Scientists have found that a kind of Chinese mindfulness meditation practice is linked with actual physical changes in the brain — changes that may even have protective effects against mental illness.Researchers from the University of Oregon studied past data from a 2010 study of 45 undergraduate students, as well as a past study on 68 students at the Dalian University of Technology in China, who practiced integrative body-mind training. The meditation technique places heavy emphasis on being aware of the mind, body and environment.Using diffusion tensor imaging, a kind of MRI imaging technique, the researchers were able to look at the brain structure changes that occurred in connection with the mindfulness meditation practice.The researchers found that after two weeks of practicing this kind of meditation, the study participants had an increase in the number of signaling connections in the brain, called axonal density.

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