In meditation（冥想），people sit quietly and focus their attention on their breath .As they breathe in and out, they attend to their feelings. As thoughts go through their minds, they let them go. Breathe. Let go. Breathe. Let go.
According to a recent study at the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts, three months of training in this kind of meditation causes a market change in how the brain allocates（分配） attention. It appears that the ability to let go thoughts that come into mind frees the brain to attend to more rapidly changing things and events in the outside worlD．Expert mediators are better than other people at catching such fast-changing stimuli （刺激）, like facial expressions.
The study provides evidence for changes in the workings of the brain with mental training. People can learn and improve abilities of all sorts with practice, everything from driving to playing the piano. The study has shown that meditation is good for the brain. It appears to reduce pressure and promote a sense of well-being.
In an experiment, 17 volunteers with no meditation experience in the experimental group spent three months meditating 10 to 12 hours a day .A control group also with no meditation experience meditated for 20 minutes a day over the same period．Both groups were then given the tests with two numbers in a group of letters. As both group looked for the numbers, their brain activity was recorded.
Everyone could catch the first number. But the brain recordings showed that the less experienced mediators tended to grasp the first number and hang onto it, so they missed the second number. Those with more experience gave less attention to the first number .as if letting it go ,which led to an increased ability to grasp the second number ,This shows that attention can change with practice.
Just ask Daniel Levison, who meditated for three months as part of the study.” I am a much better listener,” he said．“ I do not get lost in my own personal reaction to what people are saying.”
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冥想就是人们静静地坐在那儿，将自己的注意力放在呼吸上。这个时候，他们的意念也会随着呼吸的进出而进出。当各种意念经过他们的头脑时，他们会将这些意念放走；然后再呼吸，再放走；周而复始。
根据位于马萨诸塞州Barre地区的领悟冥想协会最新的研究表明，经过三个月这种冥想培训后，可使人们在如何分配大脑注意力方面发生一种有潜在商机的变化。这看上去就象是一种可将进入头脑中的意念放走的能力，这种能力可使大脑自由地跟随外界快速变化的事物和事件而变化。冥想专家在捕捉这类快速变化刺激的能力就强于其它人，例如在捕捉面部表情方面。
这项研究为进行心理训练时大脑活动的变化提供了证据。人们可以随着不断的练习学会并改善各种能力，包括驾驶汽车和弹钢琴的能力。研究还表明，冥想对大脑是有益的。它表现在可减缓压力并能提升幸福感。
在一项实验中，１７名没有冥想经历的志愿者为一个组进行了为期三个月每天都要做１０－１２小时冥想的实验。另一个也没有冥想经历的实验对照组也进行了为期三个月但每天只需做２０分钟冥想的实验。随后两个组都用一组字母中的两个数字进行测试。当这两组人在寻找数字时，他们的大脑活动就会被记录下来。
两组中的每个人都能捕捉到第一个数字,但大脑记录表明：冥想培训时间短的那组人会在捕捉到第一个数字后便停留在这个数字上，因此他们就会漏掉第二个数字。那些培训时间长的人对第一个数字的注意时间就短，就好象将这个数字放走一样。这就等于增加了捕捉第二个数字的能力。实验表明：注意力是可以随着不断的练习而改变的。
你不妨问一问作为这次研究一分子而受了三个月冥想培训的Daniel Levison。“我现在是一位更出色的倾听者，”他说，“就我个人的反应能力而言，别人说什么我都不会找不着北。”