Neurobiology of Meditation

2021 ◽  
pp. 61-71
Author(s):  
Danilo Forghieri Santaella
Keyword(s):  
Gray Matter ◽  
Daily Life ◽  
Gray Matter Volume ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
States Of Mind ◽  
Matter Volume ◽  
Cortical Areas ◽  
State Of Mind ◽  
Simple Activity ◽  
The Brain

Meditation should not be considered a simple activity that is performed with focused attention; this is concentration. When practicing concentration correctly, with a good “anchor” for attention, a specific state of mind takes place, in which logic relaxation happens, and there is a relative freedom from self-identification. Such states of mind are to be experienced and cannot be practiced; thus, meditation techniques (concentrations) are the means to reach this goal. Those who achieve such a state experience positive neurophysiological effects, which have been studied for decades, such as increased functionality and connectivity of the brain, and also increased gray matter volume in specific cortical areas, whether in the young or in the elderly. Meditation has, thus, a proven potential role to help one maintain a healthy cognition and should be included in daily life routines of everybody who wishes for it.

scholarly journals Voxel-based correlation of 18F-THK5351 accumulation and gray matter volume in the brain of cognitively normal older adults

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yoko Shigemoto ◽  
Daichi Sone ◽  
Miho Ota ◽  
Norihide Maikusa ◽  
Masayo Ogawa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Gray Matter ◽  
Gray Matter Volume ◽  
Cognitively Normal ◽  
Matter Volume ◽  
The Brain

scholarly journals Effects of Meditation on Structural Changes of the Brain in Patients With Mild Cognitive Impairment or Alzheimer’s Disease Dementia

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Madhukar Dwivedi ◽  
Neha Dubey ◽  
Aditya Jain Pansari ◽  
Raju Surampudi Bapi ◽  
Meghoranjani Das ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Cortical Thickness ◽  
Gray Matter ◽  
Gray Matter Volume ◽  
Brain Areas ◽  
Hippocampal Subfields ◽  
Matter Volume ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Brain

Previous cross-sectional studies reported positive effects of meditation on the brain areas related to attention and executive function in the healthy elderly population. Effects of long-term regular meditation in persons with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer’s disease dementia (AD) have rarely been studied. In this study, we explored changes in cortical thickness and gray matter volume in meditation-naïve persons with MCI or mild AD after long-term meditation intervention. MCI or mild AD patients underwent detailed clinical and neuropsychological assessment and were assigned into meditation or non-meditation groups. High resolution T1-weighted magnetic resonance images (MRI) were acquired at baseline and after 6 months. Longitudinal symmetrized percentage changes (SPC) in cortical thickness and gray matter volume were estimated. Left caudal middle frontal, left rostral middle frontal, left superior parietal, right lateral orbitofrontal, and right superior frontal cortices showed changes in both cortical thickness and gray matter volume; the left paracentral cortex showed changes in cortical thickness; the left lateral occipital, left superior frontal, left banks of the superior temporal sulcus (bankssts), and left medial orbitofrontal cortices showed changes in gray matter volume. All these areas exhibited significantly higher SPC values in meditators as compared to non-meditators. Conversely, the left lateral occipital, and right posterior cingulate cortices showed significantly lower SPC values for cortical thickness in the meditators. In hippocampal subfields analysis, we observed significantly higher SPC in gray matter volume of the left CA1, molecular layer HP, and CA3 with a trend for increased gray matter volume in most other areas. No significant changes were found for the hippocampal subfields in the right hemisphere. Analysis of the subcortical structures revealed significantly increased volume in the right thalamus in the meditation group. The results of the study point out that long-term meditation practice in persons with MCI or mild AD leads to salutary changes in cortical thickness and gray matter volumes. Most of these changes were observed in the brain areas related to executive control and memory that are prominently at risk in neurodegenerative diseases.

scholarly journals Subjectivity of the Anomalous Sense of Self Is Represented in Gray Matter Volume in the Brain

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Noriaki Kanayama ◽  
Tomohisa Asai ◽  
Takashi Nakao ◽  
Kai Makita ◽  
Ryutaro Kozuma ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gray Matter ◽  
Sense Of Self ◽  
Gray Matter Volume ◽  
Matter Volume ◽  
The Brain

Imaging of neuroinflammation in adult Niemann-Pick type C disease

Neurology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 94 (16) ◽  
pp. e1716-e1725
Author(s):  
Mark Walterfang ◽  
Maria A. Di Biase ◽  
Vanessa L. Cropley ◽  
Andrew M. Scott ◽  
Graeme O'Keefe ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
White Matter ◽  
Gray Matter ◽  
Gray Matter Volume ◽  
Structural Mri ◽  
Matter Volume ◽  
Pet Scanning ◽  
Type C ◽  
Niemann Pick ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Age And Sex

ObjectiveTo test the hypothesis that neuroinflammation is a key process in adult Niemann-Pick type C (NPC) disease, we undertook PET scanning utilizing a ligand binding activated microglia on 9 patients and 9 age- and sex-matched controls.MethodWe scanned all participants with the PET radioligand 11C-(R)-PK-11195 and undertook structural MRI to measure gray matter volume and white matter fractional anisotropy (FA).ResultsWe found increased binding of 11C-(R)-PK-11195 in total white matter compared to controls (p < 0.01), but not in gray matter regions, and this did not correlate with illness severity or duration. Gray matter was reduced in the thalamus (p < 0.0001) in patients, who also showed widespread reductions in FA across the brain compared to controls (p < 0.001). A significant correlation between 11C-(R)-PK11195 binding and FA was shown (p = 0.002), driven by the NPC patient group.ConclusionsOur findings suggest that neuroinflammation—particularly in white matter—may underpin some structural and degenerative changes in patients with NPC.

scholarly journals Association Between Gray Matter Volume Variations and Energy Utilization in the Brain: Implications for Developmental Stuttering

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Nathaniel Boley ◽  
Sanath Patil ◽  
Emily O. Garnett ◽  
Hua Li ◽  
Diane C. Chugani ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Energy Metabolism ◽  
Gray Matter ◽  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
Gray Matter Volume ◽  
High Energy ◽  
Energy Utilization ◽  
Matter Volume ◽  
Developmental Stuttering ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Structural Anomalies

Purpose The biological mechanisms underlying developmental stuttering remain unclear. In a previous investigation, we showed that there is significant spatial correspondence between regional gray matter structural anomalies and the expression of genes linked to energy metabolism. In the current study, we sought to further examine the relationship between structural anomalies in the brain in children with persistent stuttering and brain regional energy metabolism. Method High-resolution structural MRI scans were acquired from 26 persistent stuttering and 44 typically developing children. Voxel-based morphometry was used to quantify the between-group gray matter volume (GMV) differences across the whole brain. Group differences in GMV were then compared with published values for the pattern of glucose metabolism measured via F 18 fluorodeoxyglucose uptake in the brains of 29 healthy volunteers using positron emission tomography. Results A significant positive correlation between GMV differences and F 18 fluorodeoxyglucose uptake was found in the left hemisphere (ρ = .36, p < .01), where speech-motor and language processing are typically localized. No such correlation was observed in the right hemisphere (ρ = .05, p = .70). Conclusions Corroborating our previous gene expression studies, the results of the current study suggest a potential connection between energy metabolism and stuttering. Brain regions with high energy utilization may be particularly vulnerable to anatomical changes associated with stuttering. Such changes may be further exacerbated when there are sharp increases in brain energy utilization, which coincides with the developmental period of rapid speech/language acquisition and the onset of stuttering during childhood. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.14110454

scholarly journals Do Pregnancy-Induced Brain Changes Reverse? The Brain of a Mother Six Years after Parturition

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 168
Author(s):  
Magdalena Martínez-García ◽  
María Paternina-Die ◽  
Erika Barba-Müller ◽  
Daniel Martín de Blas ◽  
Laura Beumala ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gray Matter ◽  
Demographic Variable ◽  
Gray Matter Volume ◽  
Infant Attachment ◽  
Matter Volume ◽  
Related Information ◽  
Nulliparous Women ◽  
Brain Changes ◽  
Using Data ◽  
The Brain

Neuroimaging researchers commonly assume that the brain of a mother is comparable to that of a nulliparous woman. However, pregnancy leads to pronounced gray matter volume reductions in the mother’s brain, which have been associated with maternal attachment towards the baby. Beyond two years postpartum, no study has explored whether these brain changes are maintained or instead return to pre-pregnancy levels. The present study tested whether gray matter volume reductions detected in primiparous women are still present six years after parturition. Using data from a unique, prospective neuroimaging study, we compared the gray matter volume of 25 primiparous and 22 nulliparous women across three sessions: before conception (n = 25/22), during the first months of postpartum (n = 25/21), and at six years after parturition (n = 7/5). We found that most of the pregnancy-induced gray matter volume reductions persist six years after parturition (classifying women as having been pregnant or not with 91.67% of total accuracy). We also found that brain changes at six years postpartum are associated with measures of mother-to-infant attachment. These findings open the possibility that pregnancy-induced brain changes are permanent and encourage neuroimaging studies to routinely include pregnancy-related information as a relevant demographic variable.

scholarly journals Nucleus accumbens volume is related to obesity measures in an age-dependent fashion

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isabel García-García ◽  
Filip Morys ◽  
Alain Dagher
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Nucleus Accumbens ◽  
Gray Matter ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Gray Matter Volume ◽  
Uk Biobank ◽  
Matter Volume ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Pathological Eating ◽  
The Brain

AbstractMotivation theories of obesity suggest that one of the brain mechanisms underlying pathological eating and weight gain is the dysregulation of dopaminergic circuits. While these dysregulations occur likely at the microscopic level, studies on gray matter volume reported macroscopic differences associated with obesity. One region suggested to play a key role in the pathophysiology of obesity is the nucleus accumbens (NAcc). We performed a meta-analysis of findings regarding NAcc volume and overweight/obesity. We additionally examined whether gray matter volume in the NAcc and other mesolimbic areas depends on the longitudinal trajectory of obesity, using the UK Biobank dataset. To this end, we analysed the data using a latent growth model, which identifies whether certain variables of interest (e.g. NAcc volume) is related to another variable’s (BMI) initial values or longitudinal trajectories. Our meta-analysis showed that, overall, NAcc volume is positively related to BMI. However, further analyses revealed that the relationship between NAcc volume and BMI is dependent on age. For younger individuals such relationship is positive, while for older adults it is negative. This was corroborated by our analysis in the UK Biobank dataset, which includes older adults, where we found that higher BMI was associated with lower NAcc and thalamus volume. Overall, our study suggests that increased NAcc volume in young age might be a vulnerability factor for obesity, while in the older age decreased NAcc volume with increased BMI might be an effect of prolonged influences of neuroinflammation on the brain.

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