How Meditation Change the Brain

Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it. ~Siddhārtha Gautama

The main purpose of Buddhist meditation is to purify the mind of all negative tendencies such as greed, anger, and delusion through mind control. When they are removed, the mind will be freed from suffering. It should be noted, however, that the Buddha said don’t blindly believe what others say, see for yourself what brings serenity, clarity of thought, and inner peace.

But now, scientists say that meditators may be benefiting from changes in their brains. The researchers report that those who meditated for about 30 minutes a day for eight weeks had measurable changes in gray-matter density in parts of the brain associated with memory, sense of self, empathy, and stress. Below is the findings.

Aim of Study

This study demonstrates longitudinal changes in brain gray matter concentration following an 8-week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction course compared with a control group.

Previous Studies 

Table 1

Results:

Fig. 1

Gray matter changes in a priori regions of interest. The paired t-test within the MBSR group identified a small cluster in the left hippocampus with increased gray matter concentration (peak voxel MNI coordinates x, y, z: −36, −34, −8; t (15)=6.89; voxel level P =0.014, corrected for multiple comparisons with FWE correction; cluster size k=30; Fig. 1). The averaged gray matter concentration within this cluster was then extracted for each individual at each time-point using the Marsbar toolbox and further analyses were performed in SPSS. A repeated measures ANOVA (two groups×two time-points; age and gender as nuisance variables) showed a significant group×time interaction (F (1,29)=4.92; P=0.035). There was no difference in gray matter concentration within this cluster between the two groups at the Pre time-point (2-sample t-test for equal variances; t (31)=0.06; P=0.956) and the control group did not show a change in gray matter concentration from the Pre to Post time-point (paired t-test; t (16)=0.343; P=0.736). Pre to Post changes in the other regions of interest were not significant, and changes in the a priori regions were also not correlated with the amount of mindfulness homework practice or with changes in the FFMQ. Furthermore, we performed a paired t-test within the control group in SPM5 and applied the same thresholds. No significant voxels were associated with increase or decrease in gray matter concentration from Pre to Post in the control group. To summarize, analyses of gray matter concentration changes in the ROI analysis supported significant increases in the left hippocampus in the MBSR group, confirming that structural changes in this region are detectable within 8 weeks following the participation in this mindfulness training program.

Whole brain analysis

Exploratory analysis of the entire brain (paired t-test in SPM5) revealed four clusters with significantly greater gray matter concentration at the Post compared with the Pre time-point in the MBSR group (Table 2). 

Table 2

Fig. 2

One cluster was located in the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC; Fig. 2, Fig. 3), one in the left temporo-parietal junction (TPJ; Fig. 2, Fig. 3), and two clusters were located in the cerebellum (Fig. 2, Fig. 3). 

 

Fig. 3

One of the two clusters identified in the cerebellum was centered in the vermis and extended into the brainstem, encompassing several pontine nuclei in the brainstem. The second cerebellar cluster was located more laterally, including parts of the left lobule X and VIII, i.e., lateral parts of the posterior and flocculonodular lobe. No regions showed a significant decrease in gray matter concentration following the MBSR intervention.

Conclusion

Hypothesized increases in gray matter concentration within the left hippocampus were confirmed. Exploratory whole brain analyses identified significant increases in gray matter concentration in the PCC, TPJ, and the cerebellum.

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Hotzel, B.K. et al. (2011). Mindfulness practice leads to increases in regional brain gray matter density. Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging 191 (1): 36-43 DOI: 10.1016/j.pscychresns.2010.08.006