Biological psychiatry. Cognitive neuroscience and neuroimaging
April 1, 2025
Saampras Ganesan, Fernando A Barrios, Ishaan Batta et al.
6 citations
Meditation practices, which have shown therapeutic benefits for conditions like depression, pain, addiction, and anxiety, have been studied with neuroimaging over the past decade. However, existing neuroscientific models are based on small, heterogeneous datasets, limiting generalizability and replicability. The ENIGMA-Meditation consortium is the first worldwide collaborative effort to conduct systematic meta- and mega-analyses of globally distributed neuroimaging data using standardized methods. This framework aims to improve statistical power and address multidomain heterogeneity in meditation practice types, experience, and experimental design. The consortium will generate rigorous neuroscientific insights into the mechanisms underlying meditation's therapeutic effects on psychological and cognitive attributes.
Journal of anxiety disorders
June 1, 2025
Timothy J Mcdermott, Greg J Siegle, Alfonsina Guelfo et al.
2 citations
A clinical trial tested whether adding vibration to breath-focused mindfulness meditation (VABF) reduces respiration rate or variability in trauma-exposed adults with dissociation. 128 participants were randomly assigned to VABF, breath-focus only, vibration only, or open awareness. VABF decreased respiration variability across visits, while all other interventions increased it. Respiration variability was positively associated with anxiety and anger ratings. The findings suggest respiration variability is a meaningful metric for examining regulatory processes and is modifiable through VABF, which holds promise as an intervention for trauma-exposed populations.
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.
Research square
December 22, 2025
Negar Fani, Alexa Kondas, Vishwadeep Ahluwalia et al.
Sternal vibration paired with mindfulness meditation improved body awareness and increased neurite density in the corticospinal tract in trauma-exposed adults with elevated dissociative symptoms. In a study of 116 participants, those who received sternal vibration (n=60) showed significant improvements in body awareness and increased neurite density index in the left cerebral peduncle compared to those without vibration (n=56). Increased neurite density in the left and right corticospinal tracts was also observed. Decreased body dissociation correlated with increased neurite density only in the vibration group. The findings suggest sternal vibration as a low-cost neurostimulation method that may enhance interoception through neuroplastic changes.