How meditation changes the brain
March 14, 2022 DOI: 10.4324/9781003127253-14 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Review |
|---|---|
| Topics | Meditation |
| Citations | 5 |
| Key findings | Reports that significant empirical evidence supports links between meditation and increases in the volume and function of relevant brain structures and networks. Argues that popular claims about such studies are often hyperbolic and need to be separated from the more solid findings, and identifies promising directions for future research. |
Abstract
This chapter provides a comprehensive review and assessment of the bulk of the neuroscientific research conducted on meditation within the past two decades that may be relevant to the philosophy of meditation, to the development of a more comprehensive epistemological theory of the mind/brain/body complex, and to the improvement of our understanding of mental health, well-being, and human flourishing. There is already some significant empirical evidence in support of some of the claims around the links between meditation and increases in the volume and function of relevant structures and networks across the brain. However, this chapter also distinguishes between the more popular, often hyperbolic claims made about such studies, separating the metaphorical wheat from the chaff, and indicates some potentially promising directions for future research.
Comparable studies
Other narrative reviews on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mindfulness training as a clinical intervention: A conceptual and empirical review. Clinical populations | 2003 | Review | |
| Mindfulness: Theoretical Foundations and Evidence for its Salutary Effects | 2007 | Review | |
| Mindfulness Interventions | 2016 | Review | |
| Mind the Hype: A Critical Evaluation and Prescriptive Agenda for Research on Mindfulness and Meditation | 2017 | Review | |
| Mindfulness and acceptance: expanding the cognitive-behavioral tradition | 2005 | Review |
Citations in the library
Cited by 4
- Transparency and the Mindfulness Opacity Hypothesis The Philosophical Quarterly October 20, 2023
- Recognizing Cognitive Models as Models: Critical Meta-Awareness as a Key to Exploring Buddhist Practices and Their Contemporary Applications Mindfulness October 1, 2025
- Prolegomenon to a philosophy of meditation Filozofija i Društvo 2025
- A Systematic Review of the Effects of Meditation on Alzheimer's Disease Journal of Student Research November 30, 2023