The underlying anatomical correlates of long-term meditation: Larger hippocampal and frontal volumes of gray matter
Open accessAbstract
Although the systematic study of meditation is still in its infancy, research has provided evidence for meditation-induced improvements in psychological and physiological well-being. Moreover, meditation practice has been shown not only to benefit higher-order cognitive functions but also to alter brain activity. Nevertheless, little is known about possible links to brain structure. Using high-resolution MRI data of 44 subjects, we set out to examine the underlying anatomical correlates of long-term meditation with different regional specificity (i.e., global, regional, and local). For this purpose, we applied voxel-based morphometry in association with a recently validated automated parcellation approach. We detected significantly larger gray matter volumes in meditators in the right orbito-frontal cortex (as well as in the right thalamus and left inferior temporal gyrus when co-varying for age and/or lowering applied statistical thresholds). In addition, meditators showed significantly larger volumes of the right hippocampus. Both orbito-frontal and hippocampal regions have been implicated in emotional regulation and response control. Thus, larger volumes in these regions might account for meditators' singular abilities and habits to cultivate positive emotions, retain emotional stability, and engage in mindful behavior. We further suggest that these regional alterations in brain structures constitute part of the underlying neurological correlate of long-term meditation independent of a specific style and practice. Future longitudinal analyses are necessary to establish the presence and direction of a causal link between meditation practice and brain anatomy.
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Long-term meditation practice can trigger meditation-specific neuroplastic changes in brain regions underlying cognitive control and affective regulation.
“long-term meditation practice can trigger meditation-specific neuroplastic changes in the brain regions underlying cognitive control and affective regulation”
From Potential therapeutic effects of meditation for treating affective dysregulation (2014) · cites this paper as [57]
The Abstract reports larger hippocampal and orbito-frontal volumes in long-term meditators and links those regions to emotional regulation and response control. But the Discussion (Summary and Outlook) says the study provides no evidence of a causal relationship: practice-induced changes are possible, not established. The claim overstates the evidence by saying meditation can trigger those changes. (LLM, conf=0.88)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredA substantial body of research has evidenced that mindfulness and compassion meditation can have a positive impact on attention and affective regulation and can induce long-lasting morphological changes in the prefrontal cortices and amygdala.
“A substantial body of research has evidenced that mindfulness and compassion meditation can have a positive impact on attention and affective regulation [54, 55] and can induce long-lasting morphological changes in the corresponding neural regions—specifically, the prefrontal cortices and amygdala [56–58].”
From Potential therapeutic effects of meditation for treating affective dysregulation (2014) · cites this paper as [57]
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Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredStudies have found increased activation or gray matter density in tonic alertness-related areas in meditators, including the thalamus, basal ganglia, and arousal-related brainstem areas such as the reticular formation.
“Studies of subcortical structures have found increased activation or gray matter density in tonic alertness–related areas in meditators, such as the thalamus,83,87,88 basal ganglia,48,88,109,110 and arousal-related areas of the brainstem, such as the reticular formation.111”
From Awakening is not a metaphor: the effects of Buddhist meditation practices on basic wakefulness (2014) · cites this paper as [83]
Meditation practice promotes well-being by fostering cognitive and emotional processes.
“Meditation practice has been found to promote well-being by fostering cognitive and emotional processes [5, 6].”
From The meditative mind: a comprehensive meta-analysis of MRI studies. (2015) · cites this paper as [6]
Cross-sectional studies comparing healthy controls with expert meditators have demonstrated structural MRI changes in the hippocampus, right anterior insula, orbitofrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, left temporal pole, left frontal gyrus, right frontal sulcus, corpus callosum, and brainstem.
“Cross-sectional design studies comparing healthy controls with expert meditators (EMs) from different meditation traditions have demonstrated structural MRI changes in: the hippocampus (Hölzel et al., 2008; Luders et al., 2009; Kang et al., 2013); right anterior insula (AI; Lazar et al., 2005; Hölzel et al., 2008); orbitofrontal cortex (OFC; Hölzel et al., 2008; Luders et al., 2009; Kang et al., 2”
From Mindfulness and Emotion Regulation: Insights from Neurobiological, Psychological, and Clinical Studies (2017) · cites this paper as Luders et al., 2009
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- Authors
- Luders, E., Toga, A. W., Lepore, N., & Gaser, C.
- Affiliations
- University of California, Los Angeles (US)
- Corresponding author
- Toga, Arthur W.
- ORCID
- Toga, Arthur W.
- Venue
- NeuroImage
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2009-04
- Volume
- 45
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 672-678
- ISSN
- 1053-8119 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC3184843
- OpenAlex
- W2168283580
- Cited by
- 469
- References
- 45
- Citations by year
- 2026: 14 · 2025: 21 · 2024: 18 · 2023: 19 · 2022: 20 · 2021: 17 · 2020: 21 · 2019: 33 · 2018: 29 · 2017: 28 · 2016: 41 · 2015: 41 · 2014: 43 · 2013: 39 · 2012: 37
- FWCI
- 30.01
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- NeuroImage (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (01EV0709)
- National Institutes of Health (U54 RR021813, P41 RR013642, M01 RR000865)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Functional Brain Connectivity Studies
- Social Sciences › Health › Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology
- Keywords
- gray matter volume, hippocampus, thalamus, inferior temporal gyrus, brain structure, emotion regulation, response control, mindfulness, meditation practice
- MeSH terms
- Brain, Brain Mapping, Humans, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Meditation
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