Impact of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Training on Intrinsic Brain Connectivity

By Lisa A. Kilpatrick, Brandall Y. Suyenobu, Suzanne R. Smith, Joshua A. Bueller, T. Goodman, J. D. Creswell, Kirsten Tillisch, Emeran A. Mayer, Bruce D. Naliboff. NeuroImage, 2011

351 citations recorded by the source corpus.

The beneficial effects of mindful awareness and mindfulness meditation training on physical and psychological health are thought to be mediated in part through changes in underlying brain processes. Functional connectivity MRI (fcMRI) allows identification of functional networks in the brain. It has been used to examine state-dependent activity and is well-suited for studying states such as meditation. We applied fcMRI to determine if Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) training is effective in altering intrinsic connectivity networks (ICNs). Healthy women were randomly assigned to participate in an 8 week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) training course or an 8 week waiting period. After 8 weeks, fMRI data (1.5 T) was acquired while subjects rested with eyes closed, with the instruction to pay attention to the sounds of the scanner environment. Group independent component analysis was performed to investigate training-related changes in functional connectivity. Significant MBSR-related differences in functional connectivity were found mainly in auditory/salience and medial visual networks. Relative to findings in the control group, MBSR subjects showed (1) increased functional connectivity within auditory and visual networks, (2) increased functional connectivity between auditory cortex and areas associated with attentional and self-referential processes, (3) greater anticorrelation between auditory and visual cortex, and (4) greater anticorrelation between visual cortex and areas associated with attentional and self-referential processes. These findings suggest that 8 weeks of mindfulness meditation training alters intrinsic functional connectivity in ways that may reflect a more consistent attentional focus, enhanced sensory processing, and reflective awareness of sensory experience.

Subfields: Clinical Psychology, Cognitive Neuroscience, Experimental and Cognitive Psychology

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/04858201eec68af828cc2ed9ba1142cb725bbb98

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Citations in the corpus

Mindfulness for teachers: A pilot study to assess effects on stress, burnout and teaching efficacy (2013, background): “, 2008) as well as alterations in functional connectivity of brain networks associated with attentional focus and reflective awareness of sensory experience (Kilpatrick et al., 2011).”
Meditation experience is associated with differences in default mode network activity and connectivity (2011, background): “Interestingly, a study using independent component analysis to assess functional connectivity during a “mindful awareness” scan after an 8-wk MBSR course was recently reported (41).”
Mindfulness Broadens Awareness and Builds Eudaimonic Meaning: A Process Model of Mindful Positive Emotion Regulation (2015, background): “In parallel, this shift from evaluative processing to non-judgmental awareness has been described in neuroscientific explorations as an increased integration of sensory information over neural systems for conceptual elaboration (Farb et al., 2007; Kilpatrick et al. 2011).”
Self-awareness, self-regulation, and self-transcendence (S-ART): a framework for understanding the neurobiological mechanisms of mindfulness (2012, background): “For example one study of experienced meditators (39–1820 weeks of meditation practice), in comparison to non-meditators, showed decreased left PIC and SII activation in the anticipation period that continued through the experience of pain (Brown and Jones, 2010).”
Mechanisms of Change in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction: Self-Compassion and Mindfulness as Mediators of Intervention Outcomes (2012, neutral): “…Gaylord, & Fredrickson, 2011; Gaylord et al., 2011; Gayner et al., 2012; Hölzel et al., 2011; Jensen, Vangkilde, Frokjaer, & Hasselbach, 2012; Kilpatrick et al., 2011; Kimbrough, Magyari, Langenberg, Chesney, & Berman, 2010; Lau et al., 2006; Robins et al., 2012; Schmidt et al., 2011;…”
Positive psychology at work: A conceptual review, state-of-practice assessment, and a look ahead (2013, background): “According to Kabat-Zinn (2005), gratitude is one of five affective qualities of mindfulness, which itself has been linked to increased brain activity (Kilpatrick et al., 2011), and reduced anxiety among employees experiencing employment uncertainty (Jacobs & Blustein, 2008).”