Striatal functional connectivity associated with Sahaja Yoga meditation

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Cognitive Neuroscience

Background:

• Neuroscience research links meditation to cognitive, emotional, and motivational changes.
• These processes involve brain circuits, notably the striatum and its cortical connections.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the effects of long-term Sahaja Yoga Meditation on striatal functional connectivity.
• To compare brain activity during meditation versus resting states and between experts and controls.

Main Methods:

• Functional connectivity analysis using seed regions in the dorsal and ventral striatum (caudate, putamen, nucleus accumbens).
• Comparison of 23 Sahaja Yoga experts in resting and meditation states.
• Comparison of resting state between 23 experts and 23 non-meditating controls.

Main Results:

• Meditators exhibited altered striatal connectivity with parietal, sensorimotor, and cerebellar regions during meditation compared to rest.
• Meditators showed reduced functional connectivity between the left nucleus accumbens and mid-cingulate in the resting state versus controls.
• This reduced connectivity correlated with a diminished Simon Task interference effect in meditators.

Conclusions:

• The striatum plays a key role in Sahaja Yoga Meditation, influencing attention, self-referencing, and sensory modulation.
• Meditation practice may induce enduring alterations in striatal functional connectivity.