Eight Weeks of Meditation, Measurable Changes: Revisiting a Landmark Study
In 2011, researchers used MRI to compare brains before and after a mindfulness course. What they found helped move meditation from the fringe to the mainstream.
Member storyFree to read until January 2027. After that, Member stories are $5 a month.How membership works →
The study, led by Britta Hölzel and colleagues at Massachusetts General Hospital, scanned participants before and after an eight-week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program. They reported increases in gray matter concentration in regions linked to learning, memory and emotional regulation.
Later research has refined, and sometimes questioned, the size of those effects, which is how science is supposed to work. What has held up is the broader finding that a regular practice changes how people experience stress.
How did this land?
Talk about it with the circles
Tomorrow on Astronaria · A new card, a new number, a new reading for your signEverything resets at midnight. Get it in your inbox at 6:30 a.m.