Yoga is becoming increasingly popular worldwide, with several implicated physical and mental benefits. Here we provide a comprehensive and critical review of the research generated from the existing neuroimaging literature in studies of yoga practitioners. We reviewed 34 international peer-reviewed neuroimaging studies of yoga using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), positron emission tomography (PET), or single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT): 11 morphological and 26 functional studies, including three studies that were classified as both morphological and functional. Consistent findings include increased gray matter volume in the insula and hippocampus, increased activation of prefrontal cortical regions, and functional connectivity changes mainly within the default mode network. There is quite some variability in the neuroimaging findings that partially reflects different yoga styles and approaches, as well as sample size limitations. Direct comparator groups such as physical activity are scarcely used so far. Finally, hypotheses on the underlying neurobiology derived from the imaging findings are discussed in the light of the potential beneficial effects of yoga.

瑜伽在世界范围内正变得越来越流行，它在身体和精神上都有诸多益处。在这里，我们对瑜伽从业者的现有神经影像学文献所产生的研究进行了全面而严格的评论。我们使用磁共振成像（MRI），正电子发射断层扫描（PET）或单光子发射计算机断层扫描（SPECT）对34项国际同行评审的瑜伽神经影像学研究进行了回顾：11项形态学和26项功能性研究，包括三项分类的研究从形态和功能上来说。一致的发现包括岛顶和海马的灰质体积增加，额叶前额叶皮层区域的激活增加以及功能连接性变化（主要在默认模式网络内）。神经影像学发现存在相当多的可变性，部分反映了不同的瑜伽风格和方法以及样本量的局限性。到目前为止，几乎没有使用直接的比较者组，例如体育锻炼。最后，根据瑜伽的潜在有益作用，讨论了从影像学发现中得出的关于基础神经生物学的假设。