Neurophysiological mechanisms of focused attention meditation: A scoping systematic review
Jonathan M. Lieberman, Patrick A. McConnell, Mar Estarellas, Matthew D. Sacchet
Imaging Neuroscience 2025 DOI: 10.1162/imag.a.14 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Systematic review Longitudinal Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Intervention | Focused attention meditation |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Neurophysiology Systematic review Cognitive psychology Psychotherapist Cognitive science Medline |
| Citations | 9 |
| Key findings | Focused attention meditation is consistently associated with increased power in alpha, beta, and gamma bandwidths, heightened neural complexity, and reduced criticality. |
Abstract
Focused attention meditation (FA) is a foundational and widely studied practice that cultivates sustained concentration by focusing on a specific object, such as the breath, while disengaging from distractions. Numerous studies have investigated the neurophysiological mechanisms of FA, examining aspects such as spectral power, connectivity patterns, and neural entropy. However, despite this extensive research, clarity regarding the methodological approaches and key findings in this field remains limited. This scoping systematic review aimed to collate and interpret key information from electroencephalography (EEG) and magnetoencephalography (MEG) studies on FA, with a focus on study population composition, experimental design, and neurophysiological outcomes. Our findings revealed substantial heterogeneity in participant characteristics, potentially contributing to variability in neurophysiological results, while the choice of FA tasks and control conditions was relatively consistent. In terms of neurophysiological outcomes, consistent trends indicate that FA is associated with increased power in the alpha, beta, and gamma bandwidths, as well as heightened complexity and reduced criticality measures. Based on the findings of this review, we propose several methodological recommendations to improve the quality of future research. Additionally, we identified significant evidence gaps when considering the whole body of research, including the limited use of MEG and a lack of longitudinal studies, pointing to areas for future investigation. Overall, this review provides a firm grounding for the study of the neurophysiology of FA, as well as the study of advanced meditation and neuroscience-informed meditative development.
Comparable studies
Other systematic reviews and meta-analyses on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meditation Programs for Psychological Stress and Well-being Diverse adult clinical populations | 2014 | Meta-analysis | n = 3,515 |
| Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction for Stress Management in Healthy People: A Review and Meta-Analysis Healthy subjects | 2009 | Systematic review and meta-analysis | |
| The psychological effects of meditation: A meta-analysis. Nonclinical groups of adult meditators | 2012 | Meta-analysis | n = 163 |
| Efficacy of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy in Prevention of Depressive Relapse Adults with recurrent depression in full or partial remission | 2016 | Meta-analysis of individual patient data from randomized controlled trials | n = 1,258 |
| Mindfulness‐Based Stress Reduction and Mindfulness‐Based Cognitive Therapy – a systematic review of randomized controlled trials | 2011 | Systematic review |
Citations in the library
Cited by 10
- Active inference, computational phenomenology, and advanced meditation: Toward the formalization of the experience of meditation. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews March 1, 2026
- Toward a neuroscience of consciousness using advanced meditation. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews February 1, 2026
- Neural Oscillatory and Sympathetic Arousal Dynamics During Mindfulness Meditation: Characterizing Relaxed Alertness Psychophysiology October 1, 2026
- Meditation-Specific Neural Predictors of State Mindfulness During Eyes Open Meditation Mindfulness May 11, 2026
- Studies on the impact of meditation on mental health: A critical review. Psychiatria Danubina April 1, 2026
and 5 more in the library
Cites 111
- Mindfulness: Theoretical Foundations and Evidence for its Salutary Effects Psychological Inquiry October 19, 2007
- How Does Mindfulness Meditation Work? Proposing Mechanisms of Action From a Conceptual and Neural Perspective Perspectives on Psychological Science October 14, 2011
- Meditation Programs for Psychological Stress and Well-being JAMA Internal Medicine January 6, 2014
- Mindfulness Interventions Annual Review of Psychology September 30, 2016
- Meditation experience is associated with differences in default mode network activity and connectivity Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences November 23, 2011
and 106 more in the library