What is it about?
We investigated the impact of meditation on brain activity in a unique group of first-time meditators: eight epilepsy patients with surgically implanted recording devices. Our analysis revealed that meditation induced changes in the amygdala and hippocampus, two brain regions crucial for emotional regulation, memory, and implicated in mood disorders. These results provide valuable insight into the mechanisms underlying meditation's therapeutic benefits.
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Why is it important?
Our findings demonstrate the neural underpinnings of meditation’s potential to modulate brain function, suggesting its therapeutic potential for a range of mental health conditions, including anxiety, depression, and PTSD. This research has significant implications for the development of non-invasive therapies to alter brain states, offering new avenues for therapeutic intervention.
Perspectives
Working with a unique patient population—epilepsy patients with surgically implanted devices—allowed our team to study previously inaccessible deep limbic brain regions, including the amygdala and hippocampus. It was truly remarkable to observe changes in brain wave activity in these key areas, even during a first-time meditation session. The fact that loving-kindness meditation is linked to changes in the same brain regions affected by mood disorders, like depression and anxiety, underscores the therapeutic potential of this practice and helps explain its positive impact.
Ignacio Saez
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Intracranial substrates of meditation-induced neuromodulation in the amygdala and hippocampus, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, February 2025, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2409423122.
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