Exploring the impact of a brief mindfulness-based intervention on autonomic functioning: A multisystem approach
Physiology & Behavior April 17, 2026 Li Shen Chong, Rachel C. Bucher, Edward Merritt et al.
A brief mindfulness intervention (bMBI) alters the autonomic nervous system (ANS) and improves coordination between its subsystems. In young adults, two sessions of bMBI increased respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) and reduced skin conductance level (SCL) during mindfulness practice compared to an audiobook-listening control group. The bMBI group also showed greater declines in blood pressure during mindfulness and after a psychosocial stress test. During stress, the bMBI group displayed reciprocal RSA-SCL patterns (RSA up, SCL down), while controls showed non-reciprocal coordination (both up). These results suggest that examining coordination across ANS measures can explain prior inconsistent findings and that brief mindfulness may promote adaptive stress responses.