After two days of tests on the meditating brain of Tibetan Buddhist monk Matthieu Ricard, professor Steven Laureys spoke with the press at Liège university hospital on Wednesday. Professor Laureys is the director of the Coma Science Group and a neurologist with the Liège CHU. He claimed that some of their first observations were extraordinary, while adding it was too early to draw precise conclusions. “During these tests, which lasted from 8am to 8pm, Matthieu Ricard really impressed me with his ability to modify his brain activity. During some of the tests, we saw responses we had never seen before. However, we need time to analyse all the data”, professor Laureys said.
Matthieu Ricard arrived in Liège on Sunday evening. He has regularly “lent” his brain to science over the last fifteen years. On Monday and Tuesday, he underwent a series of tests at the Liège CHU, led by professor Laureys. “The first task was to better understand Matthieu Ricard’s brain after all these years of regular meditation. We then wanted to observe the metabolic changes that occur when he is in a meditative state”, explains Steven Laureys.
The Coma Science Group team studied the Buddhist monk’s brain while he was in full meditation. They used medical image tools, and the data collected is said to be more than interesting. According to Mr Laureys, the results of these experiments could advance research aiming to help people in comas and those who have suffered injury to specific cerebral areas. The Coma Science Group plans to unveil their analysis of the data next month.
(Source: Belga)
