http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3047291.stm
Buddhists 'really are happier'
Dalai Lama
Buddhism may be good for your mental health
Scientists say they have evidence to show that Buddhists really are
happier and calmer than other people.
Tests carried out in the United States reveal that areas of their
brain associated with good mood and positive feelings are more
active.
The findings come as another study suggests that Buddhist
meditation can help to calm people.
Researchers at University of California San Francisco Medical
Centre have found the practise can tame the amygdala, an area of
the brain which is the hub of fear memory.
There is something about conscientious Buddhist practice that
results in the kind of happiness we all seek
Paul Ekman,
University of California San Francisco Medical Centre
They found that experienced Buddhists, who meditate regularly, were
less likely to be shocked, flustered, surprised or as angry
compared to other people.
Paul Ekman, who carried out the study, said: "The most reasonable
hypothesis is that there is something about conscientious Buddhist
practice that results in the kind of happiness we all seek."
Brain activity
In a separate study, scientists at the University of Wisconsin at
Madison used new scanning techniques to examine brain activity in a
group of Buddhists.
Their tests revealed activity in the left prefrontal lobes of
experienced Buddhist practitioners.
This area is linked to positive emotions, self-control and
temperament.
Their tests showed this area of the Buddhists' brains are
constantly lit up and not just when they are meditating.
This, the scientists said, suggests they are more likely to
experience positive emotions and be in good mood.
"We can now hypothesise with some confidence that those apparently
happy, calm Buddhist souls one regularly comes across in places
such as Dharamsala, India, really are happy," said Professor Owen
Flanagan, of Duke University in North Carolina.
Dharamsala is the home base of exiled Tibetan leader the Dalai
Lama.
The studies are published in New Scientist magazine.
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