Journal of Psychopharmacology
November 30, 2016
Stephen Ross, Anthony P. Bossis, Jeffrey Guss et al.
1,699 citations
A single moderate dose of psilocybin (0.3 mg/kg), combined with psychotherapy, produced immediate and sustained improvements in anxiety and depression among 29 patients with cancer-related psychological distress. At the 6.5-month follow-up, approximately 60–80% of participants continued to show clinically significant reductions in depression or anxiety. Psilocybin also decreased demoralization and hopelessness, improved spiritual wellbeing, quality of life, and attitudes toward death. The therapeutic effects on anxiety and depression were mediated by the psilocybin-induced mystical experience.
arXiv (Cornell University)
May 21, 2026
Angqi Li, Ab Basit Rafi Syed, Hamzeh Alzweri et al.
A new dataset, L-FAME, provides EEG recordings and psychological assessments from 74 healthy college participants who were randomly assigned to one of three meditation practices (two mantra-based techniques and one breath focus) and measured before and after a six-week training period. The dataset supports three benchmark tasks: distinguishing resting from meditation states, classifying which specific technique was used, and testing whether machine learning models can generalize across the two time points. Baseline results using classical and deep learning methods are reported, and the dataset, preprocessing code, and evaluation framework are publicly released to advance computational meditation research and EEG-based machine learning.
bioRxiv Preprint Server
February 26, 2026
Angqi Li, Julio Rodriguez-Larios, Mengsen Zhang et al.
preprint
Two types of mantra meditation produce distinct brain activity patterns. Novice practitioners were randomly assigned to chant either the Hare Krishna (HK) or Sa-Ta-Na-Ma (SA) mantra. EEG measurements showed that HK meditation led to widespread decreases in alpha power and increases in alpha frequency during and after practice, suggesting a more activating, attentionally focused state. In contrast, SA meditation produced localized alpha power reduction and, after training, a significant decrease in alpha frequency, indicating a more relaxed state. Both groups reported reduced stress. These results challenge the idea that all mantra meditation is the same and underscore the need to differentiate practices for targeted mental health applications.
Journal of Traumatic Stress
February 1, 2022
Mayer Bellehsen, Valentina Stoycheva, Barry H. Cohen et al.
Transcendental Meditation (TM) reduces PTSD symptoms more than treatment-as-usual in veterans. In a randomized controlled trial, 40 veterans with PTSD were assigned to either 16 TM sessions over 12 weeks or usual care. After three months, the TM group showed a significantly larger average decrease in clinician-rated PTSD symptoms (11.28 points) compared to the control group (1.62 points). Half of the TM group no longer met PTSD diagnostic criteria, versus 10% in the control group. Self-reported PTSD, depression, anxiety, and sleep difficulties also improved more with TM. No significant differences were found for anger or quality of life. The findings suggest TM is an effective, non-trauma-focused treatment for PTSD.
Frontiers in Psychology
January 1, 2020
Frederick Travis, Jonathan Nash, Niyazi Parim et al.
The fMRI procedure itself—lying in a noisy, confined tube—alters both subjective experience and brain activity during Transcendental Meditation (TM), potentially confounding results from fMRI studies of meditation. Twenty-three TM practitioners (11 short-term, averaging 2.2 years; 12 long-term, averaging 34.8 years) underwent eyes-closed rest and TM practice in three conditions: sitting upright, lying supine, and lying inside a simulated fMRI tube with 110 dB recordings. During the simulated fMRI condition, participants reported shallower meditation and greater agitation. Skin conductance decreased least in that condition. Frontal and parietal EEG power decreased from sitting to simulated fMRI in alpha2 through gamma bands. The default mode network was more active during TM when sitting compared to the simulated fMRI condition.