Alterations in Brain Structure and Amplitude of Low-frequency after 8 weeks of Mindfulness Meditation Training in Meditation-Naïve Subjects

Forty days of mindfulness meditation training in novices produced overlapping structural and functional changes in the precuneus, a posterior region of the default mode network. Cortical thickness increased while low-frequency brain activity (ALFF) decreased in that area. Reduced activity in the left precuneus and posterior cingulate cortex correlated with lower depression scores on the CES-D scale. The findings suggest that regional overlap of structural and functional plasticity may reflect different components of the complex neural changes induced by mindfulness meditation training.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Increasing neuroimaging evidence suggests that mindfulness meditation expertise is related to different functional and structural configurations of the default mode network (DMN), the salience network (SN) and the executive network at rest. However, longitudinal studies observing resting network plasticity effects in brains of novices who started to practice meditation are scarce and generally related to one dimension, such as structural or functional effects. The purpose of this study was to investigate structural and functional brain network changes (e.g. DMN) after 40 days of mindfulness meditation training in novices and set these in the context of potentially altered depression symptomatology and anxiety. We found overlapping structural and functional effects in precuneus, a posterior DMN region, where cortical thickness increased and low-frequency amplitudes (ALFF) decreased, while decreased ALFF in left precuneus/posterior cingulate cortex correlates with the reduction of (CES-D) depression scores. In conclusion, regional overlapping of structural and functional changes in precuneus may capture different components of the complex changes of mindfulness meditation training.