The measurement of regional cerebral blood flow during the complex cognitive task of meditation: a preliminary SPECT study

@article{Newberg2001TheMO,
  title={The measurement of regional cerebral blood flow during the complex cognitive task of meditation: a preliminary SPECT study},
  author={Andrew B. Newberg and Abass Alavi and Michael J. Baime and Michael Pourdehnad and Jill Santanna and Eugene G. D'aquili},
  journal={Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging},
  year={2001},
  volume={106},
  pages={113-122}
}
View on Elsevier
repository.upenn.edu
462 Citations
Highly Influential Citations
32
Background Citations
163
Methods Citations
50
Results Citations
28

462 Citations

Hemodynamic responses on prefrontal cortex related to meditation and attentional task

It is demonstrated that meditation increased cerebral oxygenation and enhanced performance, which was associated with activation of the PFC, which is suggestive of improved performance and efficiency in task related to attention.

Cerebral blood flow changes associated with different meditation practices and perceived depth of meditation

Meditation effects on cognitive function and cerebral blood flow in subjects with memory loss: a preliminary study.

The meditation program resulted in significant increases in baseline CBF ratios in the prefrontal, superior frontal, and superior parietal cortices and scores on neuropsychological tests of verbal fluency, Trails B, and logical memory showed improvements after training.

Cerebral blood flow changes during chanting meditation

Evidence is offered that this form of meditation practice is associated with changes in brain function in a way that is consistent with earlier studies of related types of meditation as well as with the positive clinical outcomes anecdotally reported by its users.

Cerebral Blood Flow during Meditative Prayer: Preliminary Findings and Methodological Issues

This study demonstrated the feasibility of studying different types of meditation with neuroimaging techniques, suggested that several coordinated cognitive processes occur during meditation, and also raised important methodological issues.

Cerebral blood flow differences between long-term meditators and non-meditators

The mental self.

Functional magnetic resonance imaging of hippocampal activation during silent mantra meditation.

It is proposed that the hippocampus is activated already after moderate meditation practice and also during different modes of meditation, including relaxation, according to the Kundalini yoga or Acem tradition.

Changes in cerebral blood flow under the prone condition with and without massage

Alterations of regional cerebral glucose metabolism using18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron-emission tomography/computed tomography and electroencephalography analysis during mindfulness breathing in Anapanasati meditation: A preliminary analysis

The authors' semiquantitative analysis showed a significantly increased metabolism only in the posterior cingulate cortex, but visually, there was also an increased metabolism in the whole frontal lobe in most of the patients correlating with EEG findings.
...

References

SHOWING 1-10 OF 20 REFERENCES

A 15O‐H2O PET study of meditation and the resting state of normal consciousness

It is concluded that the H215O PET method may measure CBF distribution in the meditative state as well as during the resting state of normal consciousness, and that characteristic patterns of neural activity support each state.

Changed pattern of regional glucose metabolism during yoga meditative relaxation.

Data indicate a holistic behavior of the brain metabolism during the time of altered state of consciousness during YMR, with a slight increase of frontal rCMRGlc and a more pronounced reduction in primary and secondary visual centers.

Functional brain mapping of the relaxation response and meditation

The results indicate that the practice of meditation activates neural structures involved in attention and control of the autonomic nervous system.

Localization of a human system for sustained attention by positron emission tomography

POSITRON emission tomographic (PET) studies of human attention have begun to dissect isolable components of this complex higher brain function, including a midline attentional system in a region of…

Effects on regional cerebral blood flow of transcendental meditation

Changes in cortical activity during mental rotation. A mapping study using functional MRI.

Functional MRI was used to observe focal changes in blood flow in the brains of 10 healthy volunteers performing a mental rotation task, and data are consistent with the hypothesis that mental rotation engages cortical areas involved in tracking moving objects and encoding spatial relations.

Functional MRI studies of spatial and nonspatial working memory.

Willed action and the prefrontal cortex in man: a study with PET

Willed acts in the two response modalities studied (speaking a word, or lifting a finger) were associated with increased blood flow in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (Brodmann area 46) and decreases in blood flow were also associated, but the location of these decreases was modality dependent.

Three case reports of the metabolic and electroencephalographic changes during advanced Buddhist meditation techniques.

It is concluded that advanced meditative practices may yield different alterations in metabolism (there are also forms of meditation that increase metabolism) and that the decreases in metabolism can be striking.

Metabolic rate, respiratory exchange ratio, and apneas during meditation.

It is concluded that a drop in MR is not the cause of the apneas, but there were significant trial and interaction effects for the changes in VCO2 and the respiratory exchange ratio (R), with a significant drop in R for the meditators but not for the controls.