When less is more: mindfulness predicts adaptive affective responding to rejection via reduced prefrontal recruitment
Alexandra Martelli, David Chester, Kirk Warren Brown, Naomi I. Eisenberger, C. Nathan DeWall
Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience May 24, 2018 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsy037 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational cohort Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Prefrontal cortex Cognitive psychology Developmental psychology Clinical psychology Cognition |
| Citations | 31 |
| Key findings | Mindfulness was associated with less distress during social rejection, mediated by lower activation in the left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex and weaker connectivity with the amygdala and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex. |
Abstract
Social rejection is a distressing and painful event that many people must cope with on a frequent basis. Mindfulness-defined here as a mental state of receptive attentiveness to internal and external stimuli as they arise, moment-to-moment-may buffer such social distress. However, little research indicates whether mindful individuals adaptively regulate the distress of rejection-or the neural mechanisms underlying this potential capacity. To fill these gaps in the literature, participants reported their trait mindfulness and then completed a social rejection paradigm (Cyberball) while undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging. Approximately 1 hour after the rejection incident, participants reported their level of distress during rejection (i.e. social distress). Mindfulness was associated with less distress during rejection. This relation was mediated by lower activation in the left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex during the rejection incident, a brain region reliably associated with the inhibition of negative affect. Mindfulness was also correlated with less functional connectivity between the left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex and the bilateral amygdala and the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, which play a critical role in the generation of social distress. Mindfulness may relate to effective coping with rejection by not over-activating top-down regulatory mechanisms, potentially resulting in more effective long-term emotion-regulation.
Comparable studies
Other observational and cohort studies on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Using Self-Report Assessment Methods to Explore Facets of Mindfulness Undergraduate students | 2006 | Observational cohort | |
| Effectiveness of a meditation-based stress reduction program in the treatment of anxiety disorders Patients with generalized anxiety disorder or panic disorder with or without agoraphobia | 1992 | Observational cohort | n = 22 |
| Meditation experience is associated with increased cortical thickness Participants with extensive Insight meditation experience and matched controls | 2005 | Observational cohort | n = 20 |
| Meditation experience is associated with differences in default mode network activity and connectivity Experienced meditators and matched meditation-naive controls | 2011 | Observational cohort | |
| Long-term meditators self-induce high-amplitude gamma synchrony during mental practice Long-term Buddhist practitioners and controls | 2004 | Observational cohort |
Citations in the library
Cited by 8
- Effects of Mindfulness Training on Emotion Regulation in Patients With Depression: Reduced Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex Activation Indexes Early Beneficial Changes Psychosomatic Medicine May 5, 2021
- Mindfulness predicts less depression, anxiety, and social impairment in emergency care personnel: A longitudinal study PLoS One December 15, 2021
- Does Brief Mindfulness Instruction Improve Intergroup Attitudes in an Interethnic Dyadic Perspective-giving and Perspective-taking Interaction? Race and Social Problems January 30, 2026
- To Turn Inward or Outward? Examining the Reciprocal Relationships Between Mindfulness, Interpersonal Emotion Regulation, and Aggression Over Time. Research Square July 4, 2025
- Shared neural mechanisms of trait mindfulness and hypnotic susceptibility: A scoping review toward a unifying predictive coding framework. Brain Research Bulletin June 27, 2026
and 3 more in the library
Cites 7
- The benefits of being present: Mindfulness and its role in psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 2003
- How Does Mindfulness Meditation Work? Proposing Mechanisms of Action From a Conceptual and Neural Perspective Perspectives on Psychological Science October 14, 2011
- Neural Correlates of Dispositional Mindfulness During Affect Labeling Psychosomatic Medicine July 1, 2007
- Defining mindfulness by how poorly I think I pay attention during everyday awareness and other intractable problems for psychology's (re)invention of mindfulness: Comment on Brown et al. (2011). Psychological Assessment 2011
- Dispositional mindfulness and the attenuation of neural responses to emotional stimuli Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience January 17, 2012
and 2 more in the library