The underlying anatomical correlates of long-term meditation: larger hippocampal and frontal volumes of gray matter.

ABSTRACT: Although the systematic study of meditation is still in its infancy, research has provided evidence for meditation-induced improvements in psychological and physiological well-being. Moreover, meditation practice has been shown not only to benefit higher-order cognitive functions but also to alter brain activity. Nevertheless, little is known about possible links to brain structure. Using high-resolution MRI data of 44 subjects, we set out to examine the underlying anatomical correlates of long-term meditation with different regional specificity (i.e., global, regional, and local). For this purpose, we applied voxel-based morphometry in association with a recently validated automated parcellation approach. We detected significantly larger gray matter volumes in meditators in the right orbi

SUBMITTER: Luders E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3184843 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature