The work of this great scientist probably answer your question, I just sent here a couple of links to his work, but if you are really interested in it you will probably look for more and I do recommend you to do that.

Enjoy

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23000783

http://mybestjob.info/transform-your-mind-change-your-brain/?goback=%2Egde_1585837_member_162815808

Our group recently compared the effects of mindfulness meditation (standard MBSR program) to pharmacotherapy for people with chronic primary insomnia. People who meditated fell asleep more quickly (reduced sleep onset latency) and people who took medication stayed asleep longer. Meditators reported no side effects.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21397868

Thank you Elia Magrinelli, Thank you Joao Escosteguy-Neto and Thank you Maryanne Reilly-Spong. Thanks to all my friends. There are number of studies on mindfullness and all are so interesting. Whether some other meditative techniques like Transcendental Meditation, Cyclic meditation etc have the similar effects?

Meditation’s positive residual effects

http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2012/11/meditations-positive-residual-effects/

If interested in this topic, an fascinating line of research is being conducted by Richard Davidson at the University of Wisconsin. He is the researcher who conducts brain imaging studies with Tibetan monks; you may have seen images of his work in National Geographic some years ago. While some of us have focused on symptoms (sleep, anxiety, depression) and quality of life in people with illness, he has compared the brains of lifelong meditators with novice meditators, and published strong findings to support the impact of meditation on specific brain areas, such as the prefrontal cortex and other parts of the brain which help regulate emotion and behavior. His recent work focuses on neuroplasticity. Here is a link to one interesting study that compares the effects of Focused Attention (FA) to Open Monitoring (OM). FA is more like the Transcendental Approach. OM is more of a mindfulness approach. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2693206/ Enjoy.

Dear Maryanne Reilly-Spong Ji,

Thank you very much for sharing the link, It is really very informative.

Dear Friends,

Thank you for showing the interest on this topic!

May I request you to kindly send some research article for our "International Journal of Yoga & Allied Sciences". Kindly find the link below:

http://www.yogaresearch.webs.com

Dear Anirudh Kr. Satsangi,

Thank you for taking interest in this discussion. Many thanks for your updates. Kindly add more information or some link regarding your points, so that it becomes more clear.

Thanks and regards!

I recently came across this article regarding some genetic effects of Meditation. It is Research done at the Benson-Henry Institute for Mind/Body Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. It echos the research article Maryanne Reilly-Spong attached.

http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/05/study-how-yoga-alters-genes/275488/

The attached is a cross section of U.S. studies on various mental and physical research.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3447533/

Nuclear Medicine Communications

Title: Cerebral Blood Flow Changes During Chanting Meditation

Khalsa DS, Amen D, Hanks C, Money N, Newberg A. Nucl Med Commun. 2009 Dec;30(12):956-61. doi: 10.1097/MNM.0b013e32832fa26c.

Published in June 2009

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19773673

Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease

Title: Meditation Effects on Cognitive Function and Cerebral Blood Flow in Subjects with Memory Loss: A Preliminary Study

Newberg AB, Wintering N, Khalsa DS, Roggenkamp H, Waldman MR. J Alzheimers Dis. 2010;20(2):517-26. doi: 10.3233/JAD-2010-1391.

Published in April 2010

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20164557

Consciousness and Cognition

Title: Cerebral Blood Flow Differences Between Long-Term Meditators and Non-Meditators

Newberg AB, Wintering N, Waldman MR, Amen D, Khalsa DS, Alavi A. Conscious Cogn. 2010 Dec;19(4):899-905. doi: 10.1016/j.concog.2010.05.003. Epub 2010 Jun 8.

Published in May 2010

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20570534

Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging

Title: Cerebral Blood Flow Changes Associated with Different Meditation Practices and Perceived Depth Of Meditation

Wang DJ, Rao H, Korczykowski M, Wintering N, Pluta J, Khalsa DS, Newberg AB. Psychiatry Res. 2011 Jan 30;191(1):60-7. doi: 10.1016/j.pscychresns.2010.09.011. Epub 2010 Dec 8.

Published in December 2010

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21145215

Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine

Title: Effects of An 8-Week Meditation Program on Mood and Anxiety in Patients With Memory Loss

Moss AS, Wintering N, Roggenkamp H, Khalsa DS, Waldman MR, Monti D, Newberg AB. J Altern Complement Med. 2012 Jan;18(1):48-53. doi: 10.1089/acm.2011.0051.

Published in January 2012

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22268968

International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry

Title: A Pilot Study of Yogic Meditation for Family Dementia Caregivers with Depressive Symptoms: Effects on Mental Health, Cognition, and Telomerase Activity

Lavretsky H, Epel ES, Siddarth P, Nazarian N, Cyr NS, Khalsa DS, Lin J, Blackburn E, Irwin MR. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2013 Jan;28(1):57-65. doi: 10.1002/gps.3790. Epub 2012 Mar 11.

Published in March 2012

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22407663

Psychoneuroendocrinology

Title: Yogic Meditation Reverses NF-Κb And IRF-Related Transcriptome Dynamics In Leukocytes Of Family Dementia Caregivers In A Randomized Controlled Trial

Black DS, Cole SW, Irwin MR, Breen E, St Cyr NM, Nazarian N, Khalsa DS, Lavretsky H. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2012 Jul 13. [Epub ahead of print]

Published in July 2012

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22795617

You are invited to join the event

http://www.internationalyogfestival.org

There are tens of millions of people around the world who practiceMindful Meditation technique daily. Sports teams, corporations, and schools are some of the more recent adopters of this mind soothing practice. As popularity grows, researchers are looking at mindful meditation in a whole new way. By performing a series of MRI scans on the brains of individuals entrenched in mindful meditation courses, scientists are now better able to understand the physical effects of the technique once reserved for Buddhist monks.

http://blog.shareitfitness.com/2015/power-mindful-meditation/

Please go through the following RG link and PDF attachments.

Conference Paper The Mindfulness Meditation Effect on Brain Electrical Activi...

Not only meditation, but also any kind of approach, such as prayers, that requires deep concentration bring potential benefits to the brain. There is a saying, the lazy brain is the devil's factory.

Its an invisible force which brings the human system from the physical plane to the mental plane and then to the psychic plane and onward to the spiritual plane. it enhances the intellect of a person.

The main end of meditation is to keep mind calm & quiet in the midst of worries , tension & frustration. This fruitful services for meditation demands our mind to have the power of prayer , demanding concentration which may help us to keep the control of the mind , with may help us to concentrate calling for spiritual , power for our guideline & if the spiritual path help further for the progressive line thru spiritual divine master which may help us to carry the past of our life for an ultimate end of happiness, with the spiritual path .

This is my personal opinion