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.
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.
bioRxiv Preprint Server
February 22, 2026
Sergio Elías Hernández, Katya Rubia, Oscar Perez-Diaz et al.
preprint
Praying to a God perceived as immanent (inside oneself) versus transcendent (outside oneself) activates different brain regions. In a comparison of brain scans, Christians praying to a transcendent God showed thalamus activation, whereas practitioners of Sahaja Yoga Meditation praying to an immanent God showed thalamus deactivation. The thalamus relays sensory information, so its deactivation during immanent prayer likely reflects reduced attention to external stimuli to focus inward, while its activation during transcendent prayer may support a perceived dialogue with an external divine presence.
BMC Neuroscience
November 13, 2023
Oscar Perez-Diaz, Alfonso Barrós‐loscertales, Uffe Schjoedt et al.
Praying during Sahaja Yoga Meditation deactivates the bilateral thalamus and reduces activity in frontal brain regions, including the medial prefrontal cortex, compared to secular speech tasks. These neural patterns suggest that prayer in this tradition involves inner concentration and diminished social judgment or mentalizing, distinguishing it from Christian praying practices that engage social cognition. The study scanned sixteen experienced Sahaja Yoga Meditation practitioners using functional MRI while they performed formalized and improvised prayers and matched secular tasks.