Impact of a mindfulness‐based intervention on neurobehavioral functioning and its association with large‐scale brain networks in preterm young adolescents
Vanessa Siffredi, Maria Chiara Liverani, Natalia B. Fernandez, Lorena G. A. Freitas, Cristina Borradori Tolsa, Dimitri van de Ville, Petra S. Hüppi, Russia Ha‐Vinh Leuchter
Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences May 17, 2024 DOI: 10.1111/pcn.13675 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational cohort with pre-post intervention Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 32 |
| Population | Young adolescents born very preterm (VPT; <32 weeks of gestation) |
| Intervention | mindfulness-based intervention (MBI) |
| Duration | 8-week intervention |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Socioemotional selectivity theory Coactivation Association psychology Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex Developmental psychology Experience sampling method Audiology Clinical psychology Cognition |
| Citations | 2 |
| Key findings | Improvement in executive functioning after mindfulness-based intervention was associated with reliable changes in large-scale brain network dynamics during rest in very preterm young adolescents. |
Abstract
Aim: Adolescents born very preterm (VPT; <32 weeks of gestation) face an elevated risk of executive, behavioral, and socioemotional difficulties. Evidence suggests beneficial effects of mindfulness-based intervention (MBI) on these abilities. This study seeks to investigate the association between the effects of MBI on executive, behavioral, and socioemotional functioning and reliable changes in large-scale brain networks dynamics during rest in VPT young adolescents who completed an 8-week MBI program.
Methods: Neurobehavioral assessments and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging were performed before and after MBI in 32 VPT young adolescents. Neurobehavioral abilities in VPT participants were compared with full-term controls. In the VPT group, dynamic functional connectivity was extracted by using the innovation-driven coactivation patterns framework. The reliable change index was used to quantify change after MBI. A multivariate data-driven approach was used to explore associations between MBI-related changes on neurobehavioral measures and temporal brain dynamics.
Results: Compared with term-born controls, VPT adolescents showed reduced executive and socioemotional functioning before MBI. After MBI, a significant improvement was observed for all measures that were previously reduced in the VPT group. The increase in executive functioning, only, was associated with reliable changes in the duration of activation of large-scale brain networks, including frontolimbic, amygdala-hippocampus, dorsolateral prefrontal, and visual networks.
Conclusion: The improvement in executive functioning after an MBI was associated with reliable changes in large-scale brain network dynamics during rest. These changes encompassed frontolimbic, amygdala-hippocampus, dorsolateral prefrontal, and visual networks that are related to different executive processes including self-regulation, attentional control, and attentional awareness of relevant sensory stimuli.
Comparable studies
Other non-randomized and open-label trials on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction in Relation to Quality of Life, Mood, Symptoms of Stress, and Immune Parameters in Breast and Prostate Cancer Outpatients Early-stage breast and prostate cancer patients | 2003 | Pre-post intervention study | n = 59 |
| Exploring self‐compassion and empathy in the context of mindfulness‐based stress reduction (MBSR) Community sample | 2010 | Pre-post intervention study | |
| Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Lowers Psychological Distress In Medical Students Second-year medical students | 2003 | Prospective nonrandomized cohort-controlled study | n = 302 |
| Intensive meditation training, immune cell telomerase activity, and psychological mediators. Retreat participants and matched controls | 2011 | Controlled trial with wait-list control group | n = 60 |
| The Effectiveness of Mindfulness Training for Children with ADHD and Mindful Parenting for their Parents Children aged 8-12 with ADHD and their parents | 2011 | Within-group waitlist controlled trial | n = 22 |
Citations in the library
Cites 12
- Effects of Meditation Experience on Functional Connectivity of Distributed Brain Networks Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 2012
- The Effectiveness of Mindfulness Training on Behavioral Problems and Attentional Functioning in Adolescents with ADHD Journal of Child and Family Studies September 21, 2011
- Mindfulness meditation training alters stress-related amygdala resting state functional connectivity: a randomized controlled trial Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience June 5, 2015
- Resting-state fMRI functional connectivity and mindfulness in clinical and non-clinical contexts: A review and synthesis. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews February 22, 2022
- Mindfulness meditation increases default mode, salience, and central executive network connectivity Scientific Reports August 2, 2022
and 7 more in the library