A systematic review and activation likelihood estimation meta-analysis of fMRI studies on arousing or wake-promoting effects in Buddhist meditation
Frontiers in Psychology October 27, 2023 Inder S. Chaudhary, Gary C.‐w. Shyi, Shih-Tseng Tina Huang 9 citations
Buddhist meditation is traditionally described as a state of relaxed alertness that must avoid both drowsiness and restlessness. Most scientific research has focused on its relaxing, hypoarousing effects, neglecting its wake-promoting properties. This systematic review and meta-analysis of 22 fMRI studies aimed to identify brain regions associated with alertness during meditation. The most significant activation peaks were in the medial frontal gyrus and precuneus. The analysis failed to find areas commonly linked to alertness, such as the medial prefrontal cortex, superior parietal lobule, basal ganglia, or thalamus, likely because few studies used wakefulness-promoting meditation techniques. The authors recommend future research use multi-modal methods and include clinically diagnosed participants to complement therapies like mindfulness-based cognitive therapy.