Meditation found to induce changes in deep brain areas associated with memory and emotional regulation

Researchers using intracranial electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings from deep within the brain found that meditation led to changes in activity in the amygdala and hippocampus, key brain regions involved in emotional regulation and memory.

The study, conducted by researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and published Tuesday, February 4, in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, may help explain the positive impact these practices have and could contribute to the development of meditation-based approaches for improving memory and emotional regulation.

Previous research has shown that meditation—a set of mental techniques to focus attention and awareness—can improve mental well-being and potentially help improve psychiatric diseases like anxiety and depression. In combination with its beneficial clinical effect, previous brain research has shown a connection between meditative practice and brain activity. Yet the specific neural activity underlying meditative practices and their positive effects is still not well understood.

“Traditionally, it has been challenging to study these deep limbic brain regions in humans using standard methods like scalp EEG. Our team was able to overcome this challenge by leveraging data collected from a unique patient population: epilepsy patients with surgically implanted devices that allow for chronic EEG recording from electrodes implanted deep in the amygdala and hippocampus,” said Christina Maher, a neuroscience Ph.D. student in the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at the Icahn School of Medicine and first author of the paper.

“It was quite amazing to uncover changes in brain wave activity in these key regions, even during first-time meditation.”

For this study, the research team studied eight neurosurgical patients with drug-resistant epilepsy who were chronically implanted with a responsive neurostimulation system. Participants were self-reported novice meditators prior to the study and completed a five-minute audio-guided instruction (baseline) followed by 10 minutes of audio-guided “loving kindness” meditation.

Loving kindness meditation is a specific type of meditative practice that involves focusing attention on thoughts of well-being for oneself and others. To evaluate the loving kindness meditation induction, participants were asked to report their experienced depth of meditation after the session on a scale of 1–10 (higher score = deeper meditation). On average, participants reported a high degree of deep meditation (mean = 7.43).

“We found that loving kindness meditation is associated with changes in the strength and duration of certain types of brain waves called beta and gamma waves,” said Ignacio Saez, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Neuroscience, Neurosurgery, and Neurology at the Icahn School of Medicine and senior author of the paper.

“These kinds of brain waves are affected in mood disorders like depression and anxiety, so the possibility of being able to willfully control these through meditation is pretty amazing, and may help explain the positive impact that these practices have on individuals.”

The study is unique in that it used advanced invasive neural recording techniques, which provide much more detailed and precise insight into the brain compared to traditional techniques like scalp EEG.

The study took place in the Quantitative Biometrics Laboratory at Mount Sinai West, a lab designed to provide patients with a relaxing environment to receive therapeutic treatment that is free from typical distractions associated with a hospital setting or traditional lab. This naturalistic setting enabled study participants to meditate in a calm environment that is more reflective of real-world experiences, improving the study’s ecological validity.

The researchers acknowledged a few limitations of the study. The sample size was small and they only looked at the effects of one-time meditation without assessing the impact of repeated practice or following up over time to see if the effects lasted.

“This study provides a foundation for future research that could contribute to developing meditation-based interventions to help individuals modulate brain activity in areas involved in memory and emotional regulation,” said Dr. Saez.

“Meditation is noninvasive, widely accessible, and doesn’t require specialized equipment or medical resources, making it an easy-to-use tool for improving mental well-being. However, it is crucial to note that meditation is not a replacement for traditional therapies. Instead, it could serve as a complementary low-cost option for individuals experiencing challenges with memory or emotional regulation.”

The Mount Sinai research team plans to conduct follow-up studies that will explore the specific relationship between the brain activity observed and mood/mental health outcomes. The next step will be to gather more data on how ongoing medication impacts mental well-being, which will help illuminate the potential therapeutic benefit of meditation in real-world, long-term settings.