Interoceptive awareness: MBSR training alters information processing of salience network
Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience March 21, 2023 Shiao-Fei Guu, Yi-Ping Chao, Feng-Ying Huang et al. 28 citations
Two distinct mindfulness practices—breathing and body scan—produce different patterns of brain connectivity after an 8-week mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) program. Using fMRI, the study examined the salience network (SN) in 18 meditation-naïve participants who completed MBSR and 14 waitlist controls. Breathing (fixed attention) increased long-distance SN connectivity to occipital regions, while body scan (shifting attention) increased SN connectivity to frontal and central gyri and boosted local neural coherence in the parietal lobe. During mindfulness practices after MBSR, distant and local connections became positively correlated, suggesting globally enhanced SN information processing. The small sample limits generalizability.