Neuroimaging evaluation of the long term impact of a novel paired meditation practice on brain function

Long-term practitioners of a meditation practice involving clitoral stimulation (OM) show different patterns of resting brain metabolism compared to non-meditators. In the OM group, metabolic activity was significantly lower in select areas of the frontal, temporal, and parietal lobes, as well as the anterior cingulate, insula, and thalamus. Females in the OM group showed notably lower metabolism in the thalamus and insula compared to males. These brain regions are involved in cognition, attention, and emotional regulation, suggesting potential implications for therapeutic uses in neurological or psychiatric conditions.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Background: A growing number of advanced neuroimaging studies have compared brain structure and function in long term meditators to non-meditators. The goal is to determine if there may be long term effects on the brain from practicing meditation. In this paper, we present new data on the long term effects of a novel meditation practice in which the focus is on clitoral stimulation. The findings from such a study have implications for potential therapeutic uses with regard to various neurological or psychiatric conditions. Methods: = 19). Both meditation and non-meditation subjects underwent brain PET after injection with 148 to 296 MBq of FDG using a standard imaging protocol. Resting FDG PET scans of the OM group were compared to the resting scans of healthy, non-meditating, controls using statistical parametric mapping. Results: The OM group showed significant differences in metabolic activity at rest compared to the controls. Specifically, there was significantly lower metabolism in select areas of the frontal, temporal, and parietal lobes, as well as the anterior cingulate, insula, and thalamus, in the OM group compared to the controls. In addition, there were notable distinctions between the males and females with the females demonstrating significantly lower metabolism in the thalamus and insula. Conclusions: Overall, these findings suggest that the long term meditation practitioners of OM have different patterns of resting brain metabolism. Since these areas of the brain in which OM practitioners differ from controls are involved in cognition, attention, and emotional regulation, such findings have implications for understanding how this meditation practice might affect practitioners over long periods of time.