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Richie Davidson, a professor of psychology and psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison takes the mind seriously. After many years of using electrophysiology and functional magnetic resonance imaging to measure patterns of electrical impulses and brain functioning in the study of emotional development, he turned his attention to studying the relationship between the mind and the brain, and he hypothesized that by controlling our minds we can actually change the structure of our brains. “Our brains are dynamic, alive, shifting, and with effort and input, can be pushed in the direction we choose” (Davidson, 2007).

For the past few years, Davidson has worked in collaboration with Tibetan monks (including the Dalai Lama) to study the impact of mental exercise during meditation on functional and structural changes in the human brain. Meditation is used to quiet the mind. Davidson has been able to demonstrate that when experienced monks meditate, there is an initial increase in activity in their prefrontal cortex, the area of the brain most involved in paying attention, but after a short while, as their concentration requires less effort, these activity levels return to baseline.

In class today, we were perhaps too quick to accept Crick’s theory. Where were the observations? Were we more accepting of this position because we rely so heavily on drugs? Because we see great distances between spirituality and scientific “reality?”
Davidson’s research has not been universally accepted. Like Davidson, I am very interested in exploring meditation and mind control. He may not yet have discovered “the mind” but his research demonstrating how intensive training of the mind can change brain function (and possibly structure) is certainly intriguing.