The effect of meditation on brain structure: cortical thickness mapping and diffusion tensor imaging

A convergent line of neuroscientific evidence suggests that meditation alters the functional and structural plasticity of distributed neural processes underlying attention and emotion. The purpose of this study was to examine the brain structural differences between a well-matched sample of long-ter...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Social cognitive and affective neuroscience 2013-01, Vol.8 (1), p.27-33
Main Authors: Kang, Do-Hyung, Jo, Hang Joon, Jung, Wi Hoon, Kim, Sun Hyung, Jung, Ye-Ha, Choi, Chi-Hoon, Lee, Ul Soon, An, Seung Chan, Jang, Joon Hwan, Kwon, Jun Soo
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Attention - physiology
Awareness - physiology
Brain - anatomy & histology
Brain - diagnostic imaging
Brain - physiology
Diffusion Tensor Imaging
Female
Humans
Male
Matched-Pair Analysis
Meditation
Neuronal Plasticity - physiology
Organ Size
Original
Practice, Psychological
Radiography
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:A convergent line of neuroscientific evidence suggests that meditation alters the functional and structural plasticity of distributed neural processes underlying attention and emotion. The purpose of this study was to examine the brain structural differences between a well-matched sample of long-term meditators and controls. We employed whole-brain cortical thickness analysis based on magnetic resonance imaging, and diffusion tensor imaging to quantify white matter integrity in the brains of 46 experienced meditators compared with 46 matched meditation-naïve volunteers. Meditators, compared with controls, showed significantly greater cortical thickness in the anterior regions of the brain, located in frontal and temporal areas, including the medial prefrontal cortex, superior frontal cortex, temporal pole and the middle and interior temporal cortices. Significantly thinner cortical thickness was found in the posterior regions of the brain, located in the parietal and occipital areas, including the postcentral cortex, inferior parietal cortex, middle occipital cortex and posterior cingulate cortex. Moreover, in the region adjacent to the medial prefrontal cortex, both higher fractional anisotropy values and greater cortical thickness were observed. Our findings suggest that long-term meditators have structural differences in both gray and white matter.
ISSN:1749-5016
1749-5024
DOI:10.1093/scan/nss056