[Buddha-l] Meditation research references

[Malcolm Dean]

>  6. Re: Meditation/Stess/Research (Ross Barlow)
>  "Can anyone give me a few references to researches (in journal etc)
> that supports the view that meditation reduces stress."

A good ongoing source for this is Science & Theology News
http://www.stnews.org/index.php

With a little effort, you'll find many items via PubMed, or you can set up a search in 
PubCrawler and have the results delivered daily to your doorstep, along with a saucer of milk for the local cats:
http://pubcrawler.gen.tcd.ie/

Here are a few citations to get you started:

Kaufman, Marc. (2005). Meditation Gives Brain a Charge, Study Find. Washington Post, January 3, 2005; Page A05.

Kjaer, T.W. et al. (2002). Increased dopamine tone during meditation-induced change of consciousness. Cognitive Brain Research 13:255-259.

Lutz, A., Greischar, L. L., Rawlings, N. B., Ricard, M., & Davidson, R. J. (2004). Long-term meditators self-induce high-amplitude gamma synchrony during mental practice. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 101, 16369-16373.

Newberg, A.B., Iversen, J. (2003). The neural basis of the complex mental task of meditation: neurotransmitter and neurochemical considerations. Medical Hypotheses 61(2):282-291.

May your synapses be well and happy,

Malcolm Dean
Hollywood, Playground of the Movie Buddhas