Effect of meditation across scales: Integrating metabolism, circadian rhythm and epigenetic mechanisms in contemplative neuroscience

Meditation may optimize not only mental well-being but also the physiological and molecular processes that align brain and body systems toward metabolic, genomic, and epigenomic coherence. Evidence links meditative practice to changes in brain network dynamics, metabolic changes, and epigenetic alterations. Meditation modulates stress-induced markers, cerebral metabolic changes, hormonal rhythms, and transcriptional alterations in genes involved in cellular pathways, suggesting a coordinated cellular recalibration. Regular contemplative routines may stabilize circadian oscillations of cortisol and melatonin. Meditation-associated epigenetic signatures include alterations in DNA methylation, histone acetylation, and noncoding RNAs. The authors propose an integrative multiscale model in which meditation synchronizes neural activity with peripheral, molecular rhythms to promote adaptive homeostasis.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Meditation has long been studied for its ability to enhance mental, social and emotional well-being and reshape brain networks. Meditation studies have largely focused on neural and cognitive correlates, overlooking the impact on fundamental biological scales. Here, we bring in an integrated perspective that meditation is not only a mental training but also a phenomenon that can optimize the physiological and molecular processes that entrain the brain-body systems toward metabolic, genomic and epigenomic coherence. We first synthesize current evidence linking meditative practice to changes in brain network dynamics, metabolic changes and epigenetic alterations. Emerging findings reveal that meditation modulates stress induced markers, cerebral metabolic changes, hormonal rhythms and transcriptional alterations in the genes involved in cellular pathways, suggesting a coordinated cellular recalibration. Parallel evidence indicates that regular contemplative routines may stabilize circadian oscillations of cortisol and melatonin. At the molecular level, meditation-associated epigenetic signatures, including alterations in DNA methylation, histone acetylation, and noncoding RNAs, also point towards the role of biological processes in practice-induced enduring traits.We propose an integrative multiscale model in which meditation operates as a holistic intervention, synchronizing neural activity with peripheral, molecular rhythms to promote adaptive homeostasis. Finally, we outline methodological pathways for future work, advocating for multimodal designs that unite neuroimaging, metabolomics, chronobiology, and epigenomic profiling. Understanding meditation through this multi-scale lens can transform it from a behavioral phenomenon into a biologically grounded framework for brain-body synchronization, offering new insights for preventive and translational neuroscience.