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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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. | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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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