MRI

Waqar Husain et al. (2026) · Brain and behavior

This systematic review of 105 studies examined how religious and spiritual practices -- meditation, prayer, chanting, ritual, and mystical experience -- show up in brain scans. It pooled evidence across eight traditions (Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Santo Daime, Spiritism, Sant Mat, and mixed traditions) and seven brain-imaging methods, filling a gap left by earlier reviews that each covered only one practice or one faith. Neurotheology, the scientific study of how spiritual experience relates to brain function, asks whether these ancient practices leave a measurable, functional signature on the nervous system. Researchers searched three major databases from their earliest records through mid-2026 and found 450 candidate studies; after removing duplicates and screening for eligibility, 105 studies remained. Each had to study real human participants using an objective brain-measurement tool -- functional or structural MRI, EEG, MEG, PET, SPECT, or similar -- during an actual religious, spiritual, or contemplative practice, not passive exposure to religious words or images. Because the studies varied enormously in tradition, practice, and method, the team combined findings narratively rather than statistically averaging them. Meditation studies (the largest group, 35 studies) consistently found quieter activity in the brain's default mode network, the circuit active during mind-wandering and self-focused thought, alongside more efficient attention-related brain activity in long-term practitioners. Prayer (21 studies) activated brain regions used for understanding other people's minds when prayer was personal and improvised, suggesting the brain treats sincere prayer like a real conversation, and activated reward circuitry during peak spiritual feelings among some worshippers. Chanting and recitation (25 studies) calmed emotional brain circuits -- OM chanting, for example, reduced activity along the same pathway targeted by an approved medical nerve-stimulation therapy. Mental-health-relevant findings (14 studies) included a randomized trial in which loving-kindness meditation eased depression symptoms in diagnosed patients, and a mindfulness program that lowered stress-hormone levels months later. Eleven studies of unusual states -- near-death imagery, ayahuasca ceremonies, and trance -- showed the most widespread brain-network changes of any practice type. The review's authors state plainly that religious and spiritual practices are neurologically real, measurable behaviors, not just subjective reports, and that the brain circuits they engage overlap with those disrupted in depression, anxiety, and addiction. They stop short of claiming these practices treat any diagnosed condition, since most studies involved healthy volunteers rather than patients. The search covered only English-language, peer-reviewed studies, and the wide variety of traditions and methods meant the team could describe patterns but not calculate a single combined effect size.

Uttam Kumar et al. (2021) · Scientific reports

This cross-sectional study with 50 male participants explored whether decades of intensive oral memorization can leave a lasting signature on brain structure. It compared 25 Hindu Vedic pandits -- priests and scholars trained from childhood to recite over 20,000 Sanskrit mantras and verses from memory -- against 25 closely matched non-pandit controls. Vedic recitation follows a strict oral tradition (shruti-parampara): hymns are learned entirely by ear, using several formal recitation methods that reorder and repeat words to lock in exact pronunciation and sequence. The study asked which brain regions differ after such training -- regions governing memory, breath control, and precise speech articulation. Fifty right-handed men aged 21-28 took part: 25 pandits who began Vedic schooling around age ten and had logged nearly 17,750 hours of recitation training, and 25 controls matched for age, Sanskrit fluency, and general intelligence. All participants completed a 3-Tesla structural MRI brain scan, analyzed for grey- and white-matter volume, cortical thickness, and the folding pattern (gyrification) of the brain's surface. Memory was measured with the PGI-Memory Scale, a tool standardized for Indian populations covering immediate recall, attention, and retention. Pandits recalled significantly more information immediately after learning it than controls (a score of 11.2 versus 8.7, a large and statistically reliable gap), and this recall advantage tracked closely with the volume of grey matter in the thalamus (more volume, better recall). Brain scans showed pandits had more grey matter in the midbrain, pons, thalamus, and right frontal and pallidum regions -- areas tied to auditory processing, breath regulation, and sustained attention. They also had more white matter near the hippocampus and in frontal and temporal regions supporting memory consolidation, a thicker cortex in areas linked to emotional processing (temporal pole) and memory retrieval (caudate), and more surface folding in regions that coordinate speech articulation (insula, supplementary motor area). The longer a pandit had spent teaching Vedic recitation after training, the more grey matter he had in the angular gyrus, a region tied to retrieving well-learned verbal material. The authors interpret these differences as reflecting the specific mental and physical demands of Vedic training -- precise auditory memory, controlled breathing, and articulate speech -- rather than a single, generic meditation effect. Because the study compared existing groups at one point in time rather than tracking pandits before and after training, it cannot rule out that people with certain brain traits were more likely to complete Vedic schooling in the first place. The sample was small, male-only, and drawn from one religious and linguistic community, limiting how broadly the findings apply.

Filip Gedin et al. (2025) · BMC musculoskeletal disorders

This Swedish trial asked whether a chiropractor, a physiotherapist, or advice to stay active works best for low back pain lasting months — and the honest answer is that it could not tell the three apart. Eighty-eight people at ten primary care clinics around Stockholm were randomly assigned to one of four things: advice only, physiotherapy, chiropractic care, or both together. Six months later, everyone was better. Disability scores dropped in every group — most in the chiropractic group, least in the physiotherapy group — but the gaps between groups were well within what chance alone would produce. Pain scores and quality of life told the same story: improvement everywhere, no clear winner. Where the groups did differ was cost. The advice-only group ended up costing the health system about three times more than the others — around SEK 11,000 per person versus roughly SEK 3,000 — mostly because those patients went on to see doctors more, and one of them had spine surgery. Getting hands-on treatment early appeared to head off more expensive care later, though with numbers this small a single surgery moves the whole average. Combining chiropractic care with physiotherapy came out best on the economics: slightly more quality-adjusted life years for slightly less money. But "slightly" is doing a lot of work — the difference across all four groups was eight thousandths of a QALY, which is roughly three days of perfect health. The researchers are unusually candid about the limits. They wanted far more participants than they got, nearly half the people dropped out before six months, and the four groups were not well matched at the start. They present this as a lesson for whoever runs the definitive trial next, not as a result to act on. What it does support, gently: for chronic low back pain, staying active matters, and both chiropractic care and physiotherapy are reasonable, comparably effective options — with some signal that getting treatment rather than advice alone may save money downstream.