Therapeutic interventions that incorporate training in mindfulness meditation have become increasingly popular, but to date, little is known about neural mechanisms associated with these interventions. Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), one of the most widely used mindfulness training programs, has been reported to produce positive effects on psychological well-being and to ameliorate symptoms of a number of disorders. Here, we report a controlled longitudinal study to investigate pre-post changes in brain gray matter concentration attributable to participation in an MBSR program. Anatomical MRI images from sixteen healthy, meditation-naïve participants were obtained before and after they underwent the eight-week program. Changes in gray matter concentration were investigated using voxel-based morphometry, and compared to a wait-list control group of 17 individuals. Analyses in a priori regions of interest confirmed increases in gray matter concentration within the left hippocampus. Whole brain analyses identified increases in the posterior cingulate cortex, the temporo-parietal junction, and the cerebellum in the MBSR group compared to the controls. The results suggest that participation in MBSR is associated with changes in gray matter concentration in brain regions involved in learning and memory processes, emotion regulation, self-referential processing, and perspective taking.
Mindfulness practice leads to increases in regional brain gray matter density
Publication
Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging
Volume 191, Issue 1
Abstract
Web and Email Links
Related Listings
Journal
The International Journal of Psychiatry in Medicine
It is hypothesized that situations requiring continuous behavioral adjustment activate an integrated, hypothalamic response, the emergency reaction. The frequent elicitation of the physiologic changes associated with the emergency reaction has been implicated in the development of diseases such as hypertension. Prevention and treatment of these diseases may be through the use of the relaxation response, an integrated hypothalamic response whose physiologic changes appear to be the cou […]
Journal
PLOS ONE
Background Poor psychological and physical resilience in response to stress drives a great deal of health care utilization. Mind-body interventions can reduce stress and build resiliency. The rationale for this study is therefore to estimate the effect of mind-body interventions on healthcare utilization. Objective Estimate the effect of mind body training, specifically, the Relaxation Response Resiliency Program (3RP) on healthcare utilization. Design Retrospective controlled […]
Journal
AAAS Eureka Alert
Researchers identified genes and biological pathways linked to immune regulation, metabolism, and circadian rhythm in people who reduced their hypertension after eight-week relaxation response training