Meditation Experience is Associated with Increased Structural Integrity of the Pineal Gland and greater total Grey Matter maintenance.
Emanuele Rg Plini, Michael C Melnychuk, Paul M Dockree
medRxiv March 5, 2024 preprint DOI: 10.1101/2024.03.04.24303649 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational cohort |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 983 |
| Population | Long-term meditators and controls |
| Intervention | meditation practice |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Key findings | Long-term meditators exhibited greater pineal gland integrity and younger brain age compared to controls, with a positive association between lifetime meditation hours and pineal signal intensity. |
Abstract
Growing evidence demonstrates that meditation practice supports cognitive functions including attention and interoceptive processing, and is associated with structural changes across cortical networks including prefrontal regions, and the insula. However, the extent of subcortical morphometric changes linked to meditation practice is less appreciated. A noteworthy candidate is the Pineal Gland, a key producer of melatonin, which regulates circadian rhythms that augment sleep-wake patterns, and may also provide neuroprotective benefits to offset cognitive decline. Increased melatonin levels as well as increased fMRI BOLD signal in the Pineal Gland has been observed in mediators vs. controls. However, it is not known if long-term meditators exhibit structural change in the Pineal Gland linked to lifetime duration of practice. In the current study we performed Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) analysis to investigate: 1) whether long-term meditators (LTMs) (n=14) exhibited greater Pineal Gland integrity compared to a control group (n=969), 2) a potential association between the estimated lifetime hours of meditation (ELHOM) and Pineal Gland integrity, and 3) whether LTMs show greater Grey Matter (GM) maintenance (BrainPAD) that is associated with Pineal Gland integrity. The results revealed greater Pineal Gland integrity and lower BrainPAD scores (younger brain age) in LTMs compared to controls. Exploratory analysis revealed a positive association between ELHOM and greater signal intensity in the Pineal Gland but not with GM maintenance as measured by BrainPAD score. However, greater Pineal integrity and lower BrainPAD scores were correlated in LTMs. The potential mechanisms by which meditation influences Pineal Gland function, hormonal metabolism, and GM maintenance are discussed - in particular melatonin's roles in sleep, immune response, inflammation modulation, and stem cell and neural regeneration.
Comparable studies
Other observational and cohort studies on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Using Self-Report Assessment Methods to Explore Facets of Mindfulness Undergraduate students | 2006 | Observational cohort | |
| Effectiveness of a meditation-based stress reduction program in the treatment of anxiety disorders Patients with generalized anxiety disorder or panic disorder with or without agoraphobia | 1992 | Observational cohort | n = 22 |
| Meditation experience is associated with increased cortical thickness Participants with extensive Insight meditation experience and matched controls | 2005 | Observational cohort | n = 20 |
| Meditation experience is associated with differences in default mode network activity and connectivity Experienced meditators and matched meditation-naive controls | 2011 | Observational cohort | |
| Long-term meditators self-induce high-amplitude gamma synchrony during mental practice Long-term Buddhist practitioners and controls | 2004 | Observational cohort |
Citations in the library
Cites 16
- The effect of mindfulness meditation on sleep quality: a systematic review and meta‐analysis of randomized controlled trials Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences December 21, 2018
- Effects of Meditation Experience on Functional Connectivity of Distributed Brain Networks Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 2012
- Larger whole brain grey matter associated with long-term Sahaja Yoga Meditation: A detailed area by area comparison PLoS One December 28, 2020
- Correlation between Pineal Activation and Religious Meditation Observed by Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Nature Precedings November 15, 2007
- Serum melatonin and serotonin levels in long-term skilled meditators. Explore 2023
and 11 more in the library