If meditation changes the brain, VR will too

Lifelong meditators have physical brain structures different from those who have never meditated.

Meditators have measurably larger areas of grey matter in their brains. Grey matter is associated with working memory and executive decision making. After 8 weeks of short meditation sessions, even the most newbie of meditators had measurable changes in the physical structure of their brains.

The simple act of meditation, sitting still and letting go of reactive thoughts, creates physical changes in the brain.

Similar evidence of physical brain changes can be seen in chess players and London cab drivers. The human brain adapts to the environment it is subjected to. i.e. When spatial memory is practiced frequently, the brain builds up the areas associated with remembering and recalling spatial memory.

The ability of the human brain to physically change is called “neuroplasticity”.

Neuroplasticity is relatively new in the realms of sciences, but it has been studied frequently these past two decades. The idea of our brains being plastic, able to mould themselves to the experiences they are frequently subjected to, is becoming common knowledge. The belief in fixed potential from birth has been disproven, as we now know the human brain is in a constant plastic state. Even the eldest of minds are capable of learning and restructuring.

Our brains will build pathways to connect once separate areas of the brain in order to compensate for loss. These same mechanisms allow our brains to create virtual extensions of ourselves. The most potent example being that of our smart phones. How many of us have experienced the strange sensation of our pocket vibrating even when our phones are not vibrating? We experience a “phantom vibration” when we think a text or call has come in.

Just hearing the vibration or text tone of our phone can cause us to physically feel a vibration where our phone usually rests.

Will virtual reality rewire our brains?

Anything we frequently use will cause new connections and pathways to develop in our brain. “Synapses that wire together fire together” as they say. The more we use different parts of our brain together, the stronger the connection between these two parts becomes.

Expert skiers, mountain bikers, or pianists feel their skis, bikes, and pianos as extensions of themselves. Their brains have rewired pathways to include these external objects as a part of their practice. An expert pianist does not play on the piano so much as play with the piano. Each key holding a specific place in the pianist’s mind, just as each finger holds a place in your mind.

What are the implications of a brain restructuring itself for virtual reality?

Given that a virtual world is indeed different from the real world, our brains are at all times adjusting to the new world while we are inside of it. Physical changes will be taking place within our minds as we learn to traverse and interact with a virtual space. Neuroplasticity at work.

Will we forget how to live in the real world?

It’s not likely that we will forget how to live in the real world, just as a London cab driver doesn’t forget how to live their life outside of work. There is something to be said about the changes in thought patterns we will see throughout society.

In a world inundated with virtual experiences, experiences that allow for all manner of free expression, it’s anyone’s guess what sorts of new thought patterns will emerge in society.

Virtual reality will expand our ability to express ourselves.

We are no longer limited to written, visual, or audio expression. Now we have the ability for fully immersive experiences on a mass scale. Experiences that light up the imaginative centers of the brain, and require the physical movements of our bodies.

Given the power for non-physical experiences to change our brains, and our brain structures, virtual reality is poised to create one of the largest shifts in the human mind we have yet to see.