Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction-related changes in posterior cingulate resting brain connectivity.
Level 2 - randomized trial
Randomized controlled trial with active and waitlist control groups
PubMed 31269203 · doi:10.1093/scan/nsz050
What was done
Healthy, meditation-naïve adults were randomized into three arms: Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR, n = 48), an active control group (n = 47), or a waitlist control group (n = 45). Participants underwent behavioral testing, resting-state fMRI, and diffusion tensor imaging at baseline (T1), immediately post-intervention (T2), and approximately 5.5 months later (T3) to assess changes in resting functional connectivity between the default mode network (posterior cingulate cortex [PCC]) and the frontoparietal executive control network (dorsolateral prefrontal cortex [DLPFC]).
What was found
The abstract reports no numerical values, effect sizes, or p-values. MBSR participants demonstrated increased PCC-DLPFC resting functional connectivity from T1 to T2 relative to both control groups. This group-level increase did not persist at the 5.5-month follow-up (T3-T1). However, MBSR participants showed a significantly stronger positive relationship between total days of practice (T1 to T3) and increased PCC-DLPFC connectivity than active controls. Increased functional connectivity in MBSR participants was also associated with increased microstructural connectivity in the connecting white matter tract and increased self-reported attention.
Why it matters
This study provides randomized evidence that standard MBSR can induce functional and microstructural brain network plasticity in healthy adults, while showing that sustaining these neural changes over time may require ongoing meditation practice.
Limits
The abstract reports no numerical data, confidence intervals, or exact statistics. Group-level functional connectivity gains did not persist at the 5.5-month follow-up. The study was conducted exclusively in healthy, meditation-naïve adults, limiting generalizability to clinical populations, and behavioral attention was assessed via self-report rather than objective performance testing.
Cited by
- supports Research by Richard Davidson and others shows that an eight-week meditation program induces measurable changes in brain function and activity in meditation novices.