Law of Attraction Magazine August, 2015 Issue | Page 4

I s There Sci ent i f i c Evi dence for t he Law of At t ract i on? By Srinivasan Pillay, M.D., CEO of NeuroBusiness Group and Award Winning Author There is an age-old belief among spiritualists that you draw to your life what you put out. Through deep meditation, these ancient seekers discovered how your external circumstances reflected your internal state. More recently, inspiring writers such as Deepak Chopra, Esther and Jerry Hicks and Wayne Dyer have expounded on these ideas by introducing "The Law of Attraction", "Ask and It is Given" and the "Power of Intention." "The Secret" then brought together many thought leaders in this world and spread the experience of different individuals supporting this principle. In "The Secret" we learned that this is based on "scientific principles" alluding to quantum physics supporting this contention: that you will attract to yourself whatever you put out. In this column I will answer the question: is there a basis in the human brain to support this seemingly abstract idea? Recent brain imaging studies are rapidly showing that the brain does in fact conform in its function to the "Law of Attraction". Perhaps the most convincing evidence to date has been the discovery of "mirror neurons". At first seen in monkeys, scientists eventually found a set of "mirror neurons" in humans that mirror the behavior of someone who is being observed. That is, when we observe someone doing something, the same pattern of brain activation that allows that person to do what they are doing (e.g. lifting up their right hand or smiling) is mirrored in the brain of the observer. It is as if the observer is doing those same things. Activations are seen in the premotor and parietal cortex of the brain: regions that prepare the body for movement and attention. Thus, our brains appear to mirror the actions of another person automatically. Similarly, when we act, the Page 4 - August , 2015