Meditation is the process of training attention and awareness to achieve a physiological state that elicits physical and mental relaxation and enhances emotional stability (Bajaj et al., 2019; Jevning et al., 1992; Lee et al., 2015; Young & Taylor, 1998).
Over the years, I have studied different types of meditation starting with self-hypnosis in 1979 and then shortly afterwards Transcendental Meditation to Silva Mind Control to Zen breath counting to Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). TM is easy and enjoyable. Silva is practical. Zen is very difficult. MBSR is easy and enjoyable. While Silva asserts that its meditation style increases alpha brain-wave activity, it never occurred to me what other effects meditation might have upon the brain. Recent studies into brain activity and meditation have found increased alpha waves in Transcendental Meditation, higher theta waves in Zen meditation and greater gamma activity in mindfulness meditation (Travis & Shear, 2010). These are intriguing findings and point to more profound effects meditation has upon the brain.
Meditative practices may be divided into two groups. The first is Focused attention (FA) which means directing one’s awareness to a specific sensory item such as sounds, words, breath, or bodily feelings or toward a mental object such as visual images or thoughts. FA meditators concentrate on these targets and, when the mind inevitably begins to drift, the meditator refocuses his or her attention. The second method of open monitoring is based on moving one’s awareness to whatever spontaneously appears in consciousness. The preeminent example of OM meditation is mindfulness meditation or Vipassana meditation (Ainsworth et al., 2013; Fox et al., 2016). There are several meditation techniques—some from the Yogic traditions and mainly based on attentional control—and include body scan, following the breath, and mantra repetition as well as some forms which aim at emotional experience. But, despite the style of meditation, even short periods of meditation can make a difference in brain activity. For example, just eight weeks of meditation practice has proven positive effects on attention and sensory experience (Kilpatrick, 2011).
Different styles of meditation yield subtly different results. It was found after comparing mindfulness meditation, sitting meditation, and mindful yoga that all three practices resulted in reduced fixated thinking and greater psychological well-being, but there were some differences. Mindful yoga realized the greatest increases in well-being. Both sitting meditation and mindful yoga were beneficial in emotional control. Sitting meditation was strongest at cultivating a detached observational attitude (Sauer-Zavala, 2013).
A meta-analysis of studies investigating the effects of meditation for healthy practitioners between 2011 to 2015 had results similar to studies conducted over 40 years before. In other words, there was great stability in the effects of meditation. This study found that the strongest result was in interpersonal relationship issues and somewhat strong for effects on intelligence and self-concept. Meditation was less effective with negative emotions and anxiety. These results, however, were dependent on the length of meditation experience; the longer the length of meditation practice the more strongly positive were the effects (Sedlmeier, Loße, & Quasten, 2018).
Let us now turn to the effects of meditation on brain activity and health.
Cerebral Cortex
The bilateral sub-frontal and temporal regions also activate at the beginning of meditation with the right sub-frontal cortex, right insula, and the meso-epithelial layer of right temporal lobe remaining the most active yet, paradoxically, overall cortical activity gradually subsides as the meditation progresses. At the end of a meditation session, the meditator experiences a state of reduced neural activity with a sense of deep calmness and positive self-control (Shen, Chen, & Cui, 2020). Meta-analytic studies show that meditation induces changes in eight cortical regions:
- anterior and medial cingulate cortex
- corpus callosum
- frontal cortex
- hippocampus
- insula
- parietal cortex
- orbito-frontal cortex
- parietal cortex
- upper longitudinal bundle
These areas deal with metacognition[1], sensation, body awareness, memory, emotional experience, and cortical integration. Recent studies confirm that meditation increases cortex thickness, gray matter volume, and tissue density. Gray matter is responsible for processing sensory information. The gray matter of meditators is significantly thicker especially in the right anterior insula, right hippocampus, medial PFC, somatosensory cortex, auditory lobe, and occipito-temporal lobes (Fletcher, Schoendorff, & Hayes, 2010).
Researchers literally take size measurements of the brains of meditators including their overall size, different regions, and local parts. Findings show that long-term meditators have larger brain structures than control subjects. The exact relationship between quantity and density is as of yet unknown, but there are several possibilities. Either (a) meditator brains changed from long-term meditation or (b) their brains were just naturally different or (c) both are true (Luders & Kurth, 2019). More research is obviously needed.
Several forms of meditation are linked to increased cortical thickness. Loving-Kindness Meditation increases cortical thickness while improving brain function as seen in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and the insula. These structures are part the social-emotional processing networks in the brain and the insula is the seat of embodiment. Sahaja yoga meditation has been found to increase the functional connections between the medial PFC and bilateral insula and putamen. Mindfulness meditation changes brain structures related to emotional experience. The brains of these meditators have noticeable differences in the hippocampus, right anterior insula, orbito-frontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, left temporal lobe, left frontal gyrus, right frontal sulcus, corpus callosum, and the brainstem (Guendelman, Medeiros, & Rampes, 2017). These areas are essential for sensory experience, mood, and attention regulation. Besides the type of meditation, the depth of meditation is closely associated with the activation of the medial frontal cortex, insula, and striatum which all function as a unit (Shen, Chen, & Cui, 2020).
[1] Metacognition—the awareness of one’s own thinking and body sensations—works in conjunction with self-regulation (self-control) to give the mind the ability of introspective awareness of mental processes and behavior. It is a necessary for supporting well-being (Dorjee, 2016).
Medial Prefrontal Cortex (highlighted)
Meditation first activates the caudate nucleus, the para-hippocampus, and the medial PFC. It controls thinking, personality, emotional self-regulation, decision-making, and impulse control. Besides executive control, the PFC manages attention, memory, imagination, and multi-tasking. Research shows that meditators all have measurably better functions. The brains of experienced meditators display activation of a large part of the PFC which controls attention during meditation (Brefczynski et al. 2013; Jindal, Gupta, & Das, 2013; Pollmann, 2004).
Caudate Nucleus (highlighted)
The caudate nucleus focuses attention thus blocking out irrelevant information so as to induce a contemplative state. The para-hippocampus also reduces distraction while the medial PFC enhances self-awareness. These areas may represent the essential network of the meditative state (Shen, Chen, & Cui, 2020).
Putamen (highlighted)
As already described, meditation improves focus and sustained attention. This may be because it increases the gray matter in the putamen. The putamen is in the center of brain at the base of the forebrain responsible for movement planning and execution, learning, and attentional control. It is part of the basal ganglia system. This finding is based on analyses of the brains of 13 long-term, Zen meditators compared to those of 13 non-meditating control subjects. This is promising news as gray matter volume begins gradually decreasing starting in adolescence and accelerates as aging progresses (Pagnoni & Cekic, 2007).
The Limbic System
Amygdala (highlighted)
The amygdala identifies incoming stimuli as either being potentially harmful or not and so has been called the fear center of the brain. It plays a central role in emotional response. A large study of 2,397 subjects completed a survey of meditation practice, yoga practice, and experienced stress. They then underwent a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan of their brains. Multiple scans were administered to assess physical alterations over time. Amygdala and hippocampal volumes were of particular interest as these brain areas are known to be active in meditation. Fifteen percent of test subjects practiced at least one discipline. Those practicing both methods reported the highest level of stress and depression. This latter group had significantly smaller hippocampi and amygdala structures (Gotink et al., 2018). The brain structure patterns in depressed subjects correlated with a larger right amygdala (Lange & Irle, 2004; Holzel et al., 2010) and so it would seem that stress reduction is related to a smaller amygdala (Holzel et al., 2010; Farb et al., 2007; Goldin & Gross, 2010; Desbordes et al., 2012; Creswell et al. 2007; Holzel et al., 2013; Gotink et al., 2018). One possible hypothesis explaining these results is that yoga meditators are more sensitive to stress and mood instability than others and so use yoga and meditation to calm and center themselves and so their brain structures reflect this over time.
Cingulate Gyrus (highlighted)
The cingulate cortex is a central component of the limbic system responsible for processing emotion, learning, and memory. It is connected to the thalamus and cerebral cortex. Short-term meditation activates the cingulate cortex and increases its volume of white matter. Studies have shown meditation has positive effects upon the cingulate cortex resulting in positive emotional states. This has also been found true of tests on schizophrenics who, after meditation, enjoyed improved mood and psychological stability (Jindal, Gupta, & Das, 2013).
Hippocampus (highlighted)
Meditation supports the growth of gray matter and so improves memory ability (Jindal, Gupta, & Das, 2013). The hippocampus is often called the gateway to memory as it controls what is placed into long-term memory. The brains of 30 long-term meditation practitioners (15 men and 15 women) and 30 matched control subjects (15 men and 15 women) were MRI scanned to assess if hippocampus size differed between the brains of meditators and non-meditators as found in previous studies. Past studies found structural differences in the hippocampi between meditators and non-meditators as well as between men and women. Similar results were found in this study. Hippocampal dimensions were larger both in male and in female meditators in contrast to non-mediator control subjects. Meditation effects differed between men and women in size and position in the hippocampi with male hippocampi changes being slightly larger than the female hippocampi. It is currently unknown whether these sex differences are genetic or acquired over time (Luders, Thompson, & Kurth, 2015). Nonetheless, meditation does appear to favor improved hippocampal memory function and so meditation may be of therapeutic benefit for staving off Alzheimer’s disease (Lardone et al., 2018).
Default Mode Network (DMN) (highlighted)
There are many inter-related systems within the brain, but there are two of special significance. One orients the brain outward to the external world and while the other focuses it inward into itself. This internalizing system is the default mode network (DMN)[1]. It was discovered quite by accident during experiments using positron emission studies investigating brain activity when subjects were actively engaged with the external environment. The DMN showed low activation when focusing on tasks with the outside world, but became highly active when visualizing mental images, thinking about autobiographical memories, and relaxing prior to asleep (Buckner & DiNicola, 2019). The DMN is vulnerable to aging as it is associated with mind wandering, spontaneous thought, self-reflective thinking, inner speech, momentary attentional lapses, autobiographical memory, and daydreaming (Tsvetanov et al., 2016; Chaovaliwongse et al., 2017). Likewise, the attention network is also degraded by aging making it difficult for the elderly to concentrate (Song et al., 2014; Tomasi & Volkow, 2012; Gomez-Ramirez et al., 2016).
Various brain regions and cognitive processes are affected by the aging of the brain and their consequences are similar in severity to neuropsychiatric and neurological disorders. Experienced meditators develop increased control over the attention centers of their brains such as those that manage conflict, recall and apply memory, and regulate emotions. Their brains show powerful self-regulation ability in the frontal-parietal and insular areas; regions commonly known their fragility in advanced aging. Fortunately, various meditation methods appear helpful in strengthening these areas. Yoga, as a form of physical meditation with its own contemplative techniques, enhances the metacognitive functions and the ability to self-regulate. These two things improve attention and memory, emotional control, and positive social behaviors (Chaovalitwongse et al., 2017; Voss, Cerna, & Gothe, 2022).
Neural changes are quick to appear even after short-term practice. An eight-week meditation training, compared to relaxation training, resulted in decreased intra-connectivity in the DMN, the salience network, and motor network. Also, the meditation groups showed decreased connectivity strength between the DMN and other nodules (salience, frontoparietal, motor, and visual networks) in tests for simple effects. There was lower connectivity in the left posterior cingulate gyrus (associated with the DMN), bilateral paracentral lobule, and middle cingulate gyrus post-training in the meditation group (Chaovalitwongse et al., 2017). This means that meditation slowly cultivates a state of self-detachment (Cotier, Zhang, & Lee, 2017).
Several researchers propose that mindfulness training may help older adults in managing the cognitive, emotional, and psychological challenges of aging. A meta-analysis of 47 trials of mindfulness meditation anxiety and depression yielded positive regardless of age. One study in particular showed that just having a habitual openness to just being naturally mindful without formal practice led to enhanced connectivity in the DMNs of older adults (Prakash et al., 2013). This is an amazing finding.
As usual, more research is needed to establish how meditation modulates DMN activity and its impact on aging and mental disease. The current data, however, indicate that meditation increases attentional focus and cognitive flexibility. Meditation increases relaxation by decreasing sympathetic nervous system activity, reducing stress by slowing the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, decreasing heart rate variability, and dispelling emotional reactivity (Chaovalitwongse et al., 2017).
Cognitive Abilities
As mentioned previously, meditation helps to improve attention and focus by changing the putamen, DMN, PFC, insula, and other areas. One study illustrating this result comes from a small group, fMRI scan of long-term meditation subjects in the state of Transcendental Meditation (N=16) (Mahone et al., 2018). The scans monitored the blood flow patterns in the brain during meditation. Blood flow patterns were significantly higher in executive and attention areas (anterior cingulate and dorsolateral prefrontal cortices) and significantly lower in arousal areas (pons and cerebellum) during Transcendental Meditation.
People high in mindfulness display greater activity in the prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, and insular cortex and lesser activity in the amygdala than those low in dispositional mindfulness when engaging in various emotionally salient tasks. Similarly, practitioners engaging in mindfulness appear to demonstrate both functional and structural differences from controls in this emotion regulation network, which correlate with behavioral differences in areas ranging from attentional abilities to psychological well-being (Wheeler, Arnkoff, & Glass, 2017).
A review of nine randomized controlled trials and 20 quasi-experimental studies provided reasonably strong evidence that mindfulness techniques improve cognitive and socio-emotional skills in children six to twelve years of age (Filipe et al., 2021).
Many studies of mindfulness meditation show significant improvements in a person’s ability to focus and sustain attention along with enhancements of working memory and other cognitive processes. It appears that improvements of cognitive abilities are proportional to the length of time a person has been meditating. Besides increasing psychological well-being, these effects could be used to delay the cognitive losses that occur in old age (Chiesa, Calati, & Serretti, 2011).
Emotional Regulation
Emotional regulation is defined as the strategies a person employs to increase, decrease, or maintain different aspects of an emotional response (Guendelman, Medeiros, & Rampes, 2017).
Neurobiological research indicates that meditation changes brain structure through neuroplasticity[2], but the underlying neural and psychological mechanisms remain unknown at this time although several different neuropsychological models have been suggested. Emotional experience is shaped by several different and complex brain systems: amygdala, periaqueductal gray, ventral striatum, anterior insula, and the dorso-lateral cingulate cortex. The dorso-lateral prefrontal cortex, ventro-lateral prefrontal cortex, pre-supplementary and supplementary motor areas, and parietal cortex are central in the conscious control of emotions. Unconscious emotional control comes from the ventro-anterior cingulate cortex and ventro-medial prefrontal cortex (Guendelman, Medieros, & Rampes, 2017).
There are several models explaining how meditation affects emotions, but the overall issue may be categorized in two general ways. One model states that top-down processing from the higher brain areas during meditation identifies emotions and, by doing so, helps to detach from them, and re-interpret their meanings. The lower brain areas process experience in a bottom-up pattern by starting with raw sensory information of body signals which then are refined further as they ascend the neural ladder to the highest levels where emotions are identified and experienced (Guendelman, Medeiros, & Rampes, 2017).
Anxiety and stress reduction have long been associated with meditation. Indeed, when the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi came to the United States in the 1950s to proselytize Transcendental Meditation, his main selling point was stress reduction. Not much has changed since then except for more science as to why and how meditation alleviates anxiety. Mindfulness meditation changes neural patterns through the because of the brain’s neuroplasticity which results in thicker neural tissue, emotional tranquility from quieting the amygdala, tighter brain inter-connectivity, and increases in neurotransmitter levels. These all result in better emotional and mood states, thinking ability, and stress resistance (Calderone et al., 2024).
There has been much research into meditation and its effects on a variety of dysfunctional conditions including depression, psychosis, body image dissatisfaction, substance abuse, trauma, eating disorders, exhibitionism, smoking, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, neuroticism, psoriasis, and cancer. At the heart of most psychological disorders is the inability to manage and resolve emotional distress. The cultivation of detached awareness helps people to contact their negative emotions in a way that helps them to understand and integrate them. Studies show that mindfulness builds the skill to manage disturbing emotions (Chambers, Gullone, & Allen, 2009).
One example of how mindfulness meditation helps with emotional regulation is demonstrated in a study comparing the effects of breathing meditation and emotion-focused meditation on the processing of positive and negative emotions. The study exposed 65 adult novice meditators to film clips containing positive and negative-charged emotional contents. The subjects’ emotional states were measured before and after watching the films. Participants of both meditation conditions showed a more delayed emotional reaction to negative stimuli than control subjects without meditation experience (Belbo, 2018).
Because mindfulness meditation has such powerful effects on emotional experience and a person’s ability to manage their emotions, some researchers propose an embodied emotion regulation model for understanding these changes (Guendelman, Medeiros, & Rampes, 2017).
Self-Awareness
The enhancement or expansion of self-awareness during meditation is related to the DMN (Jerath et al., 2012).
Taking the Yogic breathing method of pranayama as one example, the physiological response to structured breathing leads to an autonomic shift from sympathetic to parasympathetic activity (Jerath et al., 2006). Pranayama enhances the experience of inner calmness via peaceful breathing (Brown & Gerbarg, 2005). This state is marked by slower breathing; about less than 10 breaths per minute (Pramanik et al., 2009). This calming of the nervous system comes from higher degree of cardiorespiratory synchronization (Cysarz & Büssing, 2005).
Body Image
Many research studies confirm that self-compassion protects against negative body image and other dysfunctional behaviors (Braun, Park, & Gorin, 2016). Self-compassion is composed of (a) self-kindness, (b) the experience of common humanity, and (c) mindfulness. In other words, self-compassion is being kind and understanding toward oneself in instances of distress. Identifying with other human beings at large gives insight into the fact that everyone suffers in their own way. Knowing this offers personal solace and heightens personal connections with others. Self-compassion helps a person to detach from his or herself and identify less with their suffering.
It can reduce self-criticism and perfectionism and the anxiety and depression that accompany these states. It enhances self-worth and motivates people to pursue positive health goals (Neff, 2003). Self-compassion is directly related to psychological health and so it may improve body image and other related symptoms. One control group study had 98 test subjects meditate upon self-compassion over a three-week period. Meditators reduced their body dissatisfaction, body shame, and the notion that their self-worth is dependent on the attractiveness of their appearance. Of particular note, improvements were still present when assessed again three months after the initial experiment (Albertson, Neff, & Dill-Shackleford, 2014).
Closing Thoughts
Proving that the effects of meditation are sometimes short of miraculous, there is nothing magical about it. The key here is in the neuroplasticity of the brain; the ability of the brain to develop new neural circuitry in response to the type of mental processing it engages in. Meditation, over time, quite literally molds your brain into that of a meditator along with all the accompanying benefits. I myself find it amazing that something as simple—not necessarily easy, mind you—as attention control can modify the brain to such an extent.
In the next part of this series, I will cover the health effects meditation has on the physical body and, in the third, I cover the potential risks involved.
Paul Shane, Ph.D., LMT
Director, Academic Content
NOTES
- Please note that the information given here is for educational purposes only and does not advocate any particular treatment method(s). Be sure to always consult with your licensed healthcare provider before initiating any changes to your healthcare regimen.
- For those of you whose neurological studies are somewhat limited, I recommend you pick up The Principles of Neural Science, 6th Edition by E. Kandel, J. Schwartz, T. Jessell, S. Sigelbaum, and A. Hudspeth (Eds.). It is an absolutely awesome piece of work.
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[1] See my blog-lecture “Massaging the Brain” for further discussion of the DMN.
[2] Neuroplasticity is an ability of the brain to adapt and change its structure and functioning in response to inner or outer stimuli (Puderbaugh & Emmady, 2023).