Wildmind Meditation News Aug 16, 2010 Outdoors and out of reach,
studying the brain Five neuroscientists go on a rafting
adventure to see how the brain reacts when in a natural
environment. Todd Braver emerges from a tent nestled against the
canyon wall. He has a slight tan, except for a slim pale band
around his wrist. For the first time in three days in the
wilderness, Mr. Braver is not wearing his watch. “I forgot,” he
says. It is a small thing, the kind of change many vacationers
notice in themselves as they unwind and lose track of time. But
for Mr. Braver and his companions, these moments lead to a
question: What is happening to our brains? Mr. Braver, a
psychology professor at Washington University in St. Louis, was
one of five neuroscientists on an unusual journey. They spent a
week in late May in this remote area of southern Utah, rafting
the San Juan River, camping on the soft banks and hiking the
tributary canyons. It was a primitive trip with a sophisticated
goal: to understand how heavy use of di