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January
5000 Synapses in the Width of a Hair How much
change in the brain makes a difference?
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How much change in the brain makes a difference
in the mind?
That's the issue raised by a very interesting
comment regarding my previous column "The Brain in
a Bucket."
So I've taken the liberty of posting the comment
here, and then responding. Here it is:
I was pondering your statement that long term
meditators show a thickening in certain areas of
the brain. As I understand it, the volume of the
skull is fixed in adults. This would seem to
require that if one part thickens, another part
must be reduced. I am curious as to whether anyone
has considered what the implications of a loss of
volume in these other areas might be. I enjoyed
your article, and look forward to more on the topic
of neurology and meditation.
While the size of the skull is indeed fixed in
adulthood, we can both lose gray matter volume due
to the normal effects of aging and gain it through
mental training of one kind or another. For
instance, one study showed that the hippocampus
(really hippocampi, since there is one on each side
of the brain, but convention is usually to refer to
neural regions in the singular), of London taxi
drivers is thicker after their training, which
makes sense since the hippocampus is deeply
involved with spatial memory.
But the size of these changes in volume is very
small, so they do not "bump up against" the skull.
For example, the increased thickness in the brains
of meditators - seen in one of the cooler studies
in this field - amounted to about 1/200th of an
inch. This may not seem like much but is a BIG
change in the density of synaptic networks when you
can fit about 5000 synapses in the width of a human
hair.
The point is that small changes in daily
activities - meditating instead of sleeping in,
driving a cab instead of working in an office - can
make changes in the brain that seem small but
actually create big changes in the mind. And that
fact opens the door to amazing opportunities.
©2010, Rick
Hanson
* * *
There is no cure for birth and death
save to enjoy the interval.
- George Santayana
Rick Hanson
is a neuropsychologist and author of
Buddha's
Brain: The practical neuroscience of
happiness, love
& wisdom with
Rick Mendius and Mother Nurture: A Mother's
Guide to Health in Body, Mind, and Intimate
Relationships. A summa cum laude graduate of
UCLA who received his doctorate from the Wright
Institute in Berkeley, CA, he founded the
Wellspring Institute for Neuroscience and
Contemplative Wisdom, edits the Wise Brain
Bulletin, and writes a blog for PsychologyToday.com
as well as a weekly newsletter called Just One
Thing; his articles have also appeared in Tricycle
Magazine, Insight Journal, Inquiring Mind, and
Buddhist Geeks on-line magazine. He teaches
regularly at universities and meditation centers in
Europe, Australia, and North America, and has audio
programs with Sounds True. Rick began meditating in
1974 and has practiced in several traditions; he
was a board member at Spirit Rock Meditation Center
for nine years and is a graduate of its Community
Dharma Leaders program. He leads a regular
meditation gathering in San Rafael, CA. Currently a
Trustee of Saybrook University, he was also
President of the Board of FamilyWorks, a non-profit
agency. He and his wife have two adult children.
www.RickHanson.net
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