Neuroscientist Andrew Huberman is making a compelling case that just five minutes of daily meditation may be enough to reshape how the brain functions over time, and the science he points to suggests this is not merely wishful thinking.
In a recent Instagram story, Huberman checked in on followers who had taken on a short daily meditation protocol he had introduced weeks prior.
Huberman stated: “The data, both clinical data, lab data with brain imaging, measurements of stress, focus, etc., really support the idea that just five minutes per day of meditation done, eyes closed, either seated or standing, where you just focus on your breath or even the gap between the exhale and the inhale, causes both immediate benefits in the short term and some significant and positive long-term brain changes, so-called neuroplasticity.”
Those are not small promises, and Huberman is careful to ground them in research. The neuroplasticity he references refers to the brain’s capacity to physically reorganize itself in response to repeated experience.
In the context of meditation, even brief daily sessions appear to strengthen specific neural circuits tied to attention, emotional regulation, and self-awareness.
At the center of that network are three brain regions Huberman has discussed at length: the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, the anterior cingulate cortex, and the insula. These structures are in constant communication with one another, working to interpret what the body is experiencing internally and reconciling those sensations with what is happening in the outside world.
When someone meditates, particularly with eyes closed, this system gets a targeted workout. Closing the eyes alone is significant, given that visual processing accounts for roughly 40% of the brain’s total workload. Removing that input redirects an enormous amount of cognitive energy inward.
This inward shift is what Huberman describes as a move along the spectrum from exteroception, awareness of the world beyond the body’s surface, toward interoception, awareness of internal sensations like heartbeat, breath, and gut feelings. Meditation, in his framework, is essentially a daily exercise in navigating that spectrum with intention and flexibility.
One of the foundational studies he draws on to explain why this matters is a 2010 paper published in the journal Science by researchers Matthew Killingsworth and Dan Gilbert. The study’s finding was pointed: in nearly half of all sampled moments, people were not thinking about what they were actually doing.
More telling, that mental wandering was closely linked to lower reported happiness. As Huberman has noted, “What people were thinking at a given moment was far better a predictor of their happiness than what they were doing.”
That finding reframes what meditation is actually training. Rather than a pursuit of some perfectly blank or blissful mental state, Huberman argues that skilled meditators are really just people who have become very good at catching their minds as they wander and bringing attention back.
“The more number of times you have to yank yourself back into attending or perceiving one specific thing, the more effective that practice is,” he explains. Each redirect, in other words, is the practice itself.
Huberman also offers practical guidance on how the breath can be used to steer the mind into different states. Inhales that are longer or more forceful than exhales tend to increase alertness, while extending or emphasizing the exhale produces a calming effect. This gives meditators a real-time tool for adjusting their mental state based on what the session calls for.
He also draws a clear line between meditation and related practices like yoga nidra and non-sleep deep rest, or NSDR. Where meditation asks the mind to focus and refocus, yoga nidra and NSDR work in the opposite direction, deliberately loosening mental grip to allow the nervous system to replenish.
Research on yoga nidra has found that “salivary cortisol reduced statistically significantly after yoga nidra practice,” making it a useful tool for recovery and stress regulation, though through a very different mechanism than focused meditation.
For those unsure where to start, Huberman’s suggestion is to first assess whether attention tends to naturally drift outward toward the environment or inward toward bodily sensation, then deliberately practice whichever direction feels less natural. Over time, that kind of cross-training builds what he sees as a more resilient and adaptable mind.
