A short-term meditation training program (FAM) was associated with changes in brain energy metabolism and reduced state anxiety. After daily practice, participants showed increased PCr/ATP ratios in the right occipital lobe, decreased Pi/ATP bilaterally in the basal ganglia and right temporal lobe, and increased PCr/Pi in the occipital lobe, basal ganglia, and right temporal lobe. pH decreased in the left temporal and right frontal areas. These metabolic shifts suggest a higher energetic state in the temporal areas and basal ganglia, while frontal and occipital changes may indicate down-regulated ATP turnover and oxidative capacity. The findings indicate that even brief meditation training may alter brain energy management in region-specific ways.
After seven weeks of focused attention meditation training, brain energy metabolism shifts in specific ways. Compared with a focused attention counting task, the meditation state showed decreased phosphocreatine/ATP and phosphocreatine/inorganic phosphate ratios, along with lower intracellular pH, especially in the basal ganglia, frontal lobes, and occipital lobes. Meanwhile, the Pi/ATP ratio, cerebral magnesium, and absolute inorganic phosphate values increased in those same areas. The changes in temporal areas and basal ganglia suggest a higher energetic state from meditation, while frontal and occipital changes may indicate reduced ATP turnover, energy state, and oxidative capacity.
Short-term focused attention meditation training (averaging 7.3 weeks) in 27 healthy, meditation-naïve adults induced dynamic brain changes, including gray matter increases in the insula, caudate nucleus, and frontal cortices, and decreases in parietotemporal regions, the right medial prefrontal cortex, and the parahippocampal gyrus. Fractional anisotropy increased in the right hippocampus, basal ganglia, and adjacent regions. Some alterations correlated with reduced state anxiety. The results suggest that even brief meditation training can produce broad cortical reorganization and altered axonal integrity, with patterns differing from prior studies.