Brain structure and meditation
how spiritual practice shapes the brain
pp. 119-128
in: Harald Walach, Stefan Schmidt, Wayne B. Jonas (eds), Neuroscience, consciousness and spirituality, Berlin, Springer, 2011Abstract
Meditation practices can be conceived as specific types of mental training with measureable effects on the function and structure of the human brain. This contribution narratively reviews recent morphometric studies that compared experienced meditators with matched controls. While meditation types and measures differed between studies, results were remarkably consistent. Differences in gray matter (GM) volume and density were found in circumscribed brain regions which are involved in interoception and in the regulation of arousal and emotions, namely insula, hippocampus, prefrontal cortex, and brainstem. The normal age-related decline in GM volume and in attentional performance was present in controls but not in meditators. These findings need to be replicated in longitudinal studies in order to confirm the causal role of meditation training. Future research has to elucidate effects of these structural changes on neural activity and mental functioning during behavioral tasks.