Student performance significantly boosted by meditation

Fraser Macdonald, Dental Tribune International

Fri. 4. July 2025

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VADODARA, India: The flow of Eastern philosophical and spiritual systems to the US has, since the 1960s, exerted a well-known and powerful influence on the development of a variety of subcultural movements critical of corporate greed. But it now seems that the cultural transfer has come full circle, with adopted Eastern traditions being reimagined in line with Western neuroscience and then marketed back to the Indian subcontinent. As a recent study from India has shown, the practice of one such system among undergraduate dental students has improved their clinical performance significantly, a result which has potentially far-reaching consequences for dental education.

The system in question is Neurosculpting, a series of short exercises developed by American Lisa Wimberger that fuse ideas of neural plasticity with meditation and mindfulness. The exercises combine head, hand, foot and cross-lateral movements designed to sharpen visuospatial awareness, fine motor skills and coordination.

The Indian study included 40 students, 20 of whom were assigned to a control group which received only standard training and 20 to a group which received both standard training and participated in Neurosculpting three times a day for eight weeks.

Participants practiced standardised Class I cavity preparations on typodont teeth at baseline and then after eight weeks. Evaluations, performed by blinded examiners, used the PACE rubric—rating outline form, depth, undercut and pulpal floor orientation on a 10-point scale.

At baseline, the two groups showed similar average scores across all metrics, with no significant differences. After the Neurosculpting session, however, the non-control group exhibited striking qualitative improvements across the full range of metrics, significantly outpacing the control group.

This technical advantage has far-reaching implications for dental education. By integrating techniques such as Neurosculpting into preclinical curricula, educators may be able to foster superior psychomotor development and precision, bridging the gap between theoretical learning and hands-on clinical excellence.

The study’s authors advocate for Neuroscuplting’s wider adoption and suggest further research in larger cohorts, longer durations and more objective neuroimaging to map the process directly to brain changes—potentially elevating the art and science of dentistry to new heights.

The study, titled “Comparative evaluation of the cavity preparation design on mandibular first molars in typodont teeth after Neurosculpting in undergraduate dental students”, was published on June 17 2025 in Cureus, ahead of inclusion in an issue.