Meditation may cause empathy
Andrew Cross, Daily Vidette Staff
Issue date: 4/8/08 Section: News
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin have determined that meditation may increase a person's ability to empathize with other individuals.
Antoine Lutz, a neuroscientist, and Richard Davidson, a professor of psychology and psychiatry, divided subjects into two groups.
One group consisted of experts in meditation, or those who had practiced meditation for at least 10,000 hours prior to the study.
The other group was made up of beginners who had only just previously learned the basic techniques of meditation.
All subjects were asked to perform "compassion meditation" while inside a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine. Participants were subjected to positive, negative and neutral sounds and their brain activity responses were noted.
Compassion meditation involves relaxation and regulated breathing while reflecting upon one's attitude toward others.
Lutz and Davidson found that brain activity levels were higher in both groups while meditating than while not meditating. The group of experts, however, had even higher levels of activity than the novice group.
"There is strong evidence that emotions are at least partially represented in the amygdala," Ernst Niebur, associate professor of neuroscience at Johns Hopkins University, said.
The researchers found increased levels of activity in the insula and temporoparietal junction, two areas of the brain linked to empathy.
Recent research points to two particular structures that "seem to be especially relevant when we empathize with someone in pain," Clauss Lamm, a research associate in the Social Cognitive Neuroscience Lab of the University of Chicago, said. "These structures are the insula…and the anterior cingulate cortex."
"Common theories assume that both these structures are involved in what we call interoceptive awareness, that is the ability to be aware of one's own feelings and sensations," Lamm added.
"Such awareness seems to be a key factor in the experience of empathy, which we see as a combination of emotional reactions instigated by someone else, and the so-called appraisal of these reactions."
Lutz hopes compassion meditation can offer benefits to individuals who are depressed or struggle with aggression and violence.
"This is not the end of the story," Lamm said.
"Future studies will have to show how compassion, meditation and empathy are related."
Antoine Lutz, a neuroscientist, and Richard Davidson, a professor of psychology and psychiatry, divided subjects into two groups.
One group consisted of experts in meditation, or those who had practiced meditation for at least 10,000 hours prior to the study.
The other group was made up of beginners who had only just previously learned the basic techniques of meditation.
All subjects were asked to perform "compassion meditation" while inside a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine. Participants were subjected to positive, negative and neutral sounds and their brain activity responses were noted.
Compassion meditation involves relaxation and regulated breathing while reflecting upon one's attitude toward others.
Lutz and Davidson found that brain activity levels were higher in both groups while meditating than while not meditating. The group of experts, however, had even higher levels of activity than the novice group.
"There is strong evidence that emotions are at least partially represented in the amygdala," Ernst Niebur, associate professor of neuroscience at Johns Hopkins University, said.
The researchers found increased levels of activity in the insula and temporoparietal junction, two areas of the brain linked to empathy.
Recent research points to two particular structures that "seem to be especially relevant when we empathize with someone in pain," Clauss Lamm, a research associate in the Social Cognitive Neuroscience Lab of the University of Chicago, said. "These structures are the insula…and the anterior cingulate cortex."
"Common theories assume that both these structures are involved in what we call interoceptive awareness, that is the ability to be aware of one's own feelings and sensations," Lamm added.
"Such awareness seems to be a key factor in the experience of empathy, which we see as a combination of emotional reactions instigated by someone else, and the so-called appraisal of these reactions."
Lutz hopes compassion meditation can offer benefits to individuals who are depressed or struggle with aggression and violence.
"This is not the end of the story," Lamm said.
"Future studies will have to show how compassion, meditation and empathy are related."
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
lewis
posted 4/10/08 @ 10:22 AM CST
there is a really interesting conversation between Richard Davidson and Daniel Goleman (the author of Emotional Intelligence) regarding Davidson's meditation research. (Continued…)
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