The Science Behind the Law of Attraction Magazine August, 2015 | 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
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