"I think we are poised at a wonderful time in our history to be able to explore religion and spirituality in a way which was never thought possible," told Andrew Newberg, a radiologist at UPenn, to BBC’s Discovery program. Using brain imaging, Newberg and friends studied a group of Tibetan Buddhist monks as they meditated for about an hour. When the monks attained concentration they were asked to pull a string that released an injection of radioactive tracer into their blood. The small amount of radioactive marker would be used to see how the die moved to active parts of the brain (this process was repeated in a normal waking state).

"There was an increase in activity in the front part of the brain, the area that is activated when anyone focuses attention on a particular task," Dr Newberg explained. Furthermore, a decrease in activity in the back part of the brain - the parietal lobe - responsible for orientation, reinforced the general suggestion that meditation leads to a lack of spatial awareness. "During meditation, people have a loss of the sense of self and frequently experience a sense of no space and time and that was exactly what we saw."

In an earlier study, Dr Newberg looked at the brain activity of Franciscan nuns during "centering" prayer. Though because of the verbal element additional parts of the brain were used, prayer also "activated the attention area of the brain, and diminished activity in the orientation area," supporting the theory that meditation and prayer have similar effects on the mind. "When someone has a mystical experience, they perceive that sense of reality to be far greater and far clearer than our usual everyday sense of reality. Since the sense of spiritual reality is more powerful and clear, perhaps that sense of reality is more accurate than our scientific everyday sense of reality."

Meditation mapped in monks, BBCNews.com. Listen
Related:
Meditation gives brain a charge, WashingtonPost.com
Meditation changes temperatures, Harvard Gazette