Frontiers in Human Neuroscience
March 16, 2021
Alfonso Barrós‐loscertales, Sergio Hernández, Yaqiong Xiao et al.
25 citations
Long-term daily meditation practice is associated with changes in both brain structure and functional connectivity. In a comparison of 23 Sahaja Yoga Meditation experts and 23 non-meditators, meditators showed increased functional connectivity between the left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex and the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, regions linked to attention and cognitive control. They also showed reduced connectivity between the left insula and the bilateral mid-cingulate, and between the right angular gyrus and the bilateral precuneus/cuneus cortices, areas of the default mode network. These results suggest that years of meditation may strengthen frontal control networks while weakening their connection to default mode regions.
PLoS One
December 28, 2020
Sergio Hernández, Roberto Dorta‐Guerra, José Suero et al.
23 citations
Long-term practitioners of Sahaja Yoga Meditation had larger grey matter volume overall compared to non-meditators, with significant differences in the right temporal and frontal lobes, left frontal lobe, and brainstem. The differences were more pronounced in right hemisphere brain areas, suggesting neuroplastic changes linked to emotional and attentional control developed through meditation. The study used a novel statistical approach that identified more brain regions with significant volume differences than traditional methods, which may be prone to Type II errors.
PLoS One
March 28, 2024
Oscar Perez-Diaz, Daylín Góngora, José Luis González–Mora et al.
11 citations
Experienced Sahaja Yoga meditators show stronger white-matter connections between brain regions involved in attention and emotion regulation, specifically between the anterior cingulate cortex, insula, and amygdala, compared to non-meditators. Meditators had more tracts in five pathways, including interhemispheric connections between the amygdalae and anterior insulae, and connections from the left anterior cingulate to the right anterior insula and both amygdalae. Non-meditators had more tracts in two pathways within the left hemisphere, connecting the left anterior insula to the left amygdala and left anterior cingulate. Long-term meditation practice is associated with strengthened connections supporting top-down emotional and attentional control, possibly related to the mental silence state, while reduced left-hemisphere connectivity may reflect diminished emotional processing.
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
July 30, 2020
Sergio Hernández, Roberto Dorta‐Guerra, José Suero et al.
2 citations
preprint
Long-term practitioners of Sahaja Yoga Meditation had larger grey matter volume overall compared to non-meditators, with significant differences in four of sixteen lobe areas: the right temporal and frontal lobes, the left frontal lobe, and the brainstem. When examining 116 finer brain subdivisions, eleven areas showed significant differences, with the right hemisphere more affected. These neuroplastic changes may reflect emotional and attentional control developed through the practice. The ad-hoc statistical method used revealed more significant brain areas than traditional approaches, which the authors suggest are prone to conservative Type II errors.
Scientific Reports
April 25, 2025
Oscar Perez-Diaz, Sergio Elías Hernández, Lucy L Brown et al.
1 citation
Long-term practitioners of Sahaja Yoga Meditation show altered functional connectivity of the striatum, a brain region involved in cognitive, motivational, and emotional processes. During meditation, compared to their own resting state, meditators had altered connectivity between the striatum and parietal, sensorimotor, and cerebellar regions. In resting state, meditators had reduced connectivity between the left accumbens and the mid cingulate compared to non-meditators, and this reduction correlated with better performance on a task measuring interference inhibition. The striatum may play a key role in meditation by shifting attention, self-referencing, and bodily sensations, and long-term practice may produce lasting changes in striatal connectivity.