Effects on regional cerebral blood flow of transcendental meditation

Jevning, R.; Anand, Rahul; Biedebach, Mark C.; Fernando, G.

doi:10.1016/0031-9384(95)02006-3

Cited by 63 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…A recent PET study comparing four different forms of meditation found that the inferior frontal, fusiform, occipital and postcentral gyri all had increased activity during a pooled average of meditative states relative to a control condition [13]. Other studies have reported increases in cerebral blood¯ow to frontal cortex during transcendental and yoga meditation practice [14,15], in accordance with reports of increased frontal alpha activity seen with EEG [6,7].…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 60%

Functional brain mapping of the relaxation response and meditation

et al. 2000

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our intrepid subjects.Meditation is a conscious mental process that induces a set of integrated physiologic changes termed the relaxation response. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to identify and characterize the brain regions that are active during a simple form of meditation. Signi®cant ( p , 10 À7 ) signal increases were observed in the group-averaged data in the dorsolateral prefrontal and parietal cortices, hippocampus/ parahippocampus, temporal lobe, pregenual anterior cingulate cortex, striatum, and pre-and post-central gyri during meditation. Global fMRI signal decreases were also noted, although these were probably secondary to cardiorespiratory changes that often accompany meditation. The results indicate that the practice of meditation activates neural structures involved in attention and control of the autonomic nervous system.

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Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 60%

Functional brain mapping of the relaxation response and meditation

et al. 2000

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“…In the ICA, we found bilateral areas involved in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, as well as more ventral lateral (opercular) regions of PFC, and in midline areas that are comparable to some which have been found active in a number of other studies (Herzog et al 1990(Herzog et al -1991Jevning et al 1996;Lazar et al 2000;Newberg et al 2001Raffone et al 2007) and, in a ROI study by Baron Short et al (2007). We also observed the inclusion of areas of the anterior cingulate cortex in the component, which other studies have found to be involved in meditation (Baron Short et al 2007;Lazar et al 2000;Newberg et al 2001;Raffone et al 2007;Tang et al 2009), although not in entirely identical locations and by varying degrees (cf.…”

Section: Results From Ica and Ica-spm Combinedmentioning

confidence: 54%

“…Compared to varying control states, activations have often been found in prefrontal areas (Guo and Pagnoni 2008;Jevning et al 1996;Lazar et al 2000;Pardo et al 1991)-in some cases more specifically located in the dorso-lateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC; Baron Short et al 2007;Newberg et al 2001;Raffone et al 2007). Some studies also reported activation of parietal (Lazar et al 2000;Pardo et al 1991) and (mostly anterior) cingulate cortex (Baron Short et al 2007;Lazar et al 2000;Newberg et al 2001;Raffone et al 2007).…”

Section: Previous Neuroimaging Studiesmentioning

confidence: 92%

An investigation of brain processes supporting meditation

et al. 2009

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Meditation is an ancient spiritual practice, which aims to still the fluctuations of the mind. We investigated meditation with fMRI in order to identify and characterise both the "neural switch" mechanism used in the voluntary shift from normal consciousness to meditation and the "threshold regulation mechanism" sustaining the meditative state. Thirty-one individuals with 1.5-25 years experience in meditation were scanned using a blocked on-off design with 45 s alternating epochs during the onset of respectively meditation and normal relaxation. Additionally, 21 subjects were scanned during 14.5 min of sustained meditation. The data were analysed with SPM and ICA. During the onset of meditation, activations were found bilaterally in the putamen and the supplementary motor cortex, while deactivations were found predominately in the right hemisphere, the precuneus, the posterior cingulum and the parieto-temporal area. During sustained meditation, SPM analysis revealed activation in the head of nucleus caudatus. Extensive deactivations were observed in white matter in the right hemisphere, i.e. mainly in the posterior occipito-parieto-temporal area and in the frontal lobes. ICA identified 38 components including known baseline-resting state components, one of which not only overlaps with the activated area revealed in the SPM analysis but extends further into frontal, temporal, parietal and limbic areas, and might presumably constitute a combination of frontoparietal and cinguloopercular task control systems. The identified component processes display varying degrees of correlation. We hypothesise that a proper characterisation of brain processes during meditation will require an operational definition of brain dynamics matching a stable state of mind.

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“…Research on the biological concomitants of meditation practice is sparse and has mostly focused on changes that occur during a period of meditation compared with a resting control condition in a single experimental session (1)(2)(3). Whereas these studies have been informative, they tell us little about changes that are potentially more enduring.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Alterations in Brain and Immune Function Produced by Mindfulness Meditation

Davidson

Kabat-Zinn

Schumacher

et al. 2003

Psychosomatic Medicine

2,202

1,228

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Objective: The underlying changes in biological processes that are associated with reported changes in mental and physical health in response to meditation have not been systematically explored. We performed a randomized, controlled study on the effects on brain and immune function of a well-known and widely used 8-week clinical training program in mindfulness meditation applied in a work environment with healthy employees. Methods: We measured brain electrical activity before and immediately after, and then 4 months after an 8-week training program in mindfulness meditation. Twenty-five subjects were tested in the meditation group. A wait-list control group (N ϭ 16) was tested at the same points in time as the meditators. At the end of the 8-week period, subjects in both groups were vaccinated with influenza vaccine. Results: We report for the first time significant increases in left-sided anterior activation, a pattern previously associated with positive affect, in the meditators compared with the nonmeditators. We also found significant increases in antibody titers to influenza vaccine among subjects in the meditation compared with those in the wait-list control group. Finally, the magnitude of increase in left-sided activation predicted the magnitude of antibody titer rise to the vaccine. Conclusions: These findings demonstrate that a short program in mindfulness meditation produces demonstrable effects on brain and immune function. These findings suggest that meditation may change brain and immune function in positive ways and underscore the need for additional research.

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Effects on regional cerebral blood flow of transcendental meditation

Cited by 63 publications

References 10 publications

Functional brain mapping of the relaxation response and meditation

Functional brain mapping of the relaxation response and meditation

An investigation of brain processes supporting meditation

Alterations in Brain and Immune Function Produced by Mindfulness Meditation

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