The impact of Mindfulness-Based Interventions on brain activity: a systematic review of functional magnetic resonance imaging studies.


Author: Young KS1, van der Velden AM2, Craske MG1, Pallesen KJ3, Fjorback L3, Roepstorff A4, Parsons CE5

Affiliation: <sup>1</sup>Anxiety and Depression Research Center, Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.

<sup>2</sup>Interacting Minds Centre, Dept. of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark; Danish Center for Mindfulness, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.

<sup>3</sup>Danish Center for Mindfulness, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.

<sup>4</sup>Interacting Minds Centre, Dept. of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.

<sup>5</sup>Interacting Minds Centre, Dept. of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark. Electronic address: christine.parsons@clin.au.dk.
Conference/Journal: Neurosci Biobehav Rev.
Date published: 2017 Aug 7
Other:
  Pages: S0149-7634(17)30171-9   ,  Special Notes: doi: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2017.08.003. [Epub ahead of print]   ,  Word Count: 171  
    Mindfulness-based interventions are increasingly used in the treatment and prevention of mental health conditions. Despite this, the mechanisms of change for such interventions are only beginning to be understood, with a number of recent studies assessing changes in brain activity. The aim of this systematic review was to assess changes in brain functioning associated with manualised 8-session mindfulness interventions. Searches of PubMed and Scopus databases resulted in 39 papers, 7 of which were eligible for inclusion. The most consistent longitudinal effect observed was increased insular cortex activity following mindfulness-based interventions. In contrast to previous reviews, we did not find robust evidence for increased activity in specific prefrontal cortex sub-regions. These findings suggest that mindfulness interventions are associated with changes in functioning of the insula, plausibly impacting awareness of internal reactions 'in-the-moment'. The studies reviewed here demonstrated a variety of effects across populations and tasks, pointing to the need for greater consistency in future study design.



Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.



KEYWORDS: emotion regulation; fMRI; insula; mindfulness; mindfulness-based interventions



PMID: 28797556  DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2017.08.003