Greg Gerkens is an educator with a background in special education. In his free time, Greg Gerkens enjoys yoga and meditation as well as fishing and swimming.
Interest in mindfulness meditation has been on the rise simultaneously scientific research into the practice has also increased. This research has shown how meditation can favorably impact the brain in significant ways.
Neuroscientists have found that meditation targets four regions of the brain. First, people who meditate benefit from cortical thickness of the left hippocampus, the area of the brain responsible for cognitive ability and memory as well as empathy. Meditation also increases the density of the posterior cingulate, which can help people maintain a more realistic sense of self and limit their wandering thoughts.
People who meditate also strengthen their pons, which produces many of the neurotransmitters involved with brain regulation, including functions such as sleep, processing sensory input, and facial expressions. Another significant area of the brain targeted by meditation is the amygdala, which actually gets smaller over time. This is beneficial as the amygdala is the part of the brain that manufactures anxiety and stress. As it gets smaller, we experience fewer emotional responses that lead to a fight-or-flight cycle.
Greg Gerkens 
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