Scientific Reports
June 5, 2024
Suruchi Fialoke, Vaibhav Tripathi, Sonika Thakral et al.
21 citations
During yoga nidra, a practice that aims for deep relaxation with heightened awareness, experienced meditators show reduced connectivity within the default mode network (DMN) compared to novices, as measured by fMRI. This decoupling of DMN regions was not present during ordinary resting states before or after the practice. The degree of reduced DMN connectivity correlated with the participants' cumulative hours of meditation and yoga experience. The findings suggest that yoga nidra produces a distinct neural state in experienced practitioners, supporting their subjective experience of being restful yet aware, and offer insight into the neural mechanisms underlying the practice.
Biological psychiatry. Cognitive neuroscience and neuroimaging
April 1, 2025
Saampras Ganesan, Fernando A Barrios, Ishaan Batta et al.
6 citations
Meditation practices, which have shown therapeutic benefits for conditions like depression, pain, addiction, and anxiety, have been studied with neuroimaging over the past decade. However, existing neuroscientific models are based on small, heterogeneous datasets, limiting generalizability and replicability. The ENIGMA-Meditation consortium is the first worldwide collaborative effort to conduct systematic meta- and mega-analyses of globally distributed neuroimaging data using standardized methods. This framework aims to improve statistical power and address multidomain heterogeneity in meditation practice types, experience, and experimental design. The consortium will generate rigorous neuroscientific insights into the mechanisms underlying meditation's therapeutic effects on psychological and cognitive attributes.
April 8, 2024
Saampras Ganesan, Aki Tsuchiyagaito, Greg J Siegle et al.
2 citations
preprint
Meditation practices, which have been adapted into manualized interventions for conditions like depression, pain, addiction, and anxiety, show therapeutic promise, but their neuroscientific basis remains unclear. Current neuroimaging studies rely on small, heterogeneous datasets that vary in practice types, participant experience, clinical targets, and imaging methods, limiting generalizability and replicability. To address this, the ENIGMA-Meditation consortium was formed as a global collaboration to conduct systematic meta- and mega-analyses of distributed neuroimaging data using standardized methods. This framework aims to improve statistical power and rigorously characterize the neural mechanisms underlying meditation's effects on psychological and cognitive attributes, advancing the field of contemplative neuroscience.
Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback
December 22, 2025
Nitesh Sharma, Dushyant Soni, Manvi Jain et al.
Sustained Gayatri Mantra meditation practice is associated with enhanced emotional regulation, reduced neural reactivity to affective stimuli, and improved emotional wellbeing. In a study of 24 healthy male participants, those who regularly practiced meditation showed significantly smaller late positive potential (LPP) amplitudes in response to negative images, particularly at the CPz electrode site, indicating reduced emotional reactivity. Practitioners also scored higher on emotional competence, non-attachment, emotion regulation, and resilience compared to non-practitioners. These combined neurophysiological and psychological findings suggest that long-term Gayatri Mantra meditation may cultivate emotional resilience and affective balance.
Ancient Science of Life
July 1, 2024
Nitesh Sharma, J. Kumar, Rahul Garg et al.
Adults who regularly practice Gayatri Mantra and yoga report higher well-being than those who practice only yoga, who in turn report higher well-being than nonpractitioners. A cross-sectional survey of 1,135 adults compared practitioners of Gayatri Mantra with yoga, yoga-only practitioners, and nonpractitioners. Gayatri Mantra with yoga practitioners scored significantly higher on peace of mind, general well-being, life satisfaction, and resilience than yoga-only practitioners, who scored higher than nonpractitioners on all measures except resilience. Longer duration of practice was positively associated with well-being.
Nitesh Sharma, Dushyant Soni, Manvi Jain et al.
Long-term practice of Gayatri Mantra meditation is associated with enhanced emotional regulation and reduced neural reactivity to negative emotional stimuli. In a study of 24 healthy male participants, those who regularly practiced meditation showed significantly lower brain-wave amplitudes (Late Positive Potential) when viewing negative images, particularly at the centroparietal region, compared to non-practitioners. Practitioners also reported greater emotional competence, non-attachment, and resilience on standardized questionnaires. The results suggest that sustained Gayatri Mantra meditation may help cultivate emotional resilience and balance.
Vaibhav Tripathi, Rahul Garg
preprint
The default mode network (DMN), brain areas that typically deactivate during externally focused tasks, shows more complex behavior than previously thought. Analyzing four public fMRI datasets from 223 subjects across seven cognitive tasks, a new method called Inter Trial Temporal Synchronization Analysis (IT-TSA) and Inter Subject TSA (IS-TSA) revealed large variability in DMN activity across subjects, trials, and brain regions. All task-negative regions and even weak task-positive regions exhibited low synchronization across trials and subjects. This variability likely stems from neural differences rather than structural or hemodynamic variations. The findings challenge the view of the DMN as simply task-negative, suggesting it actively supports self-referential and autobiographical processes that deactivate differentially and nonlinearly during external tasks.