ArticleScientific reports2020
Rajyoga meditation induces grey matter volume changes in regions that process reward and happiness.
Article in Scientific reports, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers.
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Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 37 citations in OpenAlex.
- Inflammation is associated with altered functional connectivity of the cingulate cortex in individuals with subthreshold depression.PLOS digital health · 2026Article
- Multiscale cardiorespiratory complexity reveals autonomic signatures of Rajyoga meditation.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Determining the depth of meditation through frontal alpha asymmetry.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2025Article
- Effectiveness of a yoga-based intervention on academic burnout syndrome in medical students: A pilot study.Journal of education and health promotion · 2025Article
- Neurobiological basis for the application of yoga in drug addiction.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2024Article
- Differences in brain connectivity of meditators during assessing neurocognition via gamified experimental logic task: A machine learning approach.The neuroradiology journal · 2023Article
- Tourism experiences reduce the risk of cognitive impairment in the Chinese older adult: a prospective cohort study.Frontiers in public health · 2023Article
- Brain conditions mediate the association between aging and happiness.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- Synergetic reorganization of the contralateral structure and function in patients with unilateral frontal glioma.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2022Article
- Review
- Brain Mechanisms of Virtual Reality Breathing Versus Traditional Mindful Breathing in Pain Modulation: Observational Functional Near-infrared Spectroscopy Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2021Article
- Mindfulness-Based Interventions: Potentials for Management of Internet Gaming Disorder.International journal of yogaArticle
- Classification of Rajayoga Meditators Based on the Duration of Practice Using Graph Theoretical Measures of Functional Connectivity from Task-Based Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging.International journal of yogaArticle
- Non-invasive Electrophysiological Characterization of Distinctive Meditative States in a Yogi duringInternational journal of yogaArticle
- The Effectiveness of Rajyoga Meditation as an Adjuvant for Panic Anxiety Syndrome.International journal of yogaArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Studies provide evidence that practicing meditation enhances neural plasticity in reward processing areas of brain. No studies till date, provide evidence of such changes in Rajyoga meditation (RM) practitioners. The present study aimed to identify grey matter volume (GMV) changes in reward processing areas of brain and its association with happiness scores in RM practitioners compared to non-meditators. Structural MRI of selected participants matched for age, gender and handedness (n = 40/group) were analyzed using voxel-based morphometric method and Oxford Happiness Questionnaire (OHQ) scores were correlated. Significant increase in OHQ happiness scores were observed in RM practitioners compared to non-meditators. Whereas, a trend towards significance was observed in more experienced RM practitioners, on correlating OHQ scores with hours of meditation experience. Additionally, in RM practitioners, higher GMV were observed in reward processing centers-right superior frontal gyrus, left inferior orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and bilateral precuneus. Multiple regression analysis showed significant association between OHQ scores of RM practitioners and reward processing regions right superior frontal gyrus, left middle OFC, right insula and left anterior cingulate cortex. Further, with increasing hours of RM practice, a significant positive association was observed in bilateral ventral pallidum. These findings indicate that RM practice enhances GMV in reward processing regions associated with happiness.
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