Research Article

Global and regional alterations of hippocampal anatomy in long-term meditation practitioners

  1. Eileen Luders1,*,
  2. Paul M. Thompson1,
  3. Florian Kurth2,
  4. Jui-Yang Hong2,
  5. Owen R. Phillips1,
  6. Yalin Wang3,
  7. Boris A. Gutman1,
  8. Yi-Yu Chou1,
  9. Katherine L. Narr1,
  10. Arthur W. Toga1

Article first published online: 19 JUL 2012

DOI: 10.1002/hbm.22153

Additional Information

How to Cite

Luders, E., Thompson, P. M., Kurth, F., Hong, J.-Y., Phillips, O. R., Wang, Y., Gutman, B. A., Chou, Y.-Y., Narr, K. L. and Toga, A. W. (2012), Global and regional alterations of hippocampal anatomy in long-term meditation practitioners. Hum. Brain Mapp.. doi: 10.1002/hbm.22153

Author Information

  1. 1

    Laboratory of Neuro Imaging, Department of Neurology, UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California

  2. 2

    Center for Neurobiology of Stress, Department of Medicine, UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California

  3. 3

    School of Computing, Informatics, and Decision Systems Engineering, Arizona State University, Arizona

*Laboratory of Neuro Imaging, Department of Neurology, UCLA School of Medicine, 635 Charles Young Drive South, Suite 225, Los Angeles, CA 90095-7334

Publication History

  1. Article first published online: 19 JUL 2012
  2. Manuscript Accepted: 29 MAY 2012
  3. Manuscript Revised: 2 MAY 2012
  4. Manuscript Received: 1 MAR 2012

Funded by

  • National Center for Research Resources (NCRR), a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Grant Numbers: C06 RR012169, P41 RR013642, R01 AG040060, R01 EB008281, R01 EB007813, R01 AG020098

SEARCH

SEARCH BY CITATION

ARTICLE TOOLS

View Full Article (HTML) Get PDF (900K)

Keywords:

  • brain;
  • hippocampus;
  • mapping;
  • meditator;
  • mindfulness;
  • MRI

Abstract

Studies linking meditation and brain structure are still relatively sparse, but the hippocampus is consistently implicated as one of the structures altered in meditation practitioners. To explore hippocampal features in the framework of meditation, we analyzed high-resolution structural magnetic resonance imaging data from 30 long-term meditators and 30 controls, closely matched for sex, age, and handedness. Hippocampal formations were manually traced following established protocols. In addition to calculating left and right hippocampal volumes (global measures), regional variations in surface morphology were determined by measuring radial distances from the hippocampal core to spatially matched surface points (local measures). Left and right hippocampal volumes were larger in meditators than in controls, significantly so for the left hippocampus. The presence and direction of this global effect was confirmed locally by mapping the exact spatial locations of the group differences. Altogether, radial distances were larger in meditators compared to controls, with up to 15% difference. These local effects were observed in several hippocampal regions in the left and right hemisphere though achieved significance primarily in the left hippocampal head. Larger hippocampal dimensions in long-term meditators may constitute part of the underlying neurological substrate for cognitive skills, mental capacities, and/or personal traits associated with the practice of meditation. Alternatively, given that meditation positively affects autonomic regulation and immune activity, altered hippocampal dimensions may be one result of meditation-induced stress reduction. However, given the cross-sectional design, the lack of individual stress measures, and the limited resolution of brain data, the exact underlying neuronal mechanisms remain to be established. Hum Brain Mapp, 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

View Full Article (HTML) Get PDF (900K)