Alterations in task-induced activity and resting-state fluctuations in visual and DMN areas revealed in long-term meditators.
Aviva Berkovich-Ohana, Michal Harel, Avital Hahamy, Amos Arieli, Rafael Malach
Neuroimage July 15, 2016 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2016.04.024 (opens in new tab) via PubMed
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractLong-term mindfulness meditation practitioners show opposite changes in two brain networks compared to non-meditators: heightened spontaneous fluctuations in the visual cortex and reduced fluctuations in the default mode network (DMN) during rest. During a visual recognition memory task, meditators had stronger visual cortex responses and weaker negative responses in the DMN, and they performed the task significantly faster. These findings support the spontaneous trait reactivation hypothesis, which proposes that resting-state brain activity patterns can reflect individual differences in personality, talents, and lifestyles.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Observational cohort Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Long-term mindfulness meditation practitioners and naïve controls |
| Intervention | Mindfulness meditation |
| Topics | Default mode network |
| Keywords | Mindfulness meditation Resting-state Visual activity FMRI |
| Key finding | Long-term meditators exhibit enhanced visual cortex and reduced DMN spontaneous fluctuations during rest, along with faster behavioral performance and altered neural responses during a visual recognition memory task. |
Abstract
Recently we proposed that the information contained in spontaneously emerging (resting-state) fluctuations may reflect individually unique neuro-cognitive traits. One prediction of this conjecture, termed the "spontaneous trait reactivation" (STR) hypothesis, is that resting-state activity patterns could be diagnostic of unique personalities, talents and life-styles of individuals. Long-term meditators could provide a unique experimental group to test this hypothesis. Using fMRI we found that, during resting-state, the amplitude of spontaneous fluctuations in long-term mindfulness meditation (MM) practitioners was enhanced in the visual cortex and significantly reduced in the DMN compared to naïve controls. Importantly, during a visual recognition memory task, the MM group showed heightened visual cortex responsivity, concomitant with weaker negative responses in Default Mode Network (DMN) areas. This effect was also reflected in the behavioral performance, where MM practitioners performed significantly faster than the control group. Thus, our results uncover opposite changes in the visual and default mode systems in long-term meditators which are revealed during both rest and task. The results support the STR hypothesis and extend it to the domain of local changes in the magnitude of the spontaneous fluctuations.