Biological mechanism study of meditation and its application in mental disorders
Hui Shen, Meijuan Chen, Donghong Cui
General Psychiatry July 13, 2020 DOI: 10.1136/gpsych-2020-100214 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Review Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Addiction Meditation |
| Keywords | Mechanism biology Psychotherapist Mental illness Clinical psychology Mental health |
| Citations | 43 |
| Key findings | Meditation affects brain structure and function, and epigenetic and telomere regulation, and is applied in mental disorders, especially major depressive and substance-related disorders. |
Abstract
In recent years, research on meditation as an important alternative therapy has developed rapidly and been widely applied in clinical medicine. Mechanism studies of meditation have also developed progressively, showing that meditation has great impact on brain structure and function, and epigenetic and telomere regulation. In line with this, the application of meditation has gradually been expanded to mental illness, most often applied for major depressive disorders and substance-related and addictive disorders. The focus of this paper is to illustrate the biological mechanisms of meditation and its application in mental disorders.
Comparable studies
Other narrative reviews on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mindfulness training as a clinical intervention: A conceptual and empirical review. Clinical populations | 2003 | Review | |
| Mindfulness: Theoretical Foundations and Evidence for its Salutary Effects | 2007 | Review | |
| Mindfulness Interventions | 2016 | Review | |
| Mind the Hype: A Critical Evaluation and Prescriptive Agenda for Research on Mindfulness and Meditation | 2017 | Review | |
| Mindfulness and acceptance: expanding the cognitive-behavioral tradition | 2005 | Review |
Citations in the library
Cited by 15
- The effect of mindfulness meditation on depressive symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Scientific Reports August 30, 2024
- Traditional Islamic spiritual meditative practices: powerful psychotherapies for mental wellbeing. Frontiers in Psychology 2025
- Bases biológicas del mindfulness y su aplicación en la práctica clínica Universitas Médica August 12, 2022
- Meditation for Human Mind and Brain: Findings from Functional Neuroimaging Investigations Annals of Advanced Biomedical Sciences 2023
- Toward a Computational Phenomenology of Meditative Deconstruction: "Letting Go" and the Deconstruction of Experience With Active Inference. Neural Computation June 2, 2026
and 10 more in the library
Cites 51
- Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Depression: Replication and Exploration of Differential Relapse Prevention Effects. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 2004
- Mindfulness‐based approaches: are they all the same? Journal of Clinical Psychology January 19, 2011
- Intensive meditation training, immune cell telomerase activity, and psychological mediators. Psychoneuroendocrinology June 1, 2011
- Meditation leads to reduced default mode network activity beyond an active task Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience April 22, 2015
- The effect of loving-kindness meditation on positive emotions: a meta-analytic review Frontiers in Psychology November 3, 2015
and 46 more in the library