Disrupting The Resting State: Meta-Analytic Evidence That Mindfulness Training Alters Default Mode Network Connectivity
Hadley Rahrig, David R. Vago, Matthew A. Passarelli, Allison Auten, Nicholas A. Lynn, Kirk Warren Brown
Research Square January 6, 2022 DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-1189676/v1 (opens in new tab) via OpenAlex
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractMindfulness training increases resting-state functional connectivity between the salience network and the default mode network, specifically between the left middle cingulate and the posterior cingulate cortex. This finding supports the idea that mindfulness enhances flexible control of internally-oriented attention. The meta-analysis included 12 studies with 226 mindfulness participants and 204 controls. The effect was small but significant, and there was no evidence of publication bias.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Systematic review and meta-analysis Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 430 |
| Population | Participants in mindfulness training or structurally-equivalent control programs |
| Intervention | mindfulness training |
| Topics | Default mode network Meditation |
| Keywords | Anterior cingulate cortex Meta-analysis Psycinfo |
| Citations | 2 |
| Key finding | Mindfulness training increased resting-state functional connectivity between the salience network and default mode network, specifically between left middle cingulate and posterior cingulate cortex. |
Abstract
Abstract This meta-analysis sought to expand upon neurobiological models of mindfulness through investigation of inherent brain network connectivity outcomes, indexed via resting state functional connectivity (rsFC). We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of rsFC as an outcome of mindfulness training (MT) relative to structurally-equivalent programs, with the hypothesis that that MT would increase cross-network connectivity between nodes of the Default Mode Network (DMN), Salience Network (SN), and Frontoparietal Control Network (FPCN) as a mechanism of internally-oriented attentional control. Texts were identified from the databases: MEDLINE/PubMed, ERIC, PSYCINFO, ProQuest, Scopus, and Web of Sciences; and were screened for inclusion based on experimental/quasi-experimental trial design and use of standardized mindfulness-based interventions. RsFC effects were extracted from twelve studies (mindfulness n = 226; control n = 204). Voxel-based meta-analysis revealed significantly greater rsFC (MT > control) between the left middle cingulate ( Hedge’s g = .234, p = 0288, I 2 = 15.87), located within the SN, and the posterior cingulate cortex, a focal hub of the DMN. Egger’s test for publication bias was nonsignificant, bias = 2.17, p = .162. In support of our hypothesis, results suggest that MT targets internetwork (SN-DMN) connectivity implicated in the flexible control of internally-oriented attention.