (somebody must have tested that -- I'll look), phonemic fluency, etc. Did you know that "long working hours may have a negative effect on cognitive performance in middle age."[1] Is Hacker News going to start covering meditation? Great! in the meantime, here are two more articles that might interest readers of this topic. This is Your Brain on Meditation, quote: "Science and meditation teachings are exactly parallel" he explained "but they don't speak the same language."[2] Can Meditation Cure Disease?[3] [1] http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/content/169/5/596.full http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/content/169/5/596.full [2] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/28/this-is-your-brain-on-med_n_628268.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/28/this-is-your-brain-... [3] http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-12-25/can-meditation-cure-disease/ http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-12-25/ca...