So when I was in graduate school, I was a runner,

我在研究所時是一名跑者

and a friend and I decided that we're going to run the Boston Marathon.

我和一位朋友約好要參加波士頓的馬拉松

And so we started training and we overtrained,

所以我們開始訓練 但是我們訓練過了頭

and I developed knee and back problems.

我的膝蓋和背部出了問題

So I went to see a physical therapist,

所以我去看了物理治療師

and they told me that I had to stop running

他們跟我說我應該停止跑步

and instead I should just stretch.

以伸展取代跑步

As I was leaving the phzsical therapist office,

當我離開物理治療師的診間時

I saw an ad for a vigorous yoga class

我看到一則充滿活力的瑜珈招生廣告

that promised not only to promote flexibility,

上面提到了不只會增加柔軟度

but also to promote strength and cardiorespiratory fitness.

還可以增強你的力量和心肺功能

So I thought, oh, well, this is a great way

所以我想，好吧，這是一個好方式

that I can stretch, but also remain in shape,

讓我能夠伸展 而且還能夠保持身材

and maybe I could even still run the Boston Marathon.

也許我還是可以去跑波士頓馬拉松

So I went to the yoga class and I really enjoyed it,

所以我去上了瑜珈課，而且樂在其中

except when the teacher would make all sorts of claims,

除了老師聲稱有任何療效的時候

you know, all sorts of medical claims, but also claims about, oh, yes,

你知道的，就是各種醫學療效 還有一些關於…嗯…

it will help you...

會讓你…

You'll increase your compassion and open your heart and I was just like...

更有同情心、打開心胸

I remember my eyes would roll and...

我記得我會翻白眼，然後…

I think, yeah, yeah, yeah, I am here to stretch.

我想，對，對，對，我在這裡是為了伸展的

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

But what was interesting was that after a couple of weeks

有趣的是幾個星期後

I started noticing some of these changes,

我開始注意到一些改變

I started noticing that I was calmer and I was better able

我注意到我變得更平靜

to handle difficult situations, and indeed, I was feeling more compassionate

更能掌握難處理的場合 而且我真的變得更有同情心

and open-hearted towards other people,

面對他人時更能打開心胸

and I was better able to see things from other people's point of view.

我也變得能夠從別人的角度來看事情

And, you know, I was like, hm, how could this be,

你知道，嗯，我想，這怎麼可能

how could this be?

怎麼可能？

And, I thought, well maybe, you know, it's just a placebo response, right?

我想，好吧，也許那只是心理作用吧？

She told me I will feel this, so maybe that's why I was feeling it.

是因為她那樣說 所以我才會有這樣的感覺吧？

So I decided to do a literature search to see if there's any research on this.

因此我決定搜尋一些文獻資料 看看是不是有這方面的研究

And low and behold, there was quite a bit

你看！真的有些研究顯示

showing both yoga and meditation are extremely effective for decreasing stress

瑜珈和冥想都對紓壓有很大的幫助

they're also very good for reducing symptoms associated with numerous diseases

也能夠減輕很多疾病的症狀

including depression, anxiety, pain, and insomnia.

包含了憂鬱、焦慮、疼痛和失眠

And there's a couple of very good studies demonstrating it can actually

而且也有一些很不錯的研究指出

improve your ability to pay attention, and most interestingly, I thought

它可以增強注意力 最有趣的是

virtually every study has shown that people are just happier.

幾乎每一份研究都顯示 受試者都變得更開心了

They report they're more satisfied with their life, and they have a higher quality of life.

受試者表示對生活更滿足 而且擁有更高的生活品質

And so, this was interesting to me.

我覺得這點很有趣

And so I decided to switch and start doing this sort of research.

所以我決定開始做這方面的研究

So as a nurse scientists, you know, how could this be happening?

對於一個照護科學家來說 這種事情怎麼可能發生？

How can something as silly as a yoga posture

一些奇怪的瑜珈姿勢

or sitting and watching your breath.

或是坐著觀看呼吸

How can that lead to all these sorts of different types of changes?

怎麼能夠造成這些各式各樣的改變?

So, what we know is that whenever you engage in a behavior over and over again,

我們知道的是 當你重覆地做某件事

that this can lead to changes in your brain.

可以改變你的頭腦

And this is what's referred to as neuroplasticity.

這與神經可塑性有關

And what this just means is that your brain is plastic and that

意思是你的大腦具可塑性

the neurons can change how they talk to each other with experience.

神經細胞可以藉由經驗改變彼此對話的方式

And so, there's a couple of studies demonstrating

有一些研究指出 透過像是核磁共振影成像(MRI)

that you can actually detect this, using machines like the MRI machine.

確實可以偵測出這件事

The first study was with juggling.

第一份研究與雜耍有關

They took people who had never ever juggled before,

他們挑選以前從來沒有雜耍經驗的人

and they scanned them, and then they taught them how to juggle,

為他們做掃描 然後教他們如何雜耍

and they said, "Keep practising for three months."

然後告訴他們：「持續練習三個月。」

And they brought them back after three months, and they scanned them the second time,

三個月後再找他們回來 再次掃描他們

and they found that they can actually detect with the MRI machine

結果發現真的可以透過核磁共振影成像

changes in the amount of grey matter in the brain of these people

偵測出在這些人的大腦中 對偵測視覺動態很重要的區域

in areas that are important for detecting visual motion.

其中的灰質數量改變了

So, I thought, OK, three months, you know...

所以我想，嗯，三個月…

Can meditation change brain structure too?

冥想也可以改變大腦結構嗎？

Something as simple as, you know, as juggling.

只是像雜耍一樣簡單

What about meditation?

那冥想呢？

So the first study we did,

我們進行的第一個研究是

we recruited a bunch of people from the Boston area,

召募波士頓地區的民眾

and these were not monks or meditation teachers,

而且不是僧侶或是教導冥想的老師

they're just average Joes who on average practice meditation

他們只是每天進行30到40分鐘冥想

about 30-40 minutes a day,

的一般人

and we put them in a scanner,

為他們進行掃描

and we compared them to a group of people who were demographically matched,

將他們和一群同樣類型

but who don't meditate.

但是沒有冥想的人做比較

And what we found is this:

我們發現：

That there were indeed several regions of the brain

和控制組相較，有冥想的人

that had more grey matter in the meditators compared to the controls.

大腦裡確實有一些區域有較多的灰質

One of the regions I'm going to point out to you

其中一個地方就是大腦前方的位置

is here in the front of the brain, it's the area that's important

就是我所指的這個區域

for working memory and executive decision making

主宰了記憶和做決定

and what was interesting about it

有趣的是

was when we actually plotted the data versus their ages.

當我們比對皮質厚度與年齡的關係

So here in the red square, that's the controls.

紅色正方形的是控制組

And this is something you see actually,

你可以很清楚地看到

it's been well documented that as we get older,

已有充分的證據顯示年紀愈大

not just there, but across most of our cortex,

不只是這個位置，而是幾乎整個大腦皮質

it actually shrinks as we get older.

會隨著年齡而日漸萎縮

And this is part of the reason why as we get older,

這也是為什麼當我們變老之後

it's harder to figure things out and to remember things.

很難理解與記憶事情的原因之一

And what was interesting was that in this one region,

有趣的是在這個區域

the 50 year old meditators had the same amount of cortex as the 25 year olds,

50歲的冥想者和25歲的人有同樣數量的大腦皮質

suggesting that meditation practice may actually slow down or prevent

顯示了冥想也許真的可以減緩或是防止

the natural age-related decline in cortical structure.

皮質層隨著年齡自然地老化

So now, the critics, and there were many critics,

現在和過去都有很多人批評

said, well, you know, meditators, they're weird.

會冥想的人都很怪

Maybe they were just like that before they started practising, right?

也許他們只是沒有改變 和練習冥想前一樣

A lot of them were vegetarian, so maybe it had something to do with their diet,

他們之中有很多人是素食者 也許是因為某些飲食習慣

or something else with their lifestyle, you know.

也許是因為某些生活方式

Couldn't possible be the meditation, it's something else, right?

不可能是冥想，應該是因為別的東西，對吧？

And to be fair, you know, that could be true.

持平而論，這也有可能是真的

This first study could not address that.

第一份研究無法解答這個問題

So we did a second study.

所以我們做了第二項研究

In this study, what we did is, we took people who had never meditated before,

在這份研究裡 我們針對過去從未冥想的人

and we put them in the scanner, and then we put them through

讓他們做掃描

an eight-week meditation-based stress reduction program

然後讓他們進行八週以冥想為主的紓壓計畫

where they were told to meditate every day for 30 to 40 minutes.

他們每天必須冥想30至40分鐘

And then we scanned them again at the end of the eight weeks,

八週之後再次做掃描

and this is what we found.

這是我們的發現

So what you see is that several areas became larger.

你可以看到有幾個區塊變大了

In this slide we can see the hippocampus,

這張投影片中可以看到海馬迴

and in the graph, the controls are in blue and the meditation subjects

在這張圖表中 藍色的是控制組，紅色的是有冥想的受試者

are in red, and what we see is that the hippocampus,

照片上的海馬迴

this is the area that's important for learning and memory,

對學習和記憶來說很重要

it's also important for emotion regulation and it was interesting it was less

對於情緒管理也很重要 有趣的是

grey matter in this region in people who had depression and PTSD.

有憂鬱症和創傷後壓力症候群的人 這個區域裡的灰質較少

Another region we identified was the temporo-parietal junction

我們檢驗的另一個區域是顳頂葉交界區

which is here above your ear,

在我們的耳朵上方

it's important for perspective taking and empathy and compassion.

和觀點取替、移情與同情有很大的關係

And again, these are both functions which people report changing when

同樣地，這些都是人們表示

they start practising meditation and yoga.

開始冥想與做瑜珈後有改變的能力

Another region we identified was the amygdala.

另外一個檢測的部位則是杏仁核

And the amygdala is the fight-or-flight part of your brain.

杏仁核是大腦中決定要戰鬥或是逃跑的部位

And here we actually found a decrease in gray matter.

我們發現這裡的灰質減少了

And what was interesting was that the change in grey matter

有趣的是

was correlated with the change in stress.

灰質的改變與壓力有關

So the more stress reduction people reported,

當受試者的壓力減少得越多

the smaller the amygdala became.

杏仁核會變得越小

And this was really interesting, because it's sort of opposite and parallel

很有趣的是，這個結果

of what some animal studies have shown.

和某些已知的動物實驗完全相反

So colleagues using rodents,

Sumantra Chattarji博士和同事使用齧齒動物

they took rodents who were just happy, normal rodents,

以正常、快樂的齧齒動物來實驗

and they had them in their cage, and they measured

把牠們放在籠子裡，測量牠們的杏仁核

their amygdala, and then they put them through a ten- day stress regimen.

然後實施十天的壓力處理

And at the end of the ten days, they measured their amygdala,

十天結束後，再次測量牠們的杏仁核

and this exact same analogous part of the rat brain grew.

結果顯示老鼠大腦的改變與人類十分相似

So we found a decrease with stress, they found an increase with stress.

然而，我們的結果是隨著壓力減少 他們的結果是隨著壓力增加

What was interesting was that then they left the animals alone,

有趣的是，不再管動物之後

and three weeks later they went back and tested them again.

三週後再次為牠們做測試

And three weeks later, that same part of the amygdala was still large,

三週後杏仁核一樣顯得較大

and the animals, even though they were in their original cages

而動物即使身在原來讓牠們愉快的籠子裡

where they were happy, were still acting stressed out,

依然表現得壓力很大的樣子

so they, you know, they were cowering in the corner,

因此他們縮在角落

and they just weren't exploring the space the way they had before.

牠們不會去探訪曾經走過的路和地方

And so, this is the exact opposite of what we saw at the humans,

這與我們在人類中看到的完全相反

because with the humans nothing has changed with their environment.

因為對人類來說，環境不會改變

They still had their stressful jobs,

他們還是做同樣讓自己壓力很大的工作

all the difficult problems were still being difficult,

難題依舊是難題

and the economy still sucked,

經濟狀況還是岌岌可危

but yeah, their amygdala got smaller, and they were reporting less stress.

但是，他們的杏仁核變小 而且表示壓力變小了

And so, together these really show that the change in the amygdala

因此，杏仁核的改變

is not responding to the change in the environment, but rather it's representing

並非對環境的改變做出反應，而是代表

the change in the people's reaction or relationship to their environment.

人們對環境的反應或與環境之間關係的改變

And then the other thing that the study shows is that,

另外，研究也顯示了

it wasn't just the people were saying, "Oh, I feel better."

這並非只是受試者說：「噢，我覺得好一點了。」

Or that it was a placebo response, or that they're trying to please us,

不是心理作用 也不是受試者嘗試讓我們覺得好過一點

but there was actually a neurobiological reason why they're saying they

為什麼人們覺得自己的壓力少了一點

felt less stressed.

在神經生物學上確實有原因

And so the idea that I'd like to share with all of you today is that meditation

今天我想和你分享的是

can literally change your brain.

冥想確實可以改變你的大腦

Thank you.

謝謝

(Applause)

（鼓掌）