Zen Meditation and the Neuro-Immuno-Endocrine Axis

The Neuro-Immuno-Endocrine axis coordinates interactions between the nervous, immune, and endocrine systems to maintain physiological homeostasis and respond to internal and external stimuli. Dysregulation of this axis is implicated in chronic stress, inflammation, and a variety of diseases. Zen meditation, a focused and intentional practice rooted in mindfulness, has gained recognition for its profound health benefits. By engaging the Neuro-Immuno-Endocrine axis, Zen meditation supports stress reduction, immune resilience, and hormonal balance. This review explores the interplay between Zen meditation and the Neuro-Immuno-Endocrine axis, emphasizing its neurological, immune, and endocrine impacts. A research question guiding this review is: “How does Zen meditation influence the interconnected components of the Neuro-Immuno-Endocrine axis, and what are the potential mechanisms underlying these effects?” This review hypothesizes that Zen meditation positively impacts the Neuro-Immuno-Endocrine axis through stress-reduction mechanisms that enhance neuroplasticity, reduce systemic inflammation, and balance hormonal pathways. We further discuss how the synergy between Zen meditation and the Neuro-Immuno-Endocrine axis contributes to holistic health and suggest future research directions to optimize its therapeutic applications.

Comparison of Spatio-Spectral Properties of Zen-Meditation and Resting EEG Based on Unsupervised Learning

This paper reports distinct spatio-spectral properties of Zen-meditation EEG (electroencephalograph), compared with resting EEG, by implementing unsupervised machine learning scheme in clustering the brain mappings of centroid frequency (BMFc). Zen practitioners simultaneously concentrate on the third ventricle, hypothalamus and corpora quadrigemina touniversalize all brain neurons to construct a detached brain and gradually change the normal brain traits, leading to the process of brain-neuroplasticity. During such tri-aperture concentration, EEG exhibits prominent diffuse high-frequency oscillations. Unsupervised self-organizing map (SOM), clusters the dataset of quantitative EEG by matching the input feature vector Fc and the output cluster center through the SOM network weights. Input dataset contains brain mappings of 30 centroid frequencies extracted from CWT (continuous wavelet transform) coefficients. According to SOM clustering results, resting EEG is dominated by global low-frequency (<14 Hz) activities, except channels T7, F7 and TP7 (>14.4 Hz);whereas Zen-meditation EEG exhibits globally high-frequency (>16 Hz) activities throughout the entire record. Beta waves with a wide range of frequencies are often associated with active concentration. Nonetheless, clinic report discloses that benzodiazepines, medication treatment for anxiety, insomnia and panic attacks to relieve mind/body stress, often induce beta buzz. We may hypothesize that Zen-meditation practitioners attain the unique state of mindfulness concentration under optimal body-mind relaxation.