Meditation reduces brain activity in the default mode network in children with active cancer and survivors.

Meditation techniques, including a martial arts-based form combining focused attention and mindful acceptance, lower activation in default mode network (DMN) regions—the medial frontal cortex, precuneus, and posterior cingulate cortex—in children with cancer when they watch distress-inducing video clips, compared to passively viewing the clips. Meditation may modulate DMN activity more effectively than distraction, a non-meditation emotion regulation strategy. No differences in self-reported distress ratings appeared between conditions. The findings suggest martial arts-based meditation alters negative self-referential processing linked to the DMN, with potential applications for managing pediatric pain and negative emotion.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Mounting evidence demonstrates that meditation can lower pain and emotional distress in adults, and more recently, in children. Children may benefit from meditation given its accessibility across a variety of settings (e.g., surgical preparation). Recent neuroimaging studies in adults suggest that meditation techniques are neurobiologically distinct from other forms of emotion regulation, such as distraction, that rely on prefrontal control mechanisms, which are underdeveloped in youth. Rather, meditation techniques may not rely on "top-down" prefrontal control and may therefore be utilized across the lifespan. We examined neural activation in children with cancer, a potentially distressing diagnosis. During neuroimaging, children viewed distress-inducing video clips while using martial arts-based meditation (focused attention, mindful acceptance) or non-meditation (distraction) emotion regulation techniques. In a third condition (control), participants passively viewed the video clip. We found that meditation techniques were associated with lower activation in default mode network (DMN) regions, including the medial frontal cortex, precuneus, and posterior cingulate cortex, compared to the control condition. Additionally, we found evidence that meditation techniques may be more effective for modulating DMN activity than distraction. There were no differences in self-reported distress ratings between conditions. Together, these findings suggest that martial arts-based meditation modulates negative self-referential processing associated with the DMN, and may have implications for the management of pediatric pain and negative emotion.