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:
1Anxiety and Depression Research Center, Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
2Interacting Minds Centre, Dept. of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark; Danish Center for Mindfulness, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.
3Danish Center for Mindfulness, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.
4Interacting Minds Centre, Dept. of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.
5Interacting 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
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