Impact of mindfulness on the neural responses to emotional pictures in experienced and beginner meditators - PubMed (original) (raw)
Impact of mindfulness on the neural responses to emotional pictures in experienced and beginner meditators
Véronique A Taylor et al. Neuroimage. 2011.
Abstract
There is mounting evidence that mindfulness meditation is beneficial for the treatment of mood and anxiety disorders, yet little is known regarding the neural mechanisms through which mindfulness modulates emotional responses. Thus, a central objective of this functional magnetic resonance imaging study was to investigate the effects of mindfulness on the neural responses to emotionally laden stimuli. Another major goal of this study was to examine the impact of the extent of mindfulness training on the brain mechanisms supporting the processing of emotional stimuli. Twelve experienced (with over 1000 h of practice) and 10 beginner meditators were scanned as they viewed negative, positive, and neutral pictures in a mindful state and a non-mindful state of awareness. Results indicated that the Mindful condition attenuated emotional intensity perceived from pictures, while brain imaging data suggested that this effect was achieved through distinct neural mechanisms for each group of participants. For experienced meditators compared with beginners, mindfulness induced a deactivation of default mode network areas (medial prefrontal and posterior cingulate cortices) across all valence categories and did not influence responses in brain regions involved in emotional reactivity during emotional processing. On the other hand, for beginners relative to experienced meditators, mindfulness induced a down-regulation of the left amygdala during emotional processing. These findings suggest that the long-term practice of mindfulness leads to emotional stability by promoting acceptance of emotional states and enhanced present-moment awareness, rather than by eliciting control over low-level affective cerebral systems from higher-order cortical brain regions. These results have implications for affect-related psychological disorders.
Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Similar articles
- Altered processing of self-related emotional stimuli in mindfulness meditators.
Lutz J, Brühl AB, Doerig N, Scheerer H, Achermann R, Weibel A, Jäncke L, Herwig U. Lutz J, et al. Neuroimage. 2016 Jan 1;124(Pt A):958-967. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2015.09.057. Epub 2015 Oct 9. Neuroimage. 2016. PMID: 26455808 - Self-related awareness and emotion regulation.
Herwig U, Kaffenberger T, Jäncke L, Brühl AB. Herwig U, et al. Neuroimage. 2010 Apr 1;50(2):734-41. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2009.12.089. Epub 2010 Jan 4. Neuroimage. 2010. PMID: 20045475 - Impact of short- and long-term mindfulness meditation training on amygdala reactivity to emotional stimuli.
Kral TRA, Schuyler BS, Mumford JA, Rosenkranz MA, Lutz A, Davidson RJ. Kral TRA, et al. Neuroimage. 2018 Nov 1;181:301-313. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2018.07.013. Epub 2018 Jul 7. Neuroimage. 2018. PMID: 29990584 Free PMC article. Clinical Trial. - Mindfulness: top-down or bottom-up emotion regulation strategy?
Chiesa A, Serretti A, Jakobsen JC. Chiesa A, et al. Clin Psychol Rev. 2013 Feb;33(1):82-96. doi: 10.1016/j.cpr.2012.10.006. Epub 2012 Oct 23. Clin Psychol Rev. 2013. PMID: 23142788 Review. - [The history of Mindfulness put to the test of current scientific data: unresolved questions].
Trousselard M, Steiler D, Claverie D, Canini F. Trousselard M, et al. Encephale. 2014 Dec;40(6):474-80. doi: 10.1016/j.encep.2014.08.006. Epub 2014 Sep 5. Encephale. 2014. PMID: 25194754 Review. French.
Cited by
- Reliability and validity of an equanimity questionnaire: the two-factor equanimity scale (EQUA-S).
Juneau C, Pellerin N, Trives E, Ricard M, Shankland R, Dambrun M. Juneau C, et al. PeerJ. 2020 Jul 7;8:e9405. doi: 10.7717/peerj.9405. eCollection 2020. PeerJ. 2020. PMID: 32704443 Free PMC article. - Pain attenuation through mindfulness is associated with decreased cognitive control and increased sensory processing in the brain.
Gard T, Hölzel BK, Sack AT, Hempel H, Lazar SW, Vaitl D, Ott U. Gard T, et al. Cereb Cortex. 2012 Nov;22(11):2692-702. doi: 10.1093/cercor/bhr352. Epub 2011 Dec 15. Cereb Cortex. 2012. PMID: 22172578 Free PMC article. - The embodied transcendental: a Kantian perspective on neurophenomenology.
Khachouf OT, Poletti S, Pagnoni G. Khachouf OT, et al. Front Hum Neurosci. 2013 Sep 30;7:611. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2013.00611. eCollection 2013. Front Hum Neurosci. 2013. PMID: 24137116 Free PMC article. - Mindful regulation of positive emotions: a comparison with reappraisal and expressive suppression.
Lalot F, Delplanque S, Sander D. Lalot F, et al. Front Psychol. 2014 Mar 24;5:243. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00243. eCollection 2014. Front Psychol. 2014. PMID: 24715882 Free PMC article. - Exploring the Use of Virtual Reality for the Delivery and Practice of Stress-Management Exercises.
Soh DJH, Ong CH, Fan Q, Seah DJL, Henderson SL, Jeevanandam L, Doshi K. Soh DJH, et al. Front Psychol. 2021 Jun 3;12:640341. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.640341. eCollection 2021. Front Psychol. 2021. PMID: 34149524 Free PMC article.
Publication types
MeSH terms
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources
Other Literature Sources