Want To Be More Mindful When You Meditate? Blast Your Brain With Ultrasonic Waves

Researchers from the University of Arizona have found that the effects of mindfulness meditation—a subset of meditation practices in which one is focused on being in the moment—can be greatly enhanced by wearing a device that blasts one’s brain with low-intensity ultrasonic soundwaves. 

The soundwaves modulate your brain’s DMN, or default mode network, which is the interconnected regions of the brain that activate when you’re being self-reflective or daydreaming. Neuroscientists say the DMN is also where a lot of your memory and future planning goes down.

In a paper published in Frontiers In Human Neuroscience, the researchers found that hitting the brain with some transcranial focus ultrasound, or TFUS, for as little as five minutes increased a meditator’s perception of time and sense of self. It also significantly increased their sense of mindfulness overall. The researchers measured the participant’s present-moment awareness and reduced negative thinking through MRI scans and self-reports.

Mindfulness is already pretty helpful for reducing negative thoughts and allowing people to live in the moment rather than thinking about their past or future—when it isn’t being treated like the wellness scam of the day by people just looking to make a buck. Finding a way to enhance an already beneficial mental health practice in a way that is totally noninvasive could have huge implications for mental health treatment down the line.

They just have to make sure people who get their brains blasted with TFUS don’t get too much—because they say that could have the opposite effect of causing depression and even more negative thinking. A little goes a long way.

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