There are a large number of reviews on the topic of meditation in the peer reviewed journal literature. Their conclusions are remarkably diverse, ranging from overwhelmingly positive to considerably negative. These disparities are explainable by factors such as the methodological standards set by the reviewers, whether or not the researchers were interested in differentiating between specific and non-specific effects and the researcher’s own affiliations. Generally speaking, the more rigorous the standards set by the reviewers, the less likely they were to express enthusiasm for meditation.
For more detail on how the meditation research can be sorted and analysed, check Dr Ramesh Manocha’s blog.