Recent findings from the Centre for Neuroscience at the Indian Institute of Science demonstrate that long-term meditation practice not only enhances mental clarity and emotional well-being but also strengthens specific brain activities associated with healthy ageing. The research indicates that meditation may enhance brain oscillations, which typically weaken with advancing age and various neurological disorders. Brain oscillations, often referred to as brain waves, are rhythmic electrical impulses generated by coordinated neuronal activity.

Prior investigations have established that meditation bolsters the strength of slower brain waves, including theta and alpha frequencies. More recent explorations have revealed that seasoned meditators exhibit increased activity in the gamma frequency range, which is linked to attention, perception, and advanced cognitive functioning. However, earlier studies indicated a broad increase in gamma activity across multiple frequencies rather than identifying a specific rhythmic pattern. The current study aimed to explore whether meditation could influence a particular kind of gamma activity known as stimulus-induced gamma oscillations.

Research Methodology and Findings

To delve into this area, neuroscientist Supratim Ray and his research team collaborated with practitioners of Brahma Kumaris Rajyoga meditation. Unlike many other meditation styles, Rajyoga is performed with open eyes, which enabled researchers to observe brain responses to visual stimuli while participants meditated. The team utilized Electroencephalography (EEG), a non-invasive technique that measures electrical activity in the brain. Participants were exposed to visual patterns such as black-and-white striped gratings, which are known to elicit narrowband gamma oscillations in the visual cortex.

The study involved 30 experienced meditators, each with over 10,000 hours of meditation practice, compared with 30 participants of similar age and gender who did not meditate. The findings indicated that those who meditated showed significantly stronger stimulus-induced gamma activity compared to the control group. Furthermore, meditators demonstrated heightened broadband gamma activity across various brain regions, including frontal, temporal, and parietal lobes. Intriguingly, the two types of gamma signals functioned independently, suggesting that meditation may engage multiple neural mechanisms simultaneously.

Implications for Cognitive Resilience

Additionally, the study discovered that meditators exhibited a steeper “aperiodic spectral slope,” a metric of neural activity that tends to decrease with age. A steeper slope implies more robust inhibitory brain circuitry, crucial for maintaining stable neural activity. The researchers suggest that these findings indicate long-term meditation could bolster neural dynamics that typically decline as people grow older. This raises the intriguing possibility that sustained meditation practice may contribute to increased resilience against cognitive decline and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s.

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