Longitudinal effects of meditation on brain resting-state functional connectivity.
Scientific Reports May 31, 2021 Zongpai Zhang, Wen-Ming Luh, Wenna Duan et al.
After two months of focused attention meditation, novice meditators showed increased resting-state functional connectivity between brain networks involved in attention and mind wandering. Ten participants from a university meditation course were scanned before and after the practice. Connectivity increased between the posterior cingulate cortex and the dorsal attention network, the right middle temporal region and the default mode network, and the superior parietal lobules with both networks. The connectivity between the left superior parietal lobule and medial prefrontal cortex was linked to total meditation practice time. These changes suggest that focused attention meditation may improve the brain's ability to switch between mind wandering and focused attention.