Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) training in healthy novices alters brain regions involved in attention and interoception. After eight weeks of MBSR, participants showed decreased spontaneous brain activity (ALFF) in the right anterior cingulate gyrus, left anterior and posterior insula, and left superior medial frontal gyrus, along with strengthened functional connectivity between the right anterior cingulate cortex and right anterior insula. These changes correlated with newly acquired mindfulness skills and reduced negative affect. The findings suggest that even short-term mindfulness practice can reorganize brain networks related to internal awareness and emotional regulation.
Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) involves uncontrolled gaming that harms emotional well-being, responsibilities, and relationships, and is linked to deficits in executive functions such as inhibition, updating, and shifting. Mindfulness interventions may improve these cognitive abilities. This planned study will recruit 82 individuals diagnosed with IGD and 40 non-addicted gamers, split evenly into a 7-day mindfulness breathing meditation group or a progressive muscle relaxation control group. Outcomes measured at seven time points include EEG data, behavioral response times and accuracy, heart rate variability, self-reported craving, mindfulness, executive function, and impulsivity. Secondary measures cover anxiety, stress, affect, sleep, personality, and health. The research aims to test whether brief mindfulness training improves executive function in IGD and to identify underlying neural mechanisms, potentially guiding targeted interventions.
Trait mindfulness and hypnosis susceptibility share neural mechanisms involving the prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, enhanced theta and alpha EEG rhythms, and dynamic interactions between the salience and central executive networks, suggesting a role in attentional regulation. An integrative framework based on predictive coding for interoception proposes that trait mindfulness enhances perceptual inference and metacognitive awareness, whereas hypnosis susceptibility facilitates acceptance of high-precision prior cues (suggestions) and promotes active inference. This unified perspective may guide future research and clinical translation, such as anxiety interventions.