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Posted: 2011-07-15T12:25:40Z | Updated: 2013-01-07T20:02:31Z

Over the last decade, interest in the science of meditation has skyrocketed. We now know more than ever before about just how meditation affects our minds and bodies. Increased research has led to a plethora of fascinating discoveries: Take, for instance, the fact that meditation can prevent heart disease. Or that it reduces stress . Or that it can significantly lessen ADHD symptoms , and in many cases, beats medication.

Still, much is left to be discovered. We know more but we definitely don't know everything. While we wait for science to catch up with ancient wisdom, check out this slideshow on the complex effects of the simple act of focused breathing.

has shown that experienced meditators exhibit high levels of gamma wave activity and display an ability -- continuing after the meditation session has attended -- to not get stuck on a particular stimulus. That is, they're automatically able to control their thoughts and reactiveness. 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What this meant is that their brains were aging at a slower rate. Cortical thickness is also associated with decision making, attention and memory. ","source":"http://i.huffpost.com/gadgets/slideshows/33693/slide_33693_309263_original.jpg","title":"It Increases Gray Matter","type":"image","summary":"","badge":"","cta":[],"meta":null,"credit":"","creditUrl":"","authorship":{"author":{"id":"000000000000000000000000","bio":{},"urls":{},"urlName":{"text":"","transliterated":""}}},"social":{},"orientation":"horizontal","thumbnail":{"url":{"fileName":"5b9aef512200005700d8b2e6.jpeg","type":"hectorUrl"},"credit":"","height":2289,"width":3147,"ops":""},"textWrap":"noWrap","imagePositionInUnit":null,"imagePositionInSubUnit":null,"authors":[],"isLiveblogSlide":false},"provider":null},{"embedData":{"type":"hector","url":"https://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/5b9aef512100003000c49124.jpeg","queryParams":{},"width":724,"height":527,"credit":""},"type":"image","common":{"id":"5b9aef53e4b03a1dcc72ca21","caption":"In a 2006 study, college students were asked to either sleep, meditate or watch TV. They were then tested on their alertness by being asked to hit a button every time a light flashed on a screen. The meditators did better than the nappers and TV watchers -- by a whole 10 percent. ","source":"http://i.huffpost.com/gadgets/slideshows/33693/slide_33693_309264_original.jpg","title":"It Can Be Better Than Sleeping","type":"image","summary":"","badge":"","cta":[],"meta":null,"credit":"","creditUrl":"","authorship":{"author":{"id":"000000000000000000000000","bio":{},"urls":{},"urlName":{"text":"","transliterated":""}}},"social":{},"orientation":"horizontal","thumbnail":{"url":{"fileName":"5b9aef512100003000c49124.jpeg","type":"hectorUrl"},"credit":"","height":527,"width":724,"ops":""},"textWrap":"noWrap","imagePositionInUnit":null,"imagePositionInSubUnit":null,"authors":[],"isLiveblogSlide":false},"provider":null},{"embedData":{"type":"hector","url":"https://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/5b9aef513c0000660009388f.jpeg","queryParams":{},"width":2662,"height":1936,"credit":""},"type":"image","common":{"id":"5b9aef53e4b03a1dcc72ca22","caption":"In 2008, Dr. Randy Zusman, a doctor at the Massachusetts General Hospital, asked patients suffering from high blood pressure to try a meditation-based relaxation program for three months. These were patients whose blood pressure had not been controlled with medication. After meditating regularly for three months, 40 of the 60 patients showed significant drops in blood pressure levels and were able to reduce some of their medication. The reason? Relaxation results in the formation of nitric oxide which opens up your blood vessels. ","source":"http://i.huffpost.com/gadgets/slideshows/33693/slide_33693_309265_original.jpg","title":"It's Better Than Blood Pressure Medication","type":"image","summary":"","badge":"","cta":[],"meta":null,"credit":"","creditUrl":"","authorship":{"author":{"id":"000000000000000000000000","bio":{},"urls":{},"urlName":{"text":"","transliterated":""}}},"social":{},"orientation":"horizontal","thumbnail":{"url":{"fileName":"5b9aef513c0000660009388f.jpeg","type":"hectorUrl"},"credit":"","height":1936,"width":2662,"ops":""},"textWrap":"noWrap","imagePositionInUnit":null,"imagePositionInSubUnit":null,"authors":[],"isLiveblogSlide":false},"provider":null},{"embedData":{"type":"hector","url":"https://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/5b9aef522100005100c49126.jpeg","queryParams":{},"width":2585,"height":1880,"credit":""},"type":"image","common":{"id":"5b9aef53e4b03a1dcc72ca23","caption":"Telomeres -- the protective caps at the end of our chromosomes -- are the new frontier of anti-aging science. Longer telomeres mean that you're also likely to live longer. Research done by the University of California, Davis' Shamatha Project has shown that meditators have significantly higher telomerase activity that non-meditators. Telomerase is the enzyme that helps build telomeres, and greater telomerase activity can possibly translate into stronger and longer telomeres . ","source":"http://i.huffpost.com/gadgets/slideshows/33693/slide_33693_309275_original.jpg","title":"It Can Protect Your Telomeres","type":"image","summary":"","badge":"","cta":[],"meta":null,"credit":"","creditUrl":"","authorship":{"author":{"id":"000000000000000000000000","bio":{},"urls":{},"urlName":{"text":"","transliterated":""}}},"social":{},"orientation":"horizontal","thumbnail":{"url":{"fileName":"5b9aef522100005100c49126.jpeg","type":"hectorUrl"},"credit":"","height":1880,"width":2585,"ops":""},"textWrap":"noWrap","imagePositionInUnit":null,"imagePositionInSubUnit":null,"authors":[],"isLiveblogSlide":false},"provider":null},{"embedData":{"type":"hector","url":"https://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/5b9aef522200003100d8b2e8.jpeg","queryParams":{},"width":2916,"height":2121,"credit":""},"type":"image","common":{"id":"5b9aef53e4b03a1dcc72ca24","caption":"A 2008 study on HIV positive patients found that, after an eight-week meditation course, patients who'd meditated showed no decline in lymphocyte content compared with non-meditators who showed significant reduction in lymphocytes. Lymphocytes or white blood cells are the \"brain\" of the body's immune system, and are particularly important for HIV positive people. The study also found that lymphocyte levels actually went up with each meditation session. However, due to the small sample size -- only 48 volunteers -- it's harder to draw definitive conclusions. ","source":"http://i.huffpost.com/gadgets/slideshows/33693/slide_33693_309276_original.jpg","title":"It Can Slow The Progression Of HIV","type":"image","summary":"","badge":"","cta":[],"meta":null,"credit":"","creditUrl":"","authorship":{"author":{"id":"000000000000000000000000","bio":{},"urls":{},"urlName":{"text":"","transliterated":""}}},"social":{},"orientation":"horizontal","thumbnail":{"url":{"fileName":"5b9aef522200003100d8b2e8.jpeg","type":"hectorUrl"},"credit":"","height":2121,"width":2916,"ops":""},"textWrap":"noWrap","imagePositionInUnit":null,"imagePositionInSubUnit":null,"authors":[],"isLiveblogSlide":false},"provider":null},{"embedData":{"type":"hector","url":"https://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/5b9aef531f00002c0020ad5f.jpeg","queryParams":{},"width":2571,"height":1870,"credit":""},"type":"image","common":{"id":"5b9aef53e4b03a1dcc72ca25","caption":"Earlier this year, a study conducted by Wake Forest Baptist University found that meditation could reduce pain intensity by 40 percent and pain unpleasantness by 57 percent. Morphine and other pain-relieving drugs typically show a pain reduction of 25 percent. Meditation works by reducing activity in the somatosensory cortex and increasing activity in other areas of the brain. This study also had a small sample size, making it harder to draw definite conclusions. 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It Makes Your Brain Plastic

7 Fascinating Facts About Meditation