Scientists in the US looked at the effects of integrative body-mind training (IBMT) on two groups of university students and found significant physical changes in their brains after just four weeks, or as less as 11 hours, of training.
Nerve fibres, known as "white matter", became denser, providing greater numbers of brain-signalling connections. At the same time there was an expansion of myelin, the protective fatty insulation surrounding nerve fibres, the team found.
The effects, according to the researchers, were seen in the anterior cingulate cortex region of the brain that helps regulate behaviour, the Daily Mail reported.
Poor nerve activity in this part of the brain is linked with a range of mental problems, including attention deficit disorder, dementia, depression, and schizophrenia.
Lead study author Prof Michael Posner from the University of Oregon said: "This study gives us a much more detailed picture of what it is that is actually changing."
"We did confirm the exact locations of the white-matter changes that we had found previously. And now we show that both myelination and axon density are improving," he said.
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The study, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is built on past research based on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans that first highlighted brain changes induced by IBMT.
Prof Posner and his team revisited results from two 2010 studies, taking a closer look at what the scans revealed. One study involved 45 US students from the Oregon University and the other included 68 students from China's Dalian University of Technology.
The researchers found greater density of axons, or nerve fibres, after two weeks of IBMT training, but no change in myelin formation. But after a month, increases in axon density as well as in myelin were seen.
Students undergoing IBMT also reported improvements in mood, experiencing reduced levels of anger, depression, anxiety and fatigue. They also had lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol, the researchers said. (More)