Differential engagement of anterior cingulate and adjacent medial frontal cortex in adept meditators and non-meditators.
Neuroscience Letters June 21, 2007 Britta K. Hölzel, Ulrich Ott, Hannes Hempel et al.
During mindfulness of breathing, experienced Vipassana meditators show stronger brain activation in the rostral anterior cingulate cortex and dorsal medial prefrontal cortex compared to non-meditators. The rostral anterior cingulate cortex activation may reflect enhanced processing of distracting events, while medial prefrontal cortex activation suggests stronger engagement in emotional processing. Fifteen meditators with an average of 7.9 years of daily two-hour practice and fifteen matched non-meditators participated in an fMRI study comparing meditation to mental arithmetic.