Long-term meditators showed greater environmental attitudes but not pro-environmental behavior or sustainable well-being compared to non-meditators. An eight-week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program did not significantly improve pro-environmental behavior, environmental attitudes, or sustainable well-being relative to a waitlist or an active control group. However, participation in either meditation or active control training predicted increases in pro-environmental behavior and sustainable well-being compared to waitlist, though the well-being finding was not robust to multiple imputation. Meditation training may promote pro-environmental behavior and related variables, but the specific training tested does not appear uniquely effective.
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) increases resting-state functional connectivity between the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) in healthy, meditation-naïve adults. This effect did not persist at a 5.5-month follow-up, but more practice time was linked to greater connectivity increases. The connectivity change was associated with increased microstructural connectivity of a white matter tract connecting these regions and with improved self-reported attention.
Mindfulness meditation training is linked to reduced amygdala reactivity to positive emotional pictures, but not to negative ones, in healthy adults. Long-term meditators (average 9,081 lifetime hours) showed less amygdala response to positive images. In a randomized trial, an 8-week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) course also reduced amygdala reactivity to positive pictures compared to an active control, and increased connectivity between the amygdala and the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC), a region involved in emotion regulation. Lower amygdala reactivity to negative pictures was associated with more retreat practice hours in long-term meditators, but not with MBSR practice time. These findings suggest meditation improves emotional responding through reduced amygdala reactivity and enhanced amygdala-VMPFC coupling.