The development of mindfulness in martial art kendo players: AfMRI analysis of the triple network.
Scientific Reports December 21, 2025 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-025-32786-1 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Cross-sectional fMRI study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Kendo players compared with non-kendo players |
| Measures | Oddball reaction times, error rate, metabolic equivalent of task (METs), functional connectivity (fMRI) |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Key findings | Kendo players had significantly shorter oddball reaction times than non-kendo players with no difference in error rate, which the authors interpret as better performance. Task fMRI showed higher salience-to-default-mode and salience-to-central-executive connectivity and lower default-mode-to-central-executive connectivity in kendo players, which the authors attribute to habitual training and sharper network activity. |
Abstract
Kendo is a martial art that embodies the Zen ideal and practices with bamboo swords, it shares similarities with fencing. Mindfulness is a mental state akin to Zen where one can observe sensations, feelings and thoughts as they happen while remaining impartial to them. Using fMRI of the auditory oddball task we investigated network connectivity based on Menon’s triple network theory and hypothesized that kendo players (KPs) more so than non-kendo players (NKPs) can efficiently switch brain networks from resting to task state, i.e. Default mode network (DMN) to Central executive network (CEN) via Salience network (SN). Preprocessed fMRI and structural MRI data were processed using CONN (ver.18b) with SPM12. A two-tailed t-test was applied for group comparisons of demographic data, average RT to target stimuli in odd, and measures of exercise. We initially performed an ANCOVA with groups (KPs vs. NKPs) as the independent variable, functional connectivity as dependent variable, and our covariates were age, metabolic equivalent of task (METs) and Oddball reaction times (OddballRTs). Differences were deemed significant if FDR p-values = < 0.05. KPs had significantly shorter OddballRTs compared to NKPs, with no difference in error rate. Quicker processing but equal task performance suggests better performances in KPs. Overall, moderate positive correlation between all areas of the triple network were found and the ANCOVAs showed a significant difference between the two groups for task FCs, particularly in the SN-CEN and CEN-DMN. During ROI-ROI rs-fMRI, CONN revealed that KPs exhibited significantly lower FC between chosen DMN and CEN ROIs. During task, only higher FCs between chosen DMN-SN plus SN-CEN were found in KPs, and lower CEN-DMN FCs were also present. Higher DMN-SN/SN-CEN network connectivity indicates sharpened network activity in KPs presumably because of habitual training. SN activity would indicate better focus in KPs, showing consistency with our previous analyses. In the future, mindfulness production via sport may be clinically applicable to a range of health promoting programs.
Comparable studies
Other experimental studies on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| The benefits of being present: Mindfulness and its role in psychological well-being. Cancer patients (clinical intervention study) | 2003 | Mixed methods: scale development, correlational, quasi-experimental, laboratory, experience-sampling, and clinical intervention study | |
| Loving-kindness meditation increases social connectedness. | 2008 | Controlled laboratory experiment | |
| Mindfulness and mind-wandering: Finding convergence through opposing constructs. | 2012 | Two studies: correlational study and experimental study | |
| Mental Training Enhances Attentional Stability: Neural and Behavioral Evidence | 2009 | Experimental study | |
| Mindfulness meditation and substance use in an incarcerated population. Incarcerated population | 2006 | Quasi-experimental with treatment-as-usual control condition |
Citations in the library
Cites 8
- 20 years of the default mode network: A review and synthesis Neuron May 10, 2023
- Sudarshan Kriya Yogic Breathing in the Treatment of Stress, Anxiety, and Depression: Part II—Clinical Applications and Guidelines The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine August 1, 2005
- Mindfulness meditation training alters stress-related amygdala resting state functional connectivity: a randomized controlled trial Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience June 5, 2015
- Mindfulness meditation increases default mode, salience, and central executive network connectivity Scientific Reports August 2, 2022
- Mindfulness in the focus of the neurosciences - The contribution of neuroimaging to the understanding of mindfulness. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience October 17, 2022
and 3 more in the library