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.
Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews
June 1, 2025
Resh S Gupta, Wendy Heller, Todd S. Braver
3 citations
Inconsistent findings linking anxiety, cognitive control, and mindfulness may stem from imprecise definitions and measurements of these concepts. This review argues that anxiety, cognitive control, and mindfulness are each multidimensional, and studies often examine different dimensions using varied behavioral or neural measures, leading to mixed results. The authors propose a framework that aligns specific anxiety dimensions with particular mindfulness states and interventions, predicting distinct effects on proactive versus reactive cognitive control. They suggest using precisely targeted experimental paradigms and metrics to test these relationships, and outline novel studies to rigorously evaluate the framework.
Biological psychiatry. Cognitive neuroscience and neuroimaging
April 1, 2025
Jarrod A Lewis-Peacock, Tor D Wager, Todd S. Braver
2 citations
Using multivariate predictive models to identify brain mechanisms underlying the benefits of mindfulness meditation is a promising methodology that departs from conventional brain mapping. Two strategies—state induction and neuromarker identification—are highlighted, with examples distinguishing focused attention from mind wandering and showing effects of mindfulness interventions on somatic pain and drug-related cravings. Future research must address tradeoffs between personalized and population-based predictive modeling.
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.
Network Neuroscience
March 13, 2026
Yanli Lin, Marne L. White, Jihong Zhang et al.
1 citation
Alpha and theta brain rhythms have been linked to mindfulness, but connecting brain activity to subjective experience is difficult. This study used network analysis on data from 16 novices who completed up to 24 sessions of focused attention and open monitoring meditation, with EEG and self-reported mindfulness collected. Distinct network structures emerged for each practice, supporting their theoretical differences. Shared features included strong autoregressive effects for mindfulness—consistent with skill learning—and opposing influences of frontal versus posterior alpha power. The results challenge simple interpretations of meditation-related EEG, suggesting the functional meaning of neural activity depends on the specific practice and training stage.
Mindfulness
May 11, 2026
Marne L. White, Yanli Lin, Todd S. Braver
Focused attention (FA) and open monitoring (OM) meditation practices produce distinct psychological effects, and their neural correlates differ. In a within-subject experiment with EEG recording, participants engaged in FA, OM, and an active control condition. Both FA and OM increased self-reported state mindfulness and decreased theta power compared to control; OM also reduced alpha power relative to FA. Crucially, higher theta power was associated with greater state mindfulness in both FA and OM, but more strongly in OM, while reduced alpha power was linked to higher mindfulness only during OM. These results indicate that theta and alpha brain rhythms have context-dependent roles in shaping subjective meditation experiences.
Biol Psychiatry Cogn Neurosci Neuroimaging
April 1, 2025
Todd S. Braver, Sara W. Lazar
No Summary
June 18, 2024
Jarrod A Lewis-Peacock, Tor D Wager, Todd S. Braver
preprint
Multivariate predictive models—such as multivariate decoding, predictive classification, and model-based analyses—offer a powerful alternative to conventional brain mapping for studying the neural mechanisms behind mindfulness and meditation. These approaches can distinguish internally directed focused attention from mind wandering and reveal how mindfulness interventions affect somatic pain and drug-related cravings. Future research must weigh tradeoffs between personalized and population-based predictive modeling.
Annual Review of Psychology
January 1, 2026
Yuval Hadash, Omer Dar, Iftach Amir et al.
A new framework, the Mindfulness Internal Attention (MIA) framework, proposes that mindfulness training primarily targets internal attention—processes operating on internally generated or stored information—rather than early-stage external attention. The framework reviews evidence suggesting that mindfulness training affects executive functions and working memory shared between internal and late-stage external attention, but does not affect early-stage external attention processes that do not share cognitive resources with internal attention. This account reconciles the paradoxical disparity between theoretical predictions and mixed empirical findings from over two decades of research on attention and mindfulness.