Mindfulness Meditation Training Alters Stress-Related Amygdala Resting State Functional Connectivity: A Randomized Controlled Trial.
Author: Taren AA1, Gianaros PJ2, Greco CM3, Lindsay EK4, Fairgrieve A4, Brown KW5, Rosen RK2, Ferris JL4, Julson E6, Marsland AL2, Bursley JK4, Ramsburg J7, Creswell JD8.
Affiliation:
1Center for Neuroscience, University of Pittsburgh Department of Psychology and Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, Carnegie Mellon University. 2Department of Psychology and Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, University of Pittsburgh. 3Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. 4Department of Psychology and Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, Carnegie Mellon University. 5Department of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University. 6California State University, Los Angeles. 7Department of Psychology, University of Illinois-Chicago. 8Department of Psychology and Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, Carnegie Mellon University creswell@cmu.edu.
Conference/Journal: Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci.
Date published: 2015 Jun 5
Other:
Pages: nsv006 , Word Count: 192
Abstract
Recent studies indicate that mindfulness meditation training interventions reduce stress and improve stress-related health outcomes, but the neural pathways for these effects are unknown. The present research evaluates whether mindfulness meditation training alters resting state functional connectivity of the amygdala, a region known to coordinate stress processing and physiological stress responses. We show in an initial discovery study that higher perceived stress over the past month is associated with greater bilateral amygdala-subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (sgACC) resting state functional connectivity (rsFC) in a sample of community adults (N=130). A follow-up, single-blind randomized controlled trial (RCT) shows that a 3-day intensive mindfulness meditation training intervention (relative to a well-matched 3-day relaxation training intervention without a mindfulness component) reduced right amygdala-sgACC rsFC in a sample of stressed unemployed community adults (N=35). Although stress may increase amygdala-subgenual anterior cingulate cortex rsFC, brief training in mindfulness meditation could reverse these effects. This work provides an initial indication that mindfulness meditation training promotes functional neuroplastic changes, suggesting an amygdala-sgACC pathway for stress reduction effects.
© The Author (2015). Published by Oxford University Press. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.
KEYWORDS:
Amygdala; Cingulate; Health; Mindfulness; Stress
PMID: 26048176
BACK
