The Science of Mantra Chanting

  • Unique Paper ID: 204584
  • Volume: 13
  • Issue: 1
  • PageNo: 9463-9469
  • Abstract:
  • Mantra chanting is a disciplined meditative meditation that involves the repetition of a word, phrase or group of syllables. Its cultural connotations are varied, but a burgeoning scientific literature indicates that chanting can be investigated as an embodied intervention involving the combination of singing, timed breathing, auditory feedback, attentional modulation and emotional evaluation. This paper collates peer-reviewed evidence gathered from autonomic physiology, neuroimaging, electrophysiology and clinical trials, and suggests a mechanism for the science of mantra chanting. The results of cardiorespiratory studies suggest that rhythmic recitation has the effect of reducing breathing rate and synchronizing heart rate and blood pressure oscillations. Neurofunctional imaging and connectivity analysis of Om chanting shows deactivation of the limbic system and changes in interconnection between affect-regulation and interoceptive areas. EEG/ERP results point to alterations in attentional processing of emotional stimuli; clinical studies using mantra-based meditation show small-to-moderate improvements in anxiety, stress, post-traumatic stress symptoms, sleep and mental health-related quality of life, but with important limitations in study quality. The paper also suggests a multimodal measurement architecture for future trials, which integrates the use of vocal acoustics, ECG/ PPG-HRV, respiration, EEG/fNIRS, and validated psychological outcomes. To differentiate the effects of breath pacing, sound vibration, semantic salience and attentional training, a rigorous active-control research design is recommended, which takes into account cultural sensitivity.

Copyright & License

Copyright © 2026 Authors retain the copyright of this article. This article is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

BibTeX

@article{204584,
        author = {Yogesh Kumar Chauhan and Soni},
        title = {The Science of Mantra Chanting},
        journal = {International Journal of Innovative Research in Technology},
        year = {2026},
        volume = {13},
        number = {1},
        pages = {9463-9469},
        issn = {2349-6002},
        url = {https://ijirt.org/article?manuscript=204584},
        abstract = {Mantra chanting is a disciplined meditative meditation that involves the repetition of a word, phrase or group of syllables. Its cultural connotations are varied, but a burgeoning scientific literature indicates that chanting can be investigated as an embodied intervention involving the combination of singing, timed breathing, auditory feedback, attentional modulation and emotional evaluation. This paper collates peer-reviewed evidence gathered from autonomic physiology, neuroimaging, electrophysiology and clinical trials, and suggests a mechanism for the science of mantra chanting. The results of cardiorespiratory studies suggest that rhythmic recitation has the effect of reducing breathing rate and synchronizing heart rate and blood pressure oscillations. Neurofunctional imaging and connectivity analysis of Om chanting shows deactivation of the limbic system and changes in interconnection between affect-regulation and interoceptive areas. EEG/ERP results point to alterations in attentional processing of emotional stimuli; clinical studies using mantra-based meditation show small-to-moderate improvements in anxiety, stress, post-traumatic stress symptoms, sleep and mental health-related quality of life, but with important limitations in study quality. The paper also suggests a multimodal measurement architecture for future trials, which integrates the use of vocal acoustics, ECG/ PPG-HRV, respiration, EEG/fNIRS, and validated psychological outcomes. To differentiate the effects of breath pacing, sound vibration, semantic salience and attentional training, a rigorous active-control research design is recommended, which takes into account cultural sensitivity.},
        keywords = {Mantra chanting; Om chanting; heart rate variability; vagal modulation; fMRI; EEG; meditation; psychophysiology},
        month = {June},
        }

Cite This Article

Chauhan, Y. K., & Soni, (2026). The Science of Mantra Chanting. International Journal of Innovative Research in Technology (IJIRT), 13(1), 9463–9469.

Related Articles