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. 2011 Aug 15;57(4):1308-16.
doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2011.05.075. Epub 2011 Jun 6.

Enhanced brain connectivity in long-term meditation practitioners

Affiliations

Enhanced brain connectivity in long-term meditation practitioners

Eileen Luders et al. Neuroimage. .

Abstract

Very little is currently known about the cerebral characteristics that underlie the complex processes of meditation as only a limited number of studies have addressed this topic. Research exploring structural connectivity in meditation practitioners is particularly rare. We thus acquired diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) data of high angular and spatial resolution and used atlas-based tract mapping methods to investigate white matter fiber characteristics in a well-matched sample of long-term meditators and controls (n=54). A broad field mapping approach estimated the fractional anisotropy (FA) for twenty different fiber tracts (i.e., nine tracts in each hemisphere and two inter-hemispheric tracts) that were subsequently used as dependent measures. Results showed pronounced structural connectivity in meditators compared to controls throughout the entire brain within major projection pathways, commissural pathways, and association pathways. The largest group differences were observed within the corticospinal tract, the temporal component of the superior longitudinal fasciculus, and the uncinate fasciculus. While cross-sectional studies represent a good starting point for elucidating possible links between meditation and white matter fiber characteristics, longitudinal studies will be necessary to determine the relative contribution of nature and nurture to enhanced structural connectivity in long-term meditators.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Regions of interest (ROIs)
Illustrated are the 11 white matter tracts (9 bilateral, 2 midline) overlaid onto the T1-weighted Colin brain (Collins et al., 1998).
Figure 2
Figure 2. ROI-specific FA within controls (blue) and meditators (orange)
Shown are group-specific mean FA values (coded on the Y-axes) and standard deviations (error bars), for the left hemisphere (LH), the right hemisphere (RH), or across hemispheres, respectively (i.e., for Fmajor and Fminor).
Figure 3
Figure 3. Correlations between FA and Age
Shown are ROI-specific correlations for the left hemisphere (LH), the right hemisphere (RH), or across hemispheres (CC). Scatterplots and regression lines were generated separately for controls (blue) and meditators (orange). The X-axes display age; the Y-axes display FA. The asterisks indicate the significance with respect to the group differences of the correlations (***p≤0.001; **p≤0.01; *p≤0.05).

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