Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a protein involved in learning and neuroplasticity, was measured in experienced meditators before and during a month-long silent retreat. Participants with higher BDNF levels at the start of the retreat showed greater increases in telomere length over three weeks. However, BDNF levels did not change on average during the retreat, and higher BDNF was linked to lower telomerase activity. The findings suggest that a person's baseline BDNF, rather than changes induced by meditation, may influence cellular aging markers.
Experienced meditators who attended a month-long insight meditation retreat reported more profound insights, powerful emotional experiences, and non-ordinary sensory or perceptual events compared to similarly experienced meditators who continued daily life. Retreat participants also scored higher on dimensions of mystical experience, including internal unity, transcendence, sacredness, noetic quality, and deeply felt positive affect. The findings suggest that intensive meditation training is associated with a range of profound and mystical-type experiences, which may contribute to psychological or spiritual development, though long-term consequences remain to be understood.
Meditation training increases mindful awareness and mental quiescence in everyday life, and these subjective changes are linked to alterations in the brain's spontaneous electrical activity at rest. In a study of experienced meditators, three months of full-time focused-attention meditation (compared to a waiting-list control) led to increases in daily reports of felt attentiveness and serenity. The training also reduced the strength and duration of EEG microstates—transient patterns of brain activity—and changes in how these microstates sequenced over time correlated with daily improvements in mindful qualities. The results connect shifts in meditative experience with the large-scale dynamics of functional brain networks.