Meditation based on mental silence can strengthen brain networks of attention and executive control

Researchers from the Universitat Jaume I, the University of La Laguna, the University of California and King's College London have published a study that reveals that prolonged practice of Sahaja Yoga meditation, a technique that teaches practitioners to reach a state of mental silence in which thoughts are suppressed or substantially reduced, may be associated with a strengthening of brain networks of attention and executive control and a weakening of mental wandering.

The paper has been published in the journal Frontiers in Human Neuroscience and is titled "Resting State Functional Connectivity Associated with Sahaja Yoga Meditation."

The study shows that long-term practice of Sahaja Yoga meditation produces an increase in functional brain connectivity, specifically in the resting state frontal attentional and executive networks, as well as an improvement in the anti-correlation between these networks and the default functioning network, i.e. the ability to disconnect from mental wandering during cognitive tasks, which could translate into better cognition and attention.