Reductions in perceived stress following Transcendental Meditation practice are associated with increased brain regional connectivity at rest.
G. Avvenuti, Andrea Leo, L. Cecchetti, Maria Fatima Franco, F. Travis, D. Caramella, G. Bernardi, E. Ricciardi, P. Pietrini
Brain and Cognition January 13, 2020 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandc.2020.105517 (opens in new tab) via Semantic Scholar
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractAfter three months of practicing Transcendental Meditation twice daily for 20 minutes, novice meditators showed reduced anxiety and stress compared to a control group. This psychological improvement correlated with increased functional connectivity between brain regions involved in self-referential thought and interoceptive awareness, specifically the posterior cingulate cortex, precuneus, left superior parietal lobule, and right insula. No structural brain changes were observed. The findings suggest that the beneficial effects of Transcendental Meditation may be mediated by functional brain changes occurring after a short practice period.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Longitudinal study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 34 |
| Population | Naïve subjects (novices to Transcendental Meditation) |
| Intervention | Transcendental Meditation |
| Dose | two daily 20-min TM sessions |
| Duration | 3 months |
| Keywords | Psychology Medicine |
| Key finding | Three months of Transcendental Meditation practice was associated with decreased perceived anxiety and stress, which correlated with increased functional connectivity among posterior cingulate cortex, precuneus, left superior parietal lobule, and right insula. |
Abstract
Transcendental Meditation (TM) is defined as a mental process of transcending using a silent mantra. Previous work showed that relatively brief period of TM practice leads to decreases in stress and anxiety. However, whether these changes are subserved by specific morpho-functional brain modifications (as observed in other meditation techniques) is still unclear. Using a longitudinal design, we combined psychometric questionnaires, structural and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (RS-fMRI) to investigate the potential brain modifications underlying the psychological effects of TM. The final sample included 19 naïve subjects instructed to complete two daily 20-min TM sessions, and 15 volunteers in the control group. Both groups were evaluated at recruitment (T0) and after 3 months (T1). At T1, only meditators showed a decrease in perceived anxiety and stress (t(18) = 2.53, p = 0.02), which correlated negatively with T1-T0 changes in functional connectivity among posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), precuneus and left superior parietal lobule. Additionally, TM practice was associated with increased connectivity between PCC and right insula, likely reflecting changes in interoceptive awareness. No structural changes were observed in meditators or control subjects. These preliminary findings indicate that beneficial effects of TM may be mediated by functional brain changes that take place after a short practice period of 3 months.