>
>
> Brain can be trained in compassion, study shows
> May 22nd, 2013 in Psychology & Psychiatry=20
>
>
> Until now, little was scientifically known about the human potential to cul=
> tivate compassion-the emotional state of caring for people who are sufferin=
> g in a way that motivates altruistic behavior.
>
> A new study by researchers at the Center for Investigating Healthy Minds at=
> the Waisman Center of the University of Wisconsin-Madison shows that adult=
> s can be trained to be more compassionate. The report, published Psychologi=
> cal Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, invest=
> igates whether training adults in compassion can result in greater altruist=
> ic behavior and related changes in neural systems underlying compassion.
>
> "Our fundamental question was, 'Can compassion be trained and learned in ad=
> ults? Can we become more caring if we practice that mindset?'" says Helen W=
> eng, lead author of the study and a graduate student in clinical psychology=
> . "Our evidence points to yes."
>
> In the study, the investigators trained young adults to engage in compassio=
> n meditation, an ancient Buddhist technique to increase caring feelings for=
> people who are suffering. In the meditation, participants envisioned a tim=
> e when someone has suffered and then practiced wishing that his or her suff=
> ering was relieved. They repeated phrases to help them focus on compassion =
> such as, "May you be free from suffering. May you have joy and ease."
>
> Participants practiced with different categories of people, first starting =
> with a loved one, someone whom they easily felt compassion for like a frien=
> d or family member. Then, they practiced compassion for themselves and, the=
> n, a stranger. Finally, they practiced compassion for someone they actively=
> had conflict with called the "difficult person," such as a troublesome cow=
> orker or roommate.
>
> "It's kind of like weight training," Weng says. "Using this systematic appr=
> oach, we found that people can actually build up their compassion 'muscle' =
> and respond to others' suffering with care and a desire to help."
>
> Compassion training was compared to a control group that learned cognitive =
> reappraisal, a technique where people learn to reframe their thoughts to fe=
> el less negative. Both groups listened to guided audio instructions over th=
> e Internet for 30 minutes per day for two weeks. "We wanted to investigate =
> whether people could begin to change their emotional habits in a relatively=
> short period of time," says Weng.
>
> The real test of whether compassion could be trained was to see if people w=
> ould be willing to be more altruistic-even helping people they had never me=
> t. The research tested this by asking the participants to play a game in wh=
> ich they were given the opportunity to spend their own money to respond to =
> someone in need (called the "Redistribution Game"). They played the game ov=
> er the Internet with two anonymous players, the "Dictator" and the "Victim.=
> " They watched as the Dictator shared an unfair amount of money (only $1 ou=
> t of $10) with the Victim. They then decided how much of their own money to=
> spend (out of $5) in order to equalize the unfair split and redistribute f=
> unds from the Dictator to the Victim.
>
> "We found that people trained in compassion were more likely to spend their=
> own money altruistically to help someone who was treated unfairly than tho=
> se who were trained in cognitive reappraisal," Weng says.
>
> "We wanted to see what changed inside the brains of people who gave more to=
> someone in need. How are they responding to suffering differently now?" as=
> ks Weng. The study measured changes in brain responses using functional mag=
> netic resonance imaging (fMRI) before and after training. In the MRI scanne=
> r, participants viewed images depicting human suffering, such as a crying c=
> hild or a burn victim, and generated feelings of compassion towards the peo=
> ple using their practiced skills. The control group was exposed to the same=
> images, and asked to recast them in a more positive light as in reappraisa=
> l.
>
> The researchers measured how much brain activity had changed from the begin=
> ning to the end of the training, and found that the people who were the mos=
> t altruistic after compassion training were the ones who showed the most br=
> ain changes when viewing human suffering. They found that activity was incr=
> eased in the inferior parietal cortex, a region involved in empathy and und=
> erstanding others.
>
> Compassion training also increased activity in the dorsolateral prefrontal =
> cortex and the extent to which it communicated with the nucleus accumbens, =
> brain regions involved in emotion regulation and positive emotions.
>
> "People seem to become more sensitive to other people's suffering, but this=
> is challenging emotionally. They learn to regulate their emotions so that =
> they approach people's suffering with caring and wanting to help rather tha=
> n turning away," explains Weng.
>
> Compassion, like physical and academic skills, appears to be something that=
> is not fixed, but rather can be enhanced with training and practice. "The =
> fact that alterations in brain function were observed after just a total of=
> seven hours of training is remarkable," explains UW-Madison psychology and=
> psychiatry professor Richard J. Davidson, founder and chair of the Center =
> for Investigating Healthy Minds and senior author of the article.
>
> "There are many possible applications of this type of training," Davidson s=
> ays. "Compassion and kindness training in schools can help children learn t=
> o be attuned to their own emotions as well as those of others, which may de=
> crease bullying. Compassion training also may benefit people who have socia=
> l challenges such as social anxiety or antisocial behavior."
>
> Weng is also excited about how compassion training can help the general pop=
> ulation. "We studied the effects of this training with healthy participants=
> , which demonstrated that this can help the average person. I would love fo=
> r more people to access the training and try it for a week or two-what chan=
> ges do they see in their own lives?"
>
> Both compassion and reappraisal trainings are available on the Center for I=
> nvestigating Healthy Minds' website. "I think we are only scratching the su=
> rface of how compassion can transform people's lives," says Weng.
>
> Provided by Association for Psychological Science
>
>
> "Brain can be trained in compassion, study shows." May 22nd, 2013. http://m=
> edicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-brain-compassion.html
>
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