Neurologists study the “Sanskrit effect”

In principle, to become a pandit (a highly learned brahmana) is not so difficult – it is enough just to remember and be able to accurately reproduce about 40 thousand words of ancient texts in Sanskrit, which Europeans call mantras. (Some researchers and apologists of Hinduism believe that the optimal number for achieving enlightenment is the mastery of 100 thousand mantras).
The author of the study noted in himself the increase in cognitive functions as he mastered Sanskrit.
As a true European, James Hartzell did not confine himself to personal positive experience, but he attracted quite objective indicators of MRI scans of the brain, both pandits and ordinary citizens, to research.
As a result of the study, it was found out that in the brain of pandits there was 10 percent more gray matter in both hemispheres of the brain responsible for thinking functions, in addition, the thickness of this layer was much higher in comparison with control specimens.
But the most striking result of the study was the discovery of an unprecedented increase in the area of ​​the right hippocampus (by 75 percent!) Among pandits. It, according to the scientists, is responsible for remembering verbal constructions with all intonations, coding and sound reproduction.
Many functions of both short-term and long-term memory, according to scientists, are evenly distributed in both areas of the hippocampus. In this sense, the study refutes the established opinion that can serve as a basis for additional research.
It is curious that Ayurvedic doctors note a small percentage of Alzheimer’s disease in pandits, which, as a rule, reach a very respectable age.