Aim: differences in brain activity from engaging in meditation over long periods of time
Participants: Trained meditators, Asians and Caucasians
Procedure: Scientists made distractions with background noise to disturb the meditators as they were trying to focus on a red dot
Results: Less experienced meditators were more distracted and the more experienced ones kept focused easier
Conclusion: Because the more experienced meditators had been meditating for years, this changed the brain in a way that it stayed more focused and not as easily distracted.
Study: Changes in the brain after juggling training
Aim: To see if there was a difference in the brain structurally and functional after learning a new skill
Participants: 21 females and 3 males
Procedure: measure brain...3 months learning new skill, measure again…. 3 months not learning new skill… measure again
Results: 2 areas of the brain significantly different in size after training and after not training for 3 months
Conclusion: Brain areas associated with visually detecting motion grew large because the repetitive movement of the ball through the air strengthened the connections between the neurons
Study: Changes in the brain of experienced London taxi drivers
Aim: to decipher if taxi drivers' hippocampus is larger than the normal persons brain.
Participants: Experienced male taxi drivers (Fully licensed with years experience) and healthy male brains of people who don't drive taxis
Procedure: brain scans of all participants.
Results: both right and left hippocampus of taxi drivers were significantly larger in volume than that of normal males
Conclusion: redistribution of grey matter in the hippocamus due to intensive development of spatial memory skills, strengthing of neurons in that particular memory section
Study: PET evaluation of bilingual language compensation following early childhood brain damage.
Aim: To see the plasticity of the brain and how important Brocas area is to the speech part of a healthy adults brain
Participants: 37 year old man (MA) who despite his seemingly brain damage, can still speak. Also has a brain lesion in his left frontal lobe which most likely came from his case of Encephalitis at the age of 6 weeks. Also 12 control patients who were fluent in sign language
Procedure: using PET scanners, they monitored the participants performing speech or signs with some motor tasks
Results: MAs right hemisphere of the brain had more activity than the control subjects while performing speech and sign language. Also more agitated that controls
Conclusion: Language functions developed in right hemisphere rather than his left to adapt to his early brain damage
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