Unlocking the Neuroscientific
Benefits of Yoga and Meditation
Exploring the Mind-Body Connection - By Alexa Kho-Hinkson
Reading time: 5 minutes
Ever wondered about the body and mind benefits of yoga and meditation? The 20th century saw the rise of the neuroscientific field, where scientists have unlocked the secret benefits of yoga and meditation practice. The development of medical scanning technology has allowed for the electrical examination of the brain for the first time in history.
These scanning techniques revolutionised the understanding of brain function and structure, showing that the brain is a "self-active" and highly dynamic system, which means it can change through experience. The rise of the neuroscientific field coincided with the boom of interest in the effects of long and short-term meditation practitioners, especially Buddhist meditation, which was famously taught by the Dalai Lama.
This fuelled a global interest in lay meditation and a proliferation of scientific research on meditation in the West from the 1990s onwards. Buddhist meditation traditions offer explicit theories about their practices, which allow for the measurement of neuroscientific examination.
As a result, the practices aspire to reach mental states that affect the body and mind by eliminating suffering in the individual. Neuroscientists, amazingly, were able to unravel the mysteries behind the cognitive, emotional, and health benefits of the ancient practices of Buddhism.
The Pioneers of Neuroscientific Studies
Clinical trials in neuroscience were fashioned by scientist Jon Kabat-Zinn, who pioneered measuring modern meditation through Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) in managing chronic pain. These studies paved the way in the 1990s for Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) for the management of recurrent depression by Dr. Mark Williams, John Teasdale, and Zindel Regal.
The UK Parliamentary Mindful Nation paper published in 2015 reports on how mindfulness plays a crucial role in the mental health of populations and is approved by NICE (The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) for patients suffering from depressive disorders.
Scholars have debated many meanings of the term mindfulness over the years. Buddhist teachings within the canonical Buddhist text Abhidharma describe the Pali concept of mindfulness as “sati” in essence meaning "memory." This is a vital part of Buddhist teachings, where sati functions as "awareness of the present moment.” Neuroplasticity corresponds to the Buddhist teaching of saṃskāra, meaning that repeated actions, impulses, and emotional responses start to become engrained and change habitual traits.
What is Neuroplasticity?
Modern neuroscience recognises that brain function is far more integrative than previously thought, which is the Buddhist concept of mindfulness as "paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment… non-judgementally” re-worked by innovator Jon Kabat-Zinn in his book ‘Wherever You Go, There You Are’ (1994). His ground-breaking research with other clinicians proved that approaches to mindfulness were successful in the treatment of chronic pain, major depression, and anxiety.
These approaches include neuroimaging methods such as functional MRI, which opened the door to neuroplasticity research and, ultimately, the boom of mindfulness practices that command other areas of meditation and yoga research for health.
These efficacious, evidence-based approaches inspired further studies in the mindfulness field, such as Yi Yuan Tang et al. (2012), who measured brain connectivity through FA (‘fractional anisotropy’). This study of 'Mechanisms of white matter changes induced by meditation' in the brain affirms, “In our work, we found that a form of mindfulness meditation, integrative body-mind training (IBMT), improved FA in areas surrounding the anterior cingulate cortex after 4-week training more than controls given relaxation training.”
In addition, this study supports further studies by Tang in 2010, looking at the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), which is part of a network in the brain that develops 'self-regulation.' As these networks develop through meditation practice, they can change extensively with the crucial possibility of preventing mental disorders.
A recent study in 2017 into cortisol thickness (CT) among yoga practitioners who practice meditation showed that there were positive changes to brain function, memory, and executive function, which allows us to get things done. The unlocking of these findings by neuroscientists tells us that meditation can improve individual productivity and, in the long term, overall workforce productivity.
The study looked at 21 elderly female haṭha yoga practitioners who have practiced at least twice a week for eight years compared to those who were not familiar with yoga, meditation, or prāṇāyāma. The secret benefits of yoga and meditation practice found within this study also support past studies of younger age groups of yoga and meditation practitioners compared to non-practitioners. The results showed that those who had practiced for over eight years had more noticeable prefrontal CT than those who did not, thus supporting "cognitive preservation" and possible human intellectual ability.
Although the evidence on neuroplasticity is strong, it would be more beneficial if neuroscientific studies looked at long-term practitioners of yoga and meditation spanning a more extended period rather than focusing on one time period of new practitioners so that there is more qualitative data available.
Unlocking Consciousness
Neuroscience is still in its infancy, and the search for the neural basis of consciousness has fascinated neuroscientists for decades. Many neuroscientists oversimplify consciousness as the sole observable brain function in a specific area. However, we can now understand more about the brain's mechanisms than 30 years ago. However, claims of "pure consciousness" or likewise unexplainable experiences are not easy to measure and are open to misleading interpretation.
The Default Mode Network [DMN] uses around 50% of brain activity and can connect different areas in the brain through spontaneous recollection, prediction, and association. This means that this area of the brain allows us to remember the past and think about the future, as well as mind-wandering. Ultimately, through the DMN, meditation reduces the endless chatter of emotions and allows the mind to focus.
However, the brain does not just 'present' external observable data; it 'constructs' this external data. Thus, we can look at the 'inner world' or "conscious awareness," which we can explain to others. These are the basis for past experiences as well as pre-conditioned responses.
The Secret Benefits to The Self
The study of 'the self' within neuroscience has attracted much debate over the years. Studies have shown eye-opening results in how the brain represents the self through circuit systems and activity. Adrian Weekes put forward that the ‘Narrative Self’ role is to take different perspectives, e.g., '
This is my house or my child.’ This perspective creates the idea of the self having identities or possessions where we become attached to these ideas and experience suffering if this gets disrupted. The regions in the brain most associated with the Narrative Self are identical to the Default Mode Network [DMN], which is our default setting 47% of the time. These relate to the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) of the brain, which is attributed to self-regulation, and the Narrative Self is thus disturbed in meditation. Adrian Weekes’ argues that the interruption of the Narrative Self allows room for subjectivity and an "enhanced meta-awareness” that we associate with sati or awareness of the present moment.
Evidence suggests that mindfulness deactivates the cortical midline region in the DMN, which contributes to mind wandering and self-processing. Evidence corroborated on meditation for 'Psychological Well-Being and Mental Health' is substantial and offers us great insight into how we can manage our well-being and mental health through the effective practice of yoga and meditation.
Neuroscientists have unlocked many secret benefits of meditation on human psychological well-being in the past 30 years. Their investigations have provided crucial research data that mindfulness meditation practices can reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression, ultimately improving overall mental health.
Since 2004, NICE has recommended mindfulness meditation in health settings in the UK for treating recurrent depression. As a result, MBCT works to improve the health and well-being of populations by reducing depressive symptoms and cost-saving on anti-depressants in society. Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) within schools, workplaces, and public services offer a medical framework and strong evidence of the success of mindfulness in mental health.
An 8-week study by Brett Froeliger et al. in 2012 on MBSR showed the association of increased grey matter density in the left hippocampus, posterior cortex, and temporoparietal junction. These brain regions promote learning, emotion, regulation, and memory and can change one's perspective. A further study examined brain images of 20 mindfulness (Vipassanā) meditators and compared grey matter in regions in the brain activated in meditation with non-meditators.
The study concludes that the brain displays a broader network of regions that activate the brain during meditation, with more comprehensive long-term structural changes. Moreover, this supports findings on improved psychological well-being of long-term practitioners of meditation.
Interestingly, this study by Brett Froeliger shows us that meditation experience is a critical factor in strengthening msFC (Meditation-State Functional Connectivity). This factor corresponds to long-term mindfulness practitioners who report thoughts and feelings as “objects of observation." These observations also refer to emptiness or the Buddhist concept “śūnyatā," meaning "no Self." The findings show "a state by trait interaction," which means that brain regions enhanced during the state of mindfulness become further enhanced over time, including when in non-meditative states.
Mindfulness ultimately affects long-term practitioners' development of consciousness states in their daily life and overall experience outside of meditation practice and, incredibly, changes the "sense of self.” Many of us have experienced waiting half an hour to speak to the bank on the phone, which results in talking to an automated machine that eventually cuts you off from the call. In these frustrating day-to-day moments, mindfulness can bring you back into the present and to a space of calm acceptance.
The Global Impact of Yoga and Meditation
These changes have a positive long-term impact on an individual's psychological well-being, and the implementation of Mindfulness-Based Interventions (MBIs) for meta-cognition and emotional regulation within public policy confirms that it is an effective way to support mental health.
There is a wealth of neuroscientific and psychological evidence that shows us the efficacy of meditation and yoga practice for mental health, well-being, emotional regulation, and cognitive flexibility. In addition, it is clear from the evidence that neuroscientific measurement of meditation promotes changes in various levels of brain function and structure related to meditation expertise.
As practitioners, we gain a well-informed understanding of why we practice yoga and meditation and how these ancient practices are highly effective in supporting mental health and offer non-medicalised options within global healthcare to manage stress and anxiety. As a senior yoga teacher trainer, I have had first-hand experience of how yoga and meditation have changed my own and my student's lives in many positive ways on and off the mat.
Neuroscientific research allows us to understand how these ancient practices work to enhance our brains and bodies. However, meditation and yoga themselves can be instrumental in changing our lives for the better.
The sacred ancient text of the Bhagavad-gītā can be a source of inspiration to us in this ever-evolving modern world taken from chapter 6, verses 19 and 27, from Nick Sutton’s translation and study guide (2019);
“Yogins who have controlled the mind and who practise yoga in relation to the atman have been compared to a lamp in a windless place that never flickers… The highest joy comes to that yogin whose mind is tranquil, who’s passions are quieted, who exists as Brahman, and who has no blemish.”
Alexa Kho-Hinkson
Alexa Kho-Hinkson is the Founder and Senior Yoga Trainer of Ambika Yoga, and a Specialist Teacher in Yoga Therapy.
