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. 2012 Jun 8;8(1):27–33. doi: 10.1093/scan/nss056

Table 2.

Brain regions showing group differences in cortical thickness between meditation practitioners and control subjects

Brain region Brodmann area Area (mm2) Mean, t-value Mean, P-value Peak, t-value Peak, P-value Talairach coordinates of peak vertex
Left hemisphere
    Middle/inferior temporal cortexa 20/38 3770.050 3.672 <0.001 7.130 <0.001 −43, −4, −33
    Superior frontal cortex/OFCa 10/47 1041.020 2.654 0.010 3.663 <0.001 −22, 55, −5
    Fusiform cortex 37 902.250 2.520 0.014 3.404 0.001 −30, −59, −13
    Ventromedial PFC/OFC 11 643.150 2.317 0.023 3.138 0.002 −20, 10, −12
    Middle frontal cortex 10 563.790 2.370 0.020 3.072 0.003 −39, 43, 12
        Postcentral cortexa 5 472.820 −2.570 0.012 −3.885 <0.001 −14, −47, 68
        Posterior cingulate cortex 31 411.460 −2.431 0.017 −3.026 0.003 −10, −48, 27
        Angular gyrus 39 387.460 −2.177 0.032 −2.418 0.018 −37, −75, 27
        Cuneus cortex 17 374.280 −2.426 0.017 −3.127 0.002 −5, −74, 10
    PFC 10 239.180 2.345 0.021 2.927 0.004 −4, 60, 12
    Superior frontal cortex 6 215.900 2.350 0.021 2.771 0.007 −25, −6, 60
        Intraparietal cortexa 7 214.070 −2.719 0.008 −3.627 0.001 −20, −62, 28
Right hemisphere
    Middle/inferior temporal cortexa 1/38 2483.600 3.468 0.001 6.336 <0.001 35, 3, −35
        Inferior parietal cortex/ postcentral cortexa 40/3 2001.300 −2.753 0.007 −4.620 <0.001 35, −52, 34
    Ventromedial PFC/OFCa 11 1910.640 2.689 0.009 4.976 <0.001 17, 31, −15
        Middle occipital/temporal cortexa 19/39 1038.670 −2.784 0.007 −4.030 <0.001 46, −64, 26
        Supramarginal gyrusa 40 423.600 −2.871 0.005 −3.941 <0.001 51, −25, 27
    Superior frontal cortexa 6 380.630 2.919 0.005 4.117 <0.001 14, −6, 64
    Superior frontal cortex 8 234.490 2.560 0.012 3.310 0.001 22, 11, 42

OFC, orbitofrontal cortex; PFC, prefrontal cortex. The brain regions in bold indicate areas showing significantly increased cortical thickness in meditation practitioners compared to controls. The statistical results were corrected for multiple comparisons using a Monte-Carlo simulation (corrected P < 0.01; |t| > 1.97, N > 214).

aThe regions that are significant under a corrected threshold of FDR q < 0.05 (please refer to Supplementary Figure S4)