Does Neuroimaging Provide Evidence of Meditation-Mediated Neuroplasticity?

Clausen, Shawn S.; Crawford, Cindy C.; Ives, John A.

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-01634-4_7

Shawn S. Clausen M.D., M.PH.⁵,
Cindy C. Crawford⁶ &
John A. Ives⁷

Part of the book series: Studies in Neuroscience, Consciousness and Spirituality ((SNCS,volume 2))

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Abstract

Results of recent magnetic resonance imaging studies suggest that meditation may be associated with region-specific structural neuroplasticity. To test the hypothesis that meditation-related brain function predicts site-specific structural changes in meditators, we conducted two meta-analyses: one of studies localizing brain activity during meditation, and a second of studies measuring differences in brain structure between meditators and non-meditators. Activation Likelihood Estimation (ALE) meta-analysis of five studies measuring brain activation during meditation revealed the greatest clusters of activity to be in the left frontal cortex and left precuneus. ALE of four studies measuring the differences in brain structure between meditators and controls revealed that meditators tended to have greater brain volume in the left inferior temporal gyrus. Thus, brain activity during meditation did not predict region-specific structural differences between meditators and non-meditators. This finding may reflect recognized limitations in neuroimaging methodology rather than the refutability of the hypothesis itself. Future efforts aimed at understanding the relationship between brain activity and structural changes in the brain should focus on improving neuroimaging experimental design and incorporating evidence from other branches of neurocognitive science. Progress in these areas promises to elucidate the connection between mind-body practices, and brain structure and function.

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Acknowledgments

Many thanks to Angela Laird, PhD, University of Texas, San Antonio and her staff for support in the use of GingerALE and Mango; Allison Rollins, Librarian, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS) for assistance in our literature search; and to Wayne Jonas, MD, and Joan Walter of The Samueli Institute, as well as Roger Gibson DVM, Tomoko Hooper, MD, Cara Olsen, PhD, and Daniel Burnett, MD, of USUHS for their support and direction in this project. This work is supported by Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences under Contract No MDA 905-03-C-0003. The views, opinions and/or findings contained in this report are those of the author(s) and should not be construed as an official USU position, policy or decision unless so designated by other documentation.

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Authors and Affiliations

Department of General Preventive Medicine, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, 4301 Jones Bridge Road, Room A1040A, Bethesda, MD, 20814-4799, USA
Shawn S. Clausen M.D., M.PH.
Samueli Institute, Alexandria, VA, USA
Cindy C. Crawford
Brain, Mind and Healing, Samueli Institute, 1737 King Street Suite 600, Alexandria, VA, 22314, USA
John A. Ives

Authors

Shawn S. Clausen M.D., M.PH.
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Cindy C. Crawford
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John A. Ives
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Correspondence to John A. Ives .

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Editors and Affiliations

Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
Stefan Schmidt
Institute for Transcultural Health Scien, European Universtiy Viadrina, Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany
Harald Walach

Appendices

Appendix 1 Extracted Coordinates: Brain Activation During Meditation

Author	Year	Hemisphere	Anatomic Region	x	y	z	Z max	t	p value
Shimomura et al.	2008	Left	Superior frontal gyrus	0	5	62	4.71		<0.05
		Left	Superior frontal gyrus	−8	1	63	3.89		<0.05
		Left	Superior frontal gyrus	−4	−8	67	3.41		<0.05
		Left	Superior frontal gyrus	−2	6	51	4.14		<0.05
		Left	Medial frontal gyrus	−2	14	49	4.56		<0.05
		Left	Medial frontal gyrus	0	27	41	3.82		<0.05
		Left	Middle frontal gyrus	−44	14	42	5.2		<0.05
		Left	Middle frontal gyrus	−55	19	29	4.05		<0.05
		Left	Middle frontal gyrus	−50	6	44	3.49		<0.05
		Right	Supramarginal gyrus	51	−53	36	4.95		<0.05
		Right	Supramarginal gyrus	61	−43	33	4.12		<0.05
		Right	Angular gyrus	44	−61	33	4.14		<0.05
		Right	Medial frontal gyrus	2	14	47	4.59		<0.05
		Left	Inferior frontal gyrus	−32	35	7	4.11		<0.05
		Left	Inferior frontal gyrus	−44	43	−2	3.59		<0.05
		Left	Inferior frontal gyrus	−35	24	6	3.58		<0.05
		Left	Middle frontal gyrus	−40	12	51	3.82		<0.05
		Left	Middle frontal gyrus	−32	12	55	3.72		<0.05
		Left	Middle frontal gyrus	−28	5	55	3.61		<0.05
Brefczynski-Lewis et al.	2007	Left	Middle frontal gyrus/Inferior frontal gyrus	−49	29	19		3.2	<0.005
		Right	Superior frontal gyrus	31	42	31		2.4	<0.05
		Left	Middle frontal gyrus/dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex	−21	6	50		2.5	<0.05
		Left	Rectal gyrus	−0.5	43	−26		3.4	<0.005
		Left	Precentral, dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex	−34	−2	36		3	<0.01
		Left	Intraparietal sulcus, superior parietal, supramarginal gyrus	−24	−61	46		3.2	<0.005
		Right	Superior parietal	14	−62	54		3.8	<0.005
		Right	Cuneus	22	−85	11		4	<0.005
		Left	Middle temporal gyrus, inferior frontal gyrus	−38	−7	−26		5.1	<0.005
		Right	Middle temporal gyrus	54	−12	−8		3.2	<0.005
			Fusiform	−42	−55	−16		3.5	<0.005
		Left	Putamen	−30	−20	3		2.8	<0.01
		Right	Lentiform, parahippocampus	29	−42	11		2.9	<0.01
			Cerebellum, declive, culmen	−4	−56	−14		3.3	<0.005
		Left	Cerebellar tonsil	−22	−39	−40		3.3	<0.005
		Left	Anterior middle frontal gyrus	−26	43	7		−3.17	<0.01
Hölzel et al.	2007	Left	Anterior cingulate cortex	−12	42	12		5.11	0.002
		Right	Anterior cingulate cortex	9	48	9		3.97	0.025
		Left	Dorsal medial prefrontal cortex	−12	45	15		4.48	0.017
		Left	Dorsal medial prefrontal cortex	0	48	39		4.2	0.031
		Right	Dorsal medial prefrontal cortex	6	51	3		4.36	0.017
		Right	Dorsal medial prefrontal cortex	3	48	39		4.1	0.029
		Left	Inferior temporal	−51	−3	−42		13.43	0.000
		Left	Inferior orbital frontal	−45	36	−21		8.26	0.000
		Right	Cerebellum	36	−84	−42		7.98	0.000
		Right	Rectus	15	21	−21		7.92	0.000
		Left	Cerebellum	−24	−93	−36		7.73	0.000
		Left	Superior medial frontal	−9	63	6		7.45	0.000
Lazar et al.	2000		Anterior cingulum	6	33	0			<0.001
			Basal ganglia(putamen)	28	−15	−6			<0.001
			Midbrain	−15	−15	−15			<0.001
			Midbrain	0	−12	−9			<0.001
			Parahippocampal gyrus	−25	−24	−15			<0.001
			Superior frontal gyrus	−6	24	50			<0.001
			Middle frontal gyrus	−40	30	37			<0.001
			Medial frontal gyrus	12	48	9			<0.001
			Parietal lobule	−21	−48	53			<0.001
			Superior parietal lobule	−21	−63	53			<0.001
			Superior parietal lobule	−31	−57	53			<0.001
			Superior parietal lobule	−28	−54	43			<0.001
			Superior/inferior parietal lobule	40	−60	46			<0.001
			Inferior parietal lobule	−34	−36	43			<0.001
			Superior temporal gyrus	59	−60	28			<0.001
			Middle temporal gyrus	59	−57	3			<0.001
			Parahippocampal gyrus	−28	−21	−12			<0.001
			Precentral gyrus	46	−12	53			<0.001
			Postcentral gyrus	−25	−39	62			<0.001
			Paracentral lobule	−6	−33	65			<0.001
Lutz et al.	2008	L/R	Precuneus	−5	−55	52		5.8	<0.0005
		Right	Supramarginal gyrus	52	−43	37		6.8	<0.0005
		L/R	Inferior parietal lobule	46	−40	47		6.1	<0.0005
		L/R	Anterior insula	37	15	1		4.8	<0.0005
		L/R	Superior temporal sulcus	54	−38	14		5.7	<0.0005
		L/R	Superior temporal gyrus	54	5	−7		5.2	<0.0005
		Right	Superior parietal lobule	34	−60	46		6.1	<0.0005
		L/R	Posterior cingulate gyrus	6	−40	40		5.5	<0.0005
		Right	Middle temporal gyrus	58	−47	−3		6.4	<0.0005
		L/R	Parahippocampus	12	−39	4		5.3	<0.0005
		L/R	Fusiform gyrus	48	−38	−17		4.93	<0.0005
		L/R	Cerebellum	16	−48	−12		6.1	<0.0005
		Right	Anterior cingulate gyrus	5	24	37		4.1	<0.005
		Right	Medial frontal gyrus	9	6	42		4.1	<0.005
		Right	Mid frontal gyrus	22	9	58		3.4	<0.005
		L/R	Brainstem	3	−22	−6

Appendix 2 Extracted Coordinates: Meta-Analysis of Differences in Brain Volume Between Meditators and Controls

Author	Year	Study measure	Hemisphere	Anatomic region	x	y	z	Z max	t	p value
Luders et al.	2009	GM volume	Right	Orbito-frontal cortex	28	41	−3			0.0001
			Left	Inferior temporal lobe	−45	−8	−28			0.0003
			Right	Thalamus	21	−22	14			0.0003
			Left	Paracentral lobe	−12	−9	54			0.0004
			Right	Paracentral lobe	22	−23	48			0.0005
Hölzel et al.	2008	GM concentration	Right	Hippocampus	38	−32	−12			0.027
			Right	Anterior insula	36	12	6			0.022
			Left	Inferior temporal gyrus	−49	−9	−28			0.058
			Medial	Orbitofrontal cortex	1	45	−16			0.023
Vestergaard-Poulsen et al.	2009	GM density	Right	Medulla oblongata	3	−37	−58	5.24		<0.05
			Left	Superior frontal gyrus	−24	50	4	4.29		<0.05
			Left	Inferior frontal gyrus	−44	28	6	3.96		<0.05
			Bilateral	Cerebellum	33	−59	−36	4.14		<0.05
			Right	Medulla Oblongata	5	−45	−51	4.89		<0.05
			Left	Medulla Oblongata	5	−46	−51	5.49		<0.05
			Left	Fusiform gyrus	−52	−19	−29	4.75		<0.05
				Cerebellum	−29	−58	−37	4.14		<0.05
Pagnoni et al.	2007	GM volume	Left	Putamen	−33	−5	2		5.45	0.001

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Clausen, S.S., Crawford, C.C., Ives, J.A. (2014). Does Neuroimaging Provide Evidence of Meditation-Mediated Neuroplasticity?. In: Schmidt, S., Walach, H. (eds) Meditation – Neuroscientific Approaches and Philosophical Implications. Studies in Neuroscience, Consciousness and Spirituality, vol 2. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-01634-4_7

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-01634-4_7
Published: 09 October 2013
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-01633-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-01634-4
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