Just found this interesting...
brain blinks You have more control over your ability to pay attention than you think, reports Sandra Blakeslee in The New York Times (5/8/07). A new study finds that you can, in fact, train your brain to allocate attention simply by learning how to meditate. According to Dr. Richard Davidson of the University of Wisconsin in Madison, it's "the ability to release thoughts that pop into mind that frees the brain to attend to more rapidly changing things and events in the world at large." His research builds on earlier findings "that meditation is good for the brain. It appears to increase gray matter, improve the immune system, reduce stress and promote a sense of well-being."
Dr. Davidson's study, published in , concludes that "expert meditators ... are better than other people at detecting ... fast-changing stimuli, like emotional facial expressions." He and his team tested that theory with two groups of volunteers, neither of which had any prior experience with meditation. For three months, one group meditated for 10-12 hours a day, while another did so for just 20 minutes a day. With electrodes attached to their scalps, both groups were then given "attentional blink tests" involving a series of letters with two numbers mixed in.
Everyone noticed the first number, but "the less experienced meditators tended to grasp the first number and hang onto it, so they missed the second number. Those with more experience invested less attention to the first number as if letting it go. This led to an increased ability to grasp the second number." Dr. Ron Mangun of University California, Davis, thinks the results are exciting. "We know we can learn and improve abilities of all sorts with practice, everything from driving to playing the piano. But demonstrating this in the context of meditation is interesting and novel." Breathe. Let go. Breathe. Let go


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