Neuroplastic Effects of Meditation — SCE Palliative Medicine MCQ

Correct answer: E — Neuroimaging shows meditation produces measurable changes in brain structure and function—e.g. increased cortical thickness in prefrontal and insular areas, reduced amygdala reactivity, and altered pain‑processing networks

Explanation lettering: C = shown as A · A = shown as C

Option E is correct. Multiple peer‑reviewed neuroimaging studies—including structural MRI and fMRI—demonstrate that meditation is associated with neuroplastic changes. These include increased cortical thickness in prefrontal cortex and insula (Lazar et al., 2005), functional/structural changes in prefrontal, cingulate, insular cortical areas and hippocampus, and decreased amygdala activity after short programs like MBSR (Gotink et al., 2016). Systematic review evidence also shows altered activation in pain‑processing regions such as anterior cingulate and insula, with reduced thalamic or amygdala involvement (Nascimento et al., 2018; expert meditators show reduced amygdala baseline arousal with enhanced insula/cingulate response during pain) – consistent with reduced pain perception and anxiety. Distractors A, B, C, and D are clearly unsupported by the neuroscience: meditation produces measurable brain changes, which are beneficial and not equivalent solely to placebo or only pharmaceutical in origin.

Reference: Gotink RA et al., 8‑week MBSR induces brain changes... Brain Cogn 2016; Lazar SW et al., Meditation experience is associated with increased cortical thickness, Neuroreport 2005.