Mindfulness Meditation and Network Neuroscience: Review, Synthesis, and Future Directions


Author: Ruchika S Prakash1, Anita Shankar2, Vaibhav Tripathi3, Winson F Z Yang4, Megan Fisher2, Clemens C C Bauer5, Richard Betzel6, Matthew D Sacchet4

Affiliation: <sup>1</sup> Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University, OH, USA; Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Brain Imaging, The Ohio State University, OH, USA. Electronic address: prakash.30@osu.edu.

<sup>2</sup> Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University, OH, USA; Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Brain Imaging, The Ohio State University, OH, USA.

<sup>3</sup> Center for Brain Science & Department of Psychology, Harvard University, MA, USA; Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Boston University, MA, USA.

<sup>4</sup> Meditation Research Program, Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, MA, USA; Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02129, USA.

<sup>5</sup> Department of Psychology, Northeastern University, MA, USA; Brain and Cognitive Science at the McGovern Institute for Brain Research at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MA, USA; Center for Precision Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, MA, USA.

<sup>6</sup> Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, IN, USA.
Conference/Journal: Biol Psychiatry Cogn Neurosci Neuroimaging
Date published: 2024 Nov 17
Other:
  Pages: S2451-9022(24)00342-2   ,  Special Notes: doi: 10.1016/j.bpsc.2024.11.005.   ,  Word Count: 250  
    Network neuroscience is an interdisciplinary field, which can be used to understand the brain by examining the connections between its constituent elements. In recent years, the application of network neuroscience approaches to study the intricate nature of the structural and functional relationships within the human brain has yielded unique insights into its organization. In this review, we begin by defining network neuroscience and providing an overview of the common metrics that describe the topology of human structural and functional brain networks. We then present a detailed overview of a limited but growing body of literature that leverages network neuroscience metrics to demonstrate the impact of mindfulness meditation on modulating the fundamental structural and functional network properties of segregation, integration, and influence. Although preliminary, results across studies suggest that mindfulness meditation results in a shift in connector hubs, such as the anterior cingulate cortex, the thalamus, and the mid-insula. Although there is mixed evidence regarding the impact of mindfulness training on global metrics of connectivity, the default mode network exhibits reduced intra-connectivity following mindfulness training. Our review also underscores essential directions for future research, including a more comprehensive examination of mindfulness training and its potential to influence structural and functional connections at the nodal, network, and whole-brain levels. Furthermore, we emphasize the importance of open science, adoption of rigorous study designs to improve the internal validity of studies, and the inclusion of diverse samples in neuroimaging studies to comprehensively characterize the impact of mindfulness on brain organization.





PMID: 39561891 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpsc.2024.11.005