Meditation effect in changing functional integrations across large-scale brain networks: Preliminary evidence from a meta-analysis of seed-based functional connectivity
Journal of Pacific Rim Psychology January 1, 2020 Yang-Qian Shen, Hui Zhou, Xiao Chen et al.
A meta-analysis of 14 functional connectivity studies (10 with seeds in the default mode network, involving 170 meditators and 163 controls) found that meditation is linked to increased connectivity within the default mode network and between the default mode network and the somatomotor network, and to decreased connectivity between the default mode network and the frontoparietal and ventral attention networks. Highly experienced meditators showed a more robust pattern of decreased within-default-mode-network connectivity and increased between-network connectivity. These neural interactions may help explain meditation's effectiveness in clinical interventions for physical and mental disorders.