Effect of meditation across scales: integrating metabolism, circadian rhythm and epigenetic mechanisms in contemplative neuroscience
Source
PsyArXiv
Date Issued
2026-02-01
Author(s)
Arora, Palkin
Abstract
Meditation has long been studied for its ability to enhance mental, social and emotional well-being and reshape brain networks. Meditation studies have largely focused on neural and
cognitive correlates, overlooking the impact on fundamental biological scales. Here, we bring in an integrated perspective that meditation is not only a mental training but also a phenomenon
that can optimize the physiological and molecular processes that entrain the brain-body systems toward metabolic, genomic and epigenomic coherence.
We first synthesize current evidence linking meditative practice to changes in brain network dynamics, metabolic changes and epigenetic alterations. Emerging findings reveal that
meditation modulates stress induced markers, cerebral metabolic changes, hormonal rhythms and transcriptional alterations in the genes involved in cellular pathways, suggesting a coordinated cellular recalibration. Parallel evidence indicates that regular contemplative routines may stabilize circadian oscillations of cortisol and melatonin. At the molecular level,
meditation-associated epigenetic signatures, including alterations in DNA methylation, histone acetylation, and noncoding RNAs, also point towards the role of biological processes in
practice-induced enduring traits. We propose an integrative multiscale model in which meditation operates as a holistic intervention, synchronizing neural activity with peripheral, molecular rhythms to promote adaptive homeostasis. Finally, we outline methodological pathways for future work, advocating for multimodal designs that unite neuroimaging, metabolomics, chronobiology, and epigenomic profiling. Understanding meditation through this multi-scale lens can transform it from a behavioral phenomenon into a biologically grounded framework for brain-body synchronization, offering new insights for preventive and translational neuroscience.
cognitive correlates, overlooking the impact on fundamental biological scales. Here, we bring in an integrated perspective that meditation is not only a mental training but also a phenomenon
that can optimize the physiological and molecular processes that entrain the brain-body systems toward metabolic, genomic and epigenomic coherence.
We first synthesize current evidence linking meditative practice to changes in brain network dynamics, metabolic changes and epigenetic alterations. Emerging findings reveal that
meditation modulates stress induced markers, cerebral metabolic changes, hormonal rhythms and transcriptional alterations in the genes involved in cellular pathways, suggesting a coordinated cellular recalibration. Parallel evidence indicates that regular contemplative routines may stabilize circadian oscillations of cortisol and melatonin. At the molecular level,
meditation-associated epigenetic signatures, including alterations in DNA methylation, histone acetylation, and noncoding RNAs, also point towards the role of biological processes in
practice-induced enduring traits. We propose an integrative multiscale model in which meditation operates as a holistic intervention, synchronizing neural activity with peripheral, molecular rhythms to promote adaptive homeostasis. Finally, we outline methodological pathways for future work, advocating for multimodal designs that unite neuroimaging, metabolomics, chronobiology, and epigenomic profiling. Understanding meditation through this multi-scale lens can transform it from a behavioral phenomenon into a biologically grounded framework for brain-body synchronization, offering new insights for preventive and translational neuroscience.