Exploring the impact of a brief mindfulness-based intervention on autonomic functioning: A multisystem approach

A brief mindfulness intervention (bMBI) alters the autonomic nervous system (ANS) and improves coordination between its subsystems. In young adults, two sessions of bMBI increased respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) and reduced skin conductance level (SCL) during mindfulness practice compared to an audiobook-listening control group. The bMBI group also showed greater declines in blood pressure during mindfulness and after a psychosocial stress test. During stress, the bMBI group displayed reciprocal RSA-SCL patterns (RSA up, SCL down), while controls showed non-reciprocal coordination (both up). These results suggest that examining coordination across ANS measures can explain prior inconsistent findings and that brief mindfulness may promote adaptive stress responses.

Study at a glance

Abstract

• Brief mindfulness intervention (bMBI) impacts autonomic nervous system functioning. • bMBI increased RSA and reduced SCL during mindfulness relative to the attention control condition. • bMBI reduced blood pressure after mindfulness and stress relative to controls. • The bMBI group displayed reciprocal RSA and SCL patterns (↑RSA, ↓SCL) during stress. • Controls showed non-reciprocal RSA-SCL coordination (↑RSA, ↑SCL) during stress. Previous work on brief mindfulness-based interventions (bMBI) reveals that they consistently alleviate stress, but their impact on biological stress response systems, such as the autonomic nervous system (ANS), varies. Nevertheless, most of this work has focused on only a single physiological response system or a specific biomarker, limiting insight into how multiple systems work together. The present study tested whether bMBI alters ANS markers and coordination across ANS subsystems. Participants were young adults (bMBI: n = 44, M age = 18.64 years; control: n = 47, M age = 19.00 years) who completed two sessions of either a brief mindfulness intervention or an attention control condition (audiobook listening), followed by a psychosocial stress test at the second visit. Respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), skin conductance level (SCL), and blood pressure were assessed during mindfulness engagement, control condition, and stress. Results indicated that bMBI elicited greater RSA augmentation and lower SCL and greater declines in blood pressure relative to the control condition. In response to the TSST, the bMBI group exhibited reciprocal coordination between RSA and SCL, reflected in an inverse association between the two systems. In contrast, the control group showed non-reciprocal coordination, reflected in a positive association between RSA and SCL. The bMBI group also displayed lower blood pressure immediately after the psychosocial stressor compared to controls. These results suggest that examining coordination across systems might explain variation across previous publications. They also highlight the promise of two sessions of bMBI in promoting optimal adaptive ANS coordination across multiple measures, potentially revealing quick, inexpensive ways to understand and decrease reactions to stressors.