Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction-related changes in posterior cingulate resting brain connectivity
Year: 2019
Type: article
Study design: Clinical Trial
Abstract: Mindfulness meditation training has been shown to increase resting-state functional connectivity between nodes of the frontoparietal executive control network (dorsolateral prefrontal cortex [DLPFC]) and the default mode network (posterior cingulate cortex [PCC]). We investigated whether these effects generalized to a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) course and tested for structural and behaviorally relevant consequences of change in connectivity. Healthy, meditation-naïve adults were randomized to either MBSR (N = 48), an active (N = 47) or waitlist (N = 45) control group. Participants completed behavioral testing, resting-state fMRI scans and diffusion tensor scans at pre-randomization (T1), post-intervention (T2) and ~5.5 months later (T3). We found increased T2-T1 PCC-DLPFC resting connectivity for MBSR relative to control groups. Although these effects did not persist through long-term follow-up (T3-T1), MBSR participants showed a significantly stronger relationship between days of practice (T1 to T3) and increased PCC-DLPFC resting connectivity than participants in the active control group. Increased PCC-DLPFC resting connectivity in MBSR participants was associated with increased microstructural connectivity of a white matter tract connecting these regions and increased self-reported attention. These data show that MBSR increases PCC-DLPFC resting connectivity, which is related to increased practice time, attention and structural connectivity.
DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsz050
Institution: University of Wisconsin–Madison
Language: English
Subfield: Clinical Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,379
Funders: John Templeton Foundation, Fetzer Institute, Waisman Center, National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
Awards: G1082231913, G2143791144, G2652720658, Waisman Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center, G2954138468, G42101526, G535778818, G5592236187, Waisman Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center, G6889573736, BRAIN CONNECTIVITY AND THE ROLE OF MYELIN IN AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDERS, Neural Substrates of Affective Style and Emotion Regulation, G8990958726
OpenAlex ID: W2954198388