The functional neuroimaging of meditation: A quantitative whole-brain meta-analysis and systematic review

The study of meditation has grown considerably in academic research, including robust findings demonstrating its positive impact on several domains of psychological well-being. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have provided evidence for neural correlates underlying these effects; however, there has not yet been a comprehensive whole-brain meta-analytic synthesis across meditation practices combined with a meta-analytic comparison to identify their unique neural correlates. Therefore, in accordance with the pre-registration protocol with the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO) and Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, we performed a series of systematic meta-analyses employing multilevel kernel density analysis to identify shared and distinct neural correlates of meditative states across varied practices. Analyses included 34 primary studies with data from 700 individuals, and including four widely-used meditation practices: focused attention, open monitoring, mantra, and loving-kindness. These results identify consistent activation across meditation practices in regions such as the rolandic operculum, insula, superior temporal gyrus, supplementary motor area, and hippocampus. Using functional decoding, we identified psychological features most associated with meditation engagement, including self-monitoring, reappraisal, motivation, experience, and awareness states. Additionally, meta-analytic comparisons of practice types revealed distinct neural patterns uniquely associated with each practice. The present findings provide the most robust scientific characterization of the neural mechanisms of meditative states to date. This work sets the stage for future research into advanced meditation, increasingly clear phenomenological characterization of meditation and identifies potential targets for facilitating meditative development.