Table 1.
Overview of morphometric studies on meditation
| Study | Meditation tradition |
N Meditators/ Controls |
Morphological measures |
Regions identified greater in meditators than controls |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lazar et al. (2005) | Insight | 20 / 15 | Cortical thickness |
Right anterior insula and right middle and superior frontal sulci |
|
| ||||
| Pagnoni & Cekic (2007) | Zen | 13 / 13 | Gray matter volume (VBM in SPM5) |
Meditators showed no age- related decline in the left putamen as compared to controls |
|
| ||||
| Hölzel et al. (2008) | Insight | 20 / 20 | Gray matter density (VBM in SPM2) |
Left inferior temporal lobe, right insula, and right hippocampus |
|
| ||||
| Vestergaard-Poulsen et al., (2009) | Tibetan Buddhist |
10 / 10 | Gray matter density & volume (VBM in SPM5) |
Medulla oblongata, left superior and inferior frontal gyri, anterior lobe of the cerebellum and left fusiform gyrus |
|
| ||||
| Luders et al. (2009) | Zazen, Vipassana, Samatha & others |
22 / 22 | Gray matter volume (VBM in SPM5) |
Right orbito-frontal cortex, right thalamus, left inferior temporal lobe, right hippocampus |
|
| ||||
| Grant et al. (2010) | Zen | 19/20 | Cortical thickness |
Right dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, secondary somatosensory cortex |
VBM: voxel-based morphometry (Gaser), SPM: Statistical Parametric Mapping, (Wellcome Department of Cognitive Neurology, London)