Cerebral blood flow changes during chanting meditation.
Dharma Singh Khalsa, Daniel Amen, Chris Hanks, Nisha Money, Andrew B. Newberg
Nuclear medicine communications December 2009 DOI: 10.1097/mnm.0b013e32832fa26c (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Randomized crossover study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 11 |
| Population | Healthy individuals |
| Intervention | Chanting meditation |
| Measures | regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Key points | Meditation practice was associated with significant increases in regional cerebral blood flow in the right temporal lobe and posterior cingulate gyrus, and decreases in the left parietotemporal and occipital gyri, compared with baseline. |
Abstract
To examine changes in brain physiology during a chanting meditation practice using cerebral blood flow single-photon emission computed tomography. Single-photon emission computed tomography scans were acquired in 11 healthy individuals during either a resting state or meditation practice randomly performed on two separate days. Statistical parametric mapping analyses were conducted to identify significant changes in regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) between the two conditions. When the meditation state was compared with the baseline condition, significant rCBF increases were observed in the right temporal lobe and posterior cingulate gyrus, and significant rCBF decreases were observed in the left parietotemporal and occipital gyri. The results offer evidence that this form of meditation practice is associated with changes in brain function in a way that is consistent with earlier studies of related types of meditation as well as with the positive clinical outcomes anecdotally reported by its users.