International conference on meditation held at Allahabad University

ALLAHABAD: A galaxy of world renowned names, from several of the Indian and international institutions working in the field of cognitive science, threw light in the intricacies of yoga, meditation and how it controls the human brain at the international conference, held at centre of behavioural and cognitive sciences (CBCS), Allahabad University which concluded on Tuesday.
Delivering the opening remarks Prof BN Gangadhar, director, NIMHANS National Institute of Mental Health & Neuro Sciences), Bengaluru emphasized on the clinical implications of meditative. Dr Patricia Jennings from University of Virginia, spoke about CARE (cultivating awareness and resilience in education), a professional developmental program that combines mindful awareness and compassion practices to help teachers deal with the challenging atmosphere of the classroom. Prof Stephen Anthony Parker, Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota, discussed the benefits of Yoga-Nidra and Prof Tal Dotan Ben-Soussan from Patrizio Paoletti Foundation, Italy, discussed the effects of movement meditation on conditions like dyslexia.

Likewise, a meditation session was conducted by Dr Stephen Parker of the Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota. Work from director CBCS, Prof N Srinivasan’s lab highlighted the effect of meditation on attention, temporal and perceptual experiences. Dr Antonino Raffone, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy, presented neuroimaging studies done with EEG, MEG and fMRI highlighting the functional neuroplasticity associated with meditation expertise.

KK Deepak, from All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi, discussed the physiological and functional changes caused by meditation such as low levels of cytokines in meditators which is linked with enhanced cognitive performance. Kalden Gyatso, from Sera Jay Monastic University, India, presented the first formal study conducted at the Monastic University.

He presented preliminary evidence for increased brain wave synchrony between two monks while they engage in monastic debate. Dr Marieke van Vugt, University of Groningen, Netherlands, while presenting her work emphasised on the importance of computational modelling in understanding the underlying mechanisms of meditation.

The group discussed how mediation can be used to study various mental processes and how it can also be used as a tool for the betterment of the society in terms of social wellbeing, education and clinical interventions was also done at CBCS, AU.