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JAN15_08_82136993

The business organisation earth is abuzz with mindfulness. Merely mayhap y'all oasis't heard that the hype is backed by hard science. Recent research provides stiff prove that practicing non-judgmental, present-moment awareness (a.k.a. mindfulness) changes the brain, and it does so in means that anyone working in today's complex business environment, and certainly every leader, should know about.

We contributed to this research in 2011 with a study on participants who completed an 8-week mindfulness program. We observed meaning increases in the density of their gray matter. In the years since, other neuroscience laboratories from around the world take also investigated ways in which meditation, one key way to practice mindfulness, changes the brain. This yr, a team of scientists from the University of British Columbia and the Chemnitz Academy of Engineering were able to puddle data from more than twenty studies to determine which areas of the brain are consistently affected. They identified at least eight different regions. Hither we volition focus on two that we believe to exist of detail involvement to business professionals.

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The first is the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), a structure located deep within the forehead, behind the brain'south frontal lobe. The ACC is associated with self-regulation, meaning the ability to purposefully direct attention and behavior, suppress inappropriate knee-jerk responses, and switch strategies flexibly. People with damage to the ACC show impulsivity and unchecked aggression, and those with impaired connections betwixt this and other brain regions perform poorly on tests of mental flexibility: they hold onto ineffective problem-solving strategies rather than adapting their beliefs. Meditators, on the other hand, demonstrate superior performance on tests of cocky-regulation, resisting distractions and making correct answers more often than not-meditators. They also bear witness more activity in the ACC than non-meditators. In addition to self-regulation, the ACC is associated with learning from by experience to support optimal decision-making. Scientists point out that the ACC may be especially important in the confront of uncertain and fast-changing conditions.

Source: Tang et al.
(Source: Tang et al.)

Source: Fox et al.
(Source: Fox et al.)

The second brain region we desire to highlight is the hippocampus, a region that showed increased amounts of gray matter in the brains of our 2011 mindfulness program participants. This seahorse-shaped expanse is buried inside the temple on each side of the encephalon and is role of the limbic organisation, a set of inner structures associated with emotion and retention. It is covered in receptors for the stress hormone cortisol, and studies have shown that it can be damaged past chronic stress, contributing to a harmful screw in the body. Indeed, people with stress-related disorders similar depresssion and PTSD tend to have a smaller hippocampus. All of this points to the importance of this brain area in resilience—another primal skill in the current loftier-need business world.

Hölzel et al.
(Source: Hölzel et al.)

These findings are just the start of the story. Neuroscientists take too shown that practicing mindfulness affects brain areas related to perception, torso awareness, pain tolerance, emotion regulation, introspection, circuitous thinking, and sense of self. While more research is needed to document these changes over time and to understand underlying mechanisms, the converging evidence is compelling.

Mindfulness should no longer be considered a "nice-to-take" for executives. It'south a "must-have":  a way to go along our brains healthy, to back up self-regulation and constructive determination-making capabilities, and to protect ourselves from toxic stress. Information technology can be integrated into one's religious or spiritual life, or skillful as a form of secular mental training.  When we take a seat, take a breath, and commit to being mindful, particularly when we assemble with others who are doing the same, we have the potential to be changed.