The Immediate and Sustained Positive Effects of Meditation on Resilience Are Mediated by Changes in the Resting Brain
Frontiers in Human Neuroscience March 26, 2019 Seoyeon Kwak, Tae Young Lee, W. Jung et al.
A 4-day meditation intervention produced immediate increases in mindfulness and resilience that were sustained at a 3-month follow-up, while a relaxation retreat showed only short-term gains. Meditation specifically strengthened resting-state functional connectivity between the left rostral anterior cingulate cortex and the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, precuneus, and angular gyrus. Changes in connectivity between the rACC and dmPFC mediated the relationship between improvements in mindfulness and resilience and correlated with resilience changes both immediately and at 3 months. These neural changes may help protect against psychiatric disorders by improving stress-related brain mechanisms.