Sara Lazar's Meditation Research website Mass General HospitalHarvard Medical School
Come meet our team See our research Participate Some interesting quotes Some interesting links back to the front page back to the front page  

Articles

Lazar SW, Bush G, Gollub RL, Fricchione GL, Khalsa G, Benson H. Functional brain mapping of the relaxation response and meditation. NeuroReport, 11: 1581-1585, 2000.

Lazar SW, Kerr C, Wasserman RH, Gray JR, Greve D, Treadway MT, McGarvey M, Quinn BT, Dusek JA, Benson H, Rauch SL, Moore CI, Fischl B. Meditation experience is associated with increased cortical thickness. NeuroReport, 2005; 16: 1893-1897.

Dusek J, Chang BH, Zaki J, Lazar SW, Deykin A, Stefano GB, Wohlhueter A, Hibberd P, Benson H. Association between oxygen consumption and nitric oxide production during the relaxation response. Medical Science Monitor, 2006.

Evans K, Dougherty DD, Schmid AM, Scannell E, McCallister A, Benson H, Dusek JA, Lazar SW. Modulation of spontaneous breathing via limbic/paralimbic-bulbar circuitry: An event related fMRI study. Neuroimage, 2009.

Van Dijk KR, Hedden T, Venkataraman A, Evans KC, Lazar SW, Buckner RL. Intrinsic Functional Connectivity As a Tool For Human Connectomics: Theory, Properties, and Optimization. J. Neurophysiology, 2010.

Britta K. Hölzel, James Carmody, Karleyton C. Evans, Elizabeth A. Hoge, Jeffery A. Dusek, Lucas Morgan, Roger K. Pitman, and Sara W. Lazar. Stress reduction correlates with structural changes in the amygdala. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 2009.

Britta K. Hölzel, James Carmody, Mark Vangela, Christina Congletona, Sita M. Yerramsettia, Tim Gard, and Sara W. Lazar. Mindfulness practice leads to increases in regional brain gray matter density. Psychiatry Res, 2010.

"The breath is the intersection of the body and mind"
- Thich Nhat Hanh

Book chapters

Lazar SW and Benson H. Function brain imaging and meditation. In: Complementary and Alternative Medicine in Rehabilitation. Leskowitz E. (ed.), St. Louis: Elsevier Health Sciences, 2002.

Lazar SW. Mindfulness Research. In: Mindfulness and Psychotherapy. Germer C, Siegel RD, Fulton P (eds.) New York: Guildford Press, 2005.

News

SfN News Release: "Take a Deep Breath; Meditation May Boost Brain Size and Increase Mental Performance, According to New Research."

Meditation Finding Converts Among Western Doctors,
John Roach, National Geographic News, February 1, 2006.

How to Get Smarter, One Breath at a Time,
Lisa Takeuchi Cullen, Time Magazine. Tuesdays, January 10, 2006.

Meditation May Alter Brain, Delay Aging
Salynn Boyles, WebMD & FoxNews.com, Wednesday, November 16, 2005.

Say 'om': Meditation may aid in brain function
Kathleen Fackelmann, USA TOday, November 13, 2005.

Effects: When Mindful Awareness Goes to Your Head
Eric Nagourney, New York Times. November 22, 2005. (must be a registered member of NYTimes.com)

Meditating May Keep Brain Sharp
Garret Condon, Staff Writer, Hartford Courant. November 15, 2005 (22K MSWord document)

Meditation found to increase brain size
William J. Cromie, Harvard News Office in the Harvard University Gazette. January 23, 2006