The effect of meditation on brain structure: cortical thickness mapping and diffusion tensor imaging.

ABSTRACT: A convergent line of neuroscientific evidence suggests that meditation alters the functional and structural plasticity of distributed neural processes underlying attention and emotion. The purpose of this study was to examine the brain structural differences between a well-matched sample of long-term meditators and controls. We employed whole-brain cortical thickness analysis based on magnetic resonance imaging, and diffusion tensor imaging to quantify white matter integrity in the brains of 46 experienced meditators compared with 46 matched meditation-naïve volunteers. Meditators, compared with controls, showed significantly greater cortical thickness in the anterior regions of the brain, located in frontal and temporal areas, including the medial prefrontal cortex, superior frontal corte

SUBMITTER: Kang DH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3541490 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature