Frontiers in Neuroimaging
June 10, 2024
Andrew B. Newberg, Nancy Wintering, Chloe Hriso et al.
Background: A growing number of advanced neuroimaging studies have compared brain structure and function in long term meditators to non-meditators. The goal is to determine if there may be long term effects on the brain from practicing meditation. In this paper, we present new data on the long term effects of a novel meditation practice in which the focus is on clitoral stimulation. The...
F1000Research
September 7, 2022
Andrew B. Newberg, Nancy Wintering, Chloe Hriso et al.
1 citation
Background: The relationship between sexuality, or the libido, and spirituality or religion has long been debated in psychiatry. Recent studies have explored the neurophysiology of both sexual experiences and spiritual practices such as meditation or prayer. In the present study, we report changes in cerebral glucose metabolism in a unique meditation practice augmented by clitoral stimulation...
Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland)
February 14, 2022
Aleeze Sattar Moss, Diane K. Reibel, Nancy Wintering et al.
There is a growing interest in the potential beneficial effects of mindfulness meditation training in protecting against age-related physical, emotional, and cognitive decline. The current prospective, single-center, single-arm study investigated if functional magnetic resonance imaging-based changes in cerebral blood flow and brain functional connectivity could be observed in 11 elderly adults...
Frontiers in Psychology
November 11, 2021
Andrew B. Newberg, Nancy Wintering, Chloe Hriso et al.
10 citations
Background: We measured changes in resting brain functional connectivity, with blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), associated with a creative meditation practice that is augmented by clitoral stimulation and is designed to not only achieve a spiritual experience but to help individuals manage their most intimate personal relationships. Briefly, the...
Religion Brain & Behavior
March 22, 2017
Andrew B. Newberg, Nancy Wintering, David B. Yaden et al.
19 citations
Spiritual retreats are a commonly used intensive program of meditation and prayer, along with other elements, designed to provide participants with opportunities for spiritual and psychological growth. While individual elements of such retreats have been studied, there have been no reports in the literature regarding the neurophysiological effects of these retreats. This preliminary study...
Journal of Humanistic Psychology
October 24, 2016
David B. Yaden, Khoa D. Le Nguyen, Margaret L. Kern et al.
125 citations
Experiences of profound existential or spiritual significance can be triggered reliably through psychopharmacological means using psychedelic substances. However, little is known about the benefits of religious, spiritual, or mystical experiences (RSMEs) prompted by psychedelic substances, as compared with those that occur through other means. In this study, 739 self-selected participants...
Psychology of Religion and Spirituality
July 27, 2015
David B. Yaden, Johannes C. Eichstaedt, H. Andrew Schwartz et al.
68 citations
Mystical experiences are often described as “ineffable,” or beyond language. However, people readily speak about their mystical experiences if asked about them. How do people describe what is supposedly indescribable? In this study, we used quantitative linguistic analyses to interpret the writings of 777 participants (45.5% female, 51.0% male) who recounted their most significant spiritual or...
Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD
2010
Andrew B Newberg, Nancy Wintering, Dharma S Khalsa et al.
This preliminary study determined if subjects with memory loss problems demonstrate changes in memory and cerebral blood flow (CBF) after a simple 8-week meditation program. Fourteen subjects with memory problems had an IV inserted and were injected with 250 MBq of Tc-99m ECD while listening to a neutral stimulus CD. They then underwent a pre-program baseline SPECT scan. Then subjects were...
Journal of alternative and complementary medicine (New York, N.Y.)
January 2009
Debbie L Cohen, Nancy Wintering, Victoria Tolles et al.
Experienced practitioners of yoga have been shown to alter brain function, but this case series measured cerebral blood flow before and after a 12-week training program in Iyengar yoga (IY) for naïve subjects. On the first day, each of the 4 subjects listened to the teacher speaking on the history and background of the yoga program while they were injected with 250 MBq of (99m)Tc-bicisate and...