An artistic image of a woman's head with a cloudy sky depicted in her head, symbolizing that meditation has an effect on brain matter.

Study: Meditation influences concentration in the brain

Britta K. Hölzel et al.

November 2010

Meditation, Pranayama, and more

Massachusetts General Hospital at Harvard Medical School in Boston was able to prove in the course of a longitudinal study that mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) thickens the gray matter of the brain.

To this end,16 healthy test subjects underwent an eight-week meditation program. Magnetic resonance imaging was used to collect data before and after the therapy and compare it with that of a control group (n = 17).

Voxel-based morphometry demonstrated changes in the concentration of gray brain matter, in particular a densification in the left hippocampus. In addition, an increased concentration was found in the posterior cingulate cortex, the temporo-parietal junction and the cerebellum of the MBSR group.

The study suggests that the MBSR mindfulness training is linked to the changes in the brain. Meditation could therefore have an influence on learning and memory processes, emotion regulation, self-referentiality and perspective-taking.

The most important information on the study at a glance

Indications: Brain functions
Institution: Massachusetts General Hospital of Harvard Medical School in Boston, MA, USA
Title: Study: Meditation influences gray matter concentration in the brain
Brief description: Study: Mindfulness meditation increased the gray matter in the brain, especially in the hippocampus, which influences learning & emotions.
Original title: Mindfulness practice leads to increases in regional brain gray matter density
Link to the study: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3004979/