This is a list of the most recent studies reviewed, newest pages appear in descending order. Many of the studies and subject areas have been suggested by visitors, so if you’d like us to review a study, or have a particular area of interest drop us a line.
| Subject | Title |
| Protection against mental illness and cognitive decline | Can meditation slow cognitive decline? Can mind-training regulate connectivity between brain networks? |
| Meditation, poverty and mental health | We know that poverty can make poor mental health more likely. But therapeutic interventions rarely consider the root causes of mental illness. Could nondual treatments be a solution? |
| Replication crisis, mindfulness crisis | The scientific study of meditation has been limited by a replication crisis and a mindfulness crisis. What does this mean and what is the way forward for contemplative science? |
| Meditation, mindfulness and suicide prevention | Meditation as a Protective Factor Against Suicide In the US Army. Can meditation help to prevent suicide? The US Army is considering if mind training can boost mental resilience in military personnel. |
| A brief history of the science of meditation to 1980 | The scientific history of meditation reveals that we may be overlooking many important findings from the past. |
| Non-judgement and mindfulness meditation; costs and opportunities | The absence of judgement from medicalised mindfulness suggests an uncoupling from traditional meditation methods. Why did this happen, and what does it mean? |
| Meditation, mindfulness and the nondual; an agenda for scientific change | How did a spiritual practice become a medicalised health intervention? An understanding of nonduality is essential to harnessing the health benefits of meditation. |
| Compassionate meditation from a scientific perspective | A review of the origins of compassion and the benefits of compassionate mind training from spiritual and scientific perspective. |
| Self compassion, mindfulness and neuroticism | A significant overlap between self-compassion and neuroticism is offering new challenges and opportunities in meditation and mindfulness research. |
| History of the science of meditation | The scientific history of meditation helps to explain the strengths and weaknesses of contemporary medicalised meditation methods. |
| Adverse effects of meditation | Perhaps the first review of the adverse events linked to meditation practices (MAEs). This paper suggests that research in this field has lacked scientific objectivity for half a century. |
| Compassion | A further review of Richard Layard’s book on compassion highlights opportunities and systemic problems with the science of mindfulness (links to the Critical Mindfulness website). The claims made for the benefits of meditation based mind training fail to discuss the potential of adverse effects. |
| Motivation | Although it has attracted little media attention, there are profound implications to the news that mindfulness meditation impairs task motivation but not performance. Evidence that mindfulness reduces our commitment to a task raises contradictions with many spiritual meditation traditions. |
| Meditation, nonduality | Now a little dated, Capra’s paper still raises essential questions generally ignored by contemporary meditation scientists. The implications of combining ontologically distinct disciplines |
| Altruism | A controversial book by Richard Layard suggests that increasing altruism is correlates with happiness. |
| Altruism, pro-social behaviour | Scientists demonstrate a relationship between pro-social behaviour and reduced suffering, even the experience of pain. |
| Dementia, cognitive decline | Meditation appears able to improve brain function in people already suffering cognitive decline. |
| Theoretical frameworks, mindfulness, meditation | Contemplative cognition: A more integrative framework for advancing mindfulness and meditation research |
| MBIs, retractions, mindfulness | Standardised mindfulness-based interventions in healthcare: an overview of systematic reviews and meta-analyses of RCTs |
| Empathy, compassion and prosocial behaviour | A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of the Effects of Meditation on Empathy, Compassion and Pro-social Behaviors |
| Default mode network (DMN) | How far can we trust meditation research?: Growing concerns about the quality of meditation research are discussed from a scientific perspective. |
| Podcast | Nondual Awareness – Duality and non-duality are the two poles of human experience, understanding them is a key part of engaging with meditation |
| Default mode network (DMN) | A wandering mind is an unhappy mind. Few scientific studies have acknowledge the importance of correlations in intrinsic-extrinsic network activity and the practice of meditation. |
| Default mode network (DMN) | A wandering mind is a less caring mind: Daily experience sampling during compassion meditation training. |
| Default mode network (DMN) | The default network and self‐generated thought: component processes, dynamic control, and clinical relevance |
| MCI, dementia, brain health in middle age | A personalized 12‐week ” Brain Fitness Program” for improving cognitive function and increasing the volume of hippocampus in elderly with mild cognitive impairment. |
| Mind-wandering | The wandering brain: Meta-analysis of functional neuroimaging studies of mind-wandering and related spontaneous thought processes |
| Depression, mindfulness | Meditation buffers medical student compassion from the deleterious effects of depression |
| Mindfulness, stop smoking | Efficacy of mindfulness meditation for smoking cessation: A systematic review and meta-analysis |
| Meditation, cognitive ageing | Cognitive Ageing and Long-Term Maintenance of Attentional Improvements Following Meditation Training |
| Research issues | Outstanding Challenges in Scientific Research on Mindfulness and Meditation |
| Compassion mind training, palliative care | Mindfulness and compassion-oriented practices at work reduce distress and enhance self-care of palliative care teams: a mixed-method evaluation of an “on the job“ program |
| Prosocial effects | The limited prosocial effects of meditation: A systematic review and meta-analysis |
| Mirror neurons | Understanding motor events: a neurophysiological study |
| Nondual meditation | Neural correlates of nondual awareness in meditation |
| Defining mindfulness | Is mindfulness Buddhist? (and why it matters) |
| Defining mindfulness | What does mindfulness really mean? A canonical perspective |
| Stress and wellbeing | Meditation Programs for Psychological Stress and Well-being: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis |
| Mindfulness and MBSR | Some reflections on the origins of MBSR, skilful means, and the trouble with maps |
| Defining mindfulness | On Some Definitions of Mindfulness |
| Defining mindfulness | Is mindfulness present-centred and non-judgmental? A discussion of the cognitive dimensions of mindfulness |
| Defining mindfulness | Mindfulness in Cultural Context |
| Theoretical frameworks | Investigating the Phenomenological Matrix of Mindfulness-Related Practices from a Neurocognitive Perspective |
| Research issues | Conceptual and Methodological Issues in Research on Mindfulness and Meditation |
| Mindfulness and structural change | Mindfulness practice leads to increases in regional brain grey matter density |
| Mindfulness and time perception | The effect of mindfulness meditation on time perception |
| Mindfulness and society | Mindfulness: Towards A Critical Relational Perspective |
| Loving-kindness meditation, PTSD | Loving-kindness Meditation for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Pilot Study |
| Mindfulness, MAAS | The Benefits of Being Present: Mindfulness and Its Role in Psychological Well-being |
| Meditation and structural change | Neural correlates of attentional expertise in long-term meditation practitioners |
| Meditation and structural change | Effects of Mindful-attention and Compassion Meditation Training on Amygdala Response to Emotional Stimuli in an Ordinary, Non-meditative State |
| Meditation and structural change | Regulation of the Neural Circuitry of Emotion by Compassion Meditation: Effects of Meditative Expertise |
| Meditation and emotional change | Open Hearts Build Lives: Positive Emotions, Induced Through Loving-Kindness Meditation, Build Consequential Personal Resources |
| Loving-kindness meditation and back pain | Loving-Kindness Meditation for Chronic Low Back Pain |
| Loving-kindness meditation | Loving-kindness meditation increases social connectedness |
The Science of Meditation and Mindfulness 