Cortical reorganization processes in meditation naïve participants induced by 7 weeks focused attention meditation training.
Behavioural Brain Research October 1, 2020 Lukas Lenhart, Ruth Steiger, Michaela Waibel et al.
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.