Greater widespread functional connectivity of the caudate in older adults who practice kripalu yoga and vipassana meditation than in controls.

ABSTRACT: There has been a growing interest in understanding how contemplative practices affect brain functional organization. However, most studies have restricted their exploration to predefined networks. Furthermore, scientific comparisons of different contemplative traditions are largely lacking. Here we explored differences in whole brain resting state functional connectivity between experienced yoga practitioners, experienced meditators, and matched controls. Analyses were repeated in an independent sample of experienced meditators and matched controls. Analyses utilizing Network-Based Statistics (Zalesky et al., 2010) revealed difference components for yoga practitioners > controls and meditators > controls in which the right caudate was a central node. Follow up analyses revealed that yoga p

SUBMITTER: Gard T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4360708 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature