This is your brain talking!

Ok .. so the picture caught my eye .. and then I read the content of the article; and since I have been finding a lot of interesting articles naturally coming my way of late about meditation and what happens in our brain .. I thought I would share this one with you all as well.

Last week I posted a few different meditation + brain inspired posts here & here.

This one today is from Lifehacker ("Part technology guide, part productivity tool, Lifehacker helps you organise your workday and maximise your playtime") in an article titled What Happens to the Brain When You Meditate (And How it Benefits You). 

I thought the breakdown of what is happening in this picture might be of interest; what you are seeing his how the beta waves (shown in bright colors on the left) are dramatically reduced during meditation (on the right).  But what does this mean?

Frontal lobe

This is the most highly evolved part of the brain, responsible for reasoning, planning, emotions and self-conscious awareness. During meditation, the frontal cortex tends to go offline.

Parietal lobe

This part of the brain processes sensory information about the surrounding world, orienting you in time and space. During meditation, activity in the parietal lobe slows down.

Thalamus

The gatekeeper for the senses, this organ focuses your attention by funneling some sensory data deeper into the brain and stopping other signals in their tracks. Meditation reduces the flow of incoming information to a trickle.

Reticular formation

As the brain’s sentry, this structure receives incoming stimuli and puts the brain on alert, ready to respond. Meditating dials back the arousal signal.

Interesting isn't it ..