Neuroreport
November 7, 2005
Sara W. Lazar, Catherine E. Kerr, Rachel H. Wasserman et al.
1,707 citations
Long-term meditation practice is linked to structural changes in the brain. Magnetic resonance imaging of 20 experienced Insight meditation practitioners showed greater cortical thickness in regions involved in attention, interoception, and sensory processing, including the prefrontal cortex and right anterior insula, compared to matched controls. The difference in prefrontal thickness was most pronounced in older participants, suggesting meditation may counteract age-related cortical thinning. Thickness in two regions also correlated with meditation experience. These findings provide the first structural evidence that meditation practice can induce experience-dependent cortical plasticity.
Frontiers in Human Neuroscience
January 1, 2013
Catherine E. Kerr, Matthew D. Sacchet, Sara W. Lazar et al.
329 citations
Standardized mindfulness practices that focus attention on breath and body sensations may work by training the brain to better regulate alpha rhythms (7-14 Hz) in the primary somatosensory cortex. These alpha rhythms filter sensory information entering the neocortex. The framework suggests that in chronic pain, somatic attention in mindfulness reduces pain-focused attentional resources by altering alpha activity. In depression relapse prevention, somatic attention competes with rumination, as internal cognitive processes rely on alpha filtering. A computational model predicts enhanced top-down modulation of alpha through precise timing changes in thalamocortical inputs. The theory aligns with Buddhist teachings that mindfulness begins with mindfulness of the body, proposing that enhanced alpha regulation improves detection and regulation of mind-wandering.
Brain and Behavior
September 18, 2020
Gunes Sevinc, Jonathan Greenberg, Britta K. Hölzel et al.
24 citations
Mindfulness meditation training is linked to structural changes in the hippocampus, specifically the subiculum, which are associated with reduced connectivity between the hippocampus and lateral occipital regions during the retrieval of extinguished fear memories. This reduced connectivity correlates with decreases in self-reported anxiety after mindfulness training. The findings suggest that the subiculum plays a key role in regulating interactions with contextual cues during memory retrieval, and that mindfulness training may foster resilience by altering these brain circuits.
Journal of affective disorders reports
January 1, 2024
Diane Joss, Junjie Lu, Martin H Teicher et al.
16 citations
Among young adult survivors of childhood adversity, an eight-week Mindfulness-Based Intervention (MBI) and a Stress Management Education (SME) program both led to increased mindfulness, reduced stress, and improved depression, anxiety, and somatization symptoms, with no significant difference between the two groups. Neither group showed greater changes in amygdala volume. Within the MBI group, the severity of childhood maltreatment mediated the link between mindfulness changes and right amygdala volume changes. Across both groups, childhood maltreatment moderated the effect of trait anxiety changes on left amygdala volume changes. The findings suggest that psychological-change-dependent amygdala volumetric changes are not unique to mindfulness training.
Mindfulness
September 1, 2024
Diane Joss, Martin H. Teicher, Sara W. Lazar
11 citations
Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) produce unique therapeutic effects for young adults with adverse childhood experiences, with improvements in trait mindfulness driving reductions in perceived stress, somatization, and hostility. In a clinical trial, 21 participants completed an 8-week MBI and 19 completed a stress management education control. Weekly and follow-up assessments over 18 months showed that mindfulness increases began at the end of the 8-week program, and most symptom reductions lasted 12 months without refresher courses. Only the MBI group showed mindfulness gains predicting later symptom decreases. The findings suggest that at least 8 weeks of MBI and a refresher at 12 months may be needed for lasting benefit.
April 8, 2024
Saampras Ganesan, Aki Tsuchiyagaito, Greg J. Siegle et al.
2 citations
preprint
Meditation practices, which have been adapted into manualized interventions for conditions like depression, pain, addiction, and anxiety, show therapeutic promise, but their neuroscientific basis remains unclear. Current neuroimaging studies rely on small, heterogeneous datasets that vary in practice types, participant experience, clinical targets, and imaging methods, limiting generalizability and replicability. To address this, the ENIGMA-Meditation consortium was formed as a global collaboration to conduct systematic meta- and mega-analyses of distributed neuroimaging data using standardized methods. This framework aims to improve statistical power and rigorously characterize the neural mechanisms underlying meditation's effects on psychological and cognitive attributes, advancing the field of contemplative neuroscience.
medRxiv
July 8, 2026
Paulina Clara Dagnino, Anne Maj van der Velden, Yonatan Sanz Perl et al.
In people with major depressive disorder, mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) plus treatment as usual, compared to treatment as usual alone, alters whole-brain dynamics in ways that may reduce rumination. Using a novel method called complex harmonics decomposition on fMRI data from 80 patients, the study identified low-dimensional spatiotemporal manifolds that capture both local and long-range brain interactions. After MBCT, during rumination, brain regions involved in bodily and interoceptive processing became more consistently integrated across these manifolds. The latent configurations shifted with clinical and behavioral improvements, and the brain showed greater flexibility within the reduced space. These changes may reflect reduced 'stickiness' of ruminative thinking patterns following mindfulness training.