Preliminary Evidence for Changes in Functional Connectivity Associated with Emotional Awareness after Mobile-Based Mindfulness Meditation
Minjung Kim, Jungeun You, Goeun Seong, Heeyeon Kim, Imhong Jeon, Young-Chul Jung, Deokjong Lee
Yonsei Medical Journal December 17, 2025 DOI: 10.3349/ymj.2025.0012 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Pre-post single-group intervention Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 21 |
| Population | Adult men and women |
| Duration | 8-week intervention |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Dynamic functional connectivity Emotional regulation Clinical psychology |
| Key points | Mobile-based mindfulness meditation was associated with changes in resting-state functional connectivity, including increased connectivity between the right posterior insula and left VMPFC and decreased connectivity between default mode network regions and occipital areas, with some changes correlating with improved emotional awareness. |
Abstract
Purpose: Recently, mental health interventions through mobile applications have been increasing. This study sought to explore what changes occurred in psychometric properties and brain functional connectivity (FC) among people who practiced mindfulness meditation through a mobile application.
Materials and Methods: Subjects underwent mindfulness-based intervention (MBI) for about 24 minutes every day for 8 weeks through a mobile application. Before and after MBI, a total of 21 adult men and women completed self-report questionnaires and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) tests. The fMRI data were acquired during an attention network test and during the resting state.
Results: In self-report questionnaires, participants reported increased levels of mindfulness and decreased emotion regulation difficulties after MBI. In task-based fMRI, the time-by-intervention effect was not significant. In resting-state fMRI, FC between the right posterior insula and the left ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC) increased after MBI. FC between the default mode network-related regions and the occipital regions decreased after MBI. The decrease in FC between the VMPFC and the cuneus showed a significant correlation with the improvement in emotional awareness after MBI.
Conclusion: In a pre- and post-MBI comparison of a single group, subjects who underwent mobile-based MBI showed FC changes including the VMPFC. In particular, some of these FC changes were correlated with changes in emotional awareness. The results of this study suggest that further research is needed to verify whether mobile-based MBI affects improvement in emotion regulation through neural changes in functional brain networks.
Comparable studies
Other non-randomized and open-label trials on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction in Relation to Quality of Life, Mood, Symptoms of Stress, and Immune Parameters in Breast and Prostate Cancer Outpatients Early-stage breast and prostate cancer patients | 2003 | Pre-post intervention study | n = 59 |
| Exploring self‐compassion and empathy in the context of mindfulness‐based stress reduction (MBSR) Community sample | 2010 | Pre-post intervention study | |
| Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Lowers Psychological Distress In Medical Students Second-year medical students | 2003 | Prospective nonrandomized cohort-controlled study | n = 302 |
| Intensive meditation training, immune cell telomerase activity, and psychological mediators. Retreat participants and matched controls | 2011 | Controlled trial with wait-list control group | n = 60 |
| The Effectiveness of Mindfulness Training for Children with ADHD and Mindful Parenting for their Parents Children aged 8-12 with ADHD and their parents | 2011 | Within-group waitlist controlled trial | n = 22 |