Brain Imaging and Behavior
March 25, 2015
Joana Fernandes Coutinho, Sara Veiga Fernandesl, José Miguel Soares et al.
212 citations
Functional connectivity within the Default Mode Network (DMN) shows opposing patterns for anxiety and depression: increased connectivity in anterior regions (medial prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex) correlates with higher symptom scores, while posterior regions (involved in memory and perception) show decreased connectivity. This dissociation suggests functional specialization within the DMN for self-referential and emotional processes, contributing to understanding cognitive and affective alterations in depressive and anxiety states.
Brain Imaging and Behavior
March 17, 2018
Jonathan Greenberg, Victoria Romero, Seth Elkin-Frankston et al.
69 citations
Proactive interference—when old information disrupts learning new material—can be reduced by mindfulness training. In a randomized trial, 79 participants completed either a 4-week web-based mindfulness program or a creative writing control. The mindfulness group showed lower proactive interference error rates after training. No group differences in hippocampal volume emerged, but improvements in proactive interference were linked to volume increases in the left hippocampus. These findings suggest mindfulness training protects against proactive interference, with benefits tied to hippocampal structural changes, and may have implications for conditions like aging, depression, PTSD, and childhood adversity where working memory and hippocampal volume are compromised.
Brain Imaging and Behavior
December 14, 2015
Johannes G. Ramaekers, J. H. van Wel, Desirée Spronk et al.
61 citations
The dopamine β-hydroxylase (DβH) enzyme converts dopamine into noradrenaline. People with low-activity DBH genotypes (rs1611115 CT/TT) appear more sensitive to cannabis and cocaine's effects on cognitive impulse control and brain connectivity. In 122 regular drug users, acute doses of cannabis (450 μg/kg THC) and cocaine (300 mg) increased cognitive impulsivity and reduced functional connectivity between the nucleus accumbens and limbic, prefrontal, striatal, and thalamic areas, primarily in those with CT/TT genotypes, not in those with the CC genotype. A negative association emerged between impulsivity and subcortical connectivity. The findings suggest DBH genotype influences how these drugs affect impulse control and brain networks, potentially explaining progression to drug seeking and informing targeted pharmacotherapy.
Brain Imaging and Behavior
April 1, 2025
Jovan Jande, Isaac N Treves, Samantha L Ely et al.
4 citations
A systematic narrative review of neuroimaging studies on mindfulness-based interventions in youth (ages 5–18) found that such interventions may alter brain connectivity and activity. Analyzing 13 studies with 467 participants, most used a pre-post design with resting-state fMRI. Consistent patterns included increased functional connectivity within and between the salience, frontoparietal, and default mode networks, enhancements in white matter microstructure, and decreased default mode network activation with heightened salience network reactivity during mindfulness practice. These changes may support self-regulation and cognitive control, but methodological variability and small sample sizes limit generalizability.
Brain Imaging and Behavior
December 1, 2021
Florian Kurth, Sára E Zsadanyi, Eileen Luders
Long-term meditation practice is associated with slower age-related gray matter loss in specific subregions of the subgenual cingulate cortex, an area involved in emotional regulation and autonomic functions. In a comparison of 50 long-term meditators (ages 24-77) with 50 matched controls, both groups showed significant age-related decline in four subgenual subregions, but meditators had significantly lower annual tissue loss in left and right area s32 and right area 25. These regions support mood regulation, autonomic processing, and emotion-cognition integration, which are all engaged during meditation. The results suggest that meditation may slow brain aging in these areas.
Brain Imaging and Behavior
October 1, 2021
Cyril R Pernet, Nikolai Belov, Arnaud Delorme et al.
A systematic review and meta-analysis of 25 MRI studies found that mindfulness meditation is associated with grey matter changes, with the right anterior ventral insula showing a consistent effect across studies. Additional functional connectivity analysis suggests the left and right insulae and the anterior cingulate gyrus are also relevant. Effect sizes ranged from Cohen's d ~0.8 in the right insula to ~1 across the whole brain. The review identified methodological issues including selection, information, attrition, and confirmation biases, as well as weak statistical power. The authors conclude that mindfulness meditation induces grey matter changes but that improved methodology is needed to establish it as a therapeutic intervention.
Brain Imaging and Behavior
October 1, 2019
Shuqin Zhou, Jing Xu, Zihui Su et al.
People who more frequently recall their dreams have less cortical volume in the medial portion of the right fusiform gyrus and parahippocampal gyrus, as well as lower fractional anisotropy in the white matter fibers connected to those regions. These relationships were not affected by regular sleep. The findings provide direct evidence that brain structure is linked to individual differences in dream recall frequency.
Brain Imaging and Behavior
October 1, 2019
Inessa Kraft, Joana Bisol Balardin, João Ricardo Sato et al.
In a cross-sectional study of 42 healthy female working managers, social quality of life was significantly associated with functional connectivity of the default mode network (DMN) at rest. Higher social quality of life scores corresponded to reduced connectivity between the right and left lateral parietal regions of the DMN. The study examined four quality of life domains—physiological, psychological, social, and environmental—but only the social domain showed a link to DMN connectivity. This is described as the first analysis of neural correlates of quality of life in the brain, though limited to a female subgroup.