Mindfulness Improves Emotion Regulation and Executive Control on Bereaved Individuals: An fMRI Study.
Feng-Ying Huang, Ai-Ling Hsu, Li-Ming Hsu, Jaw-Shiun Tsai, Chih-Mao Huang, Yi-Ping Chao, Tzung-Jeng Hwang, Changwei W Wu
Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 2018 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2018.00541 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Pre-post intervention study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 23 |
| Population | Bereaved adults who had lost a significant relative within 6 months to 4 years |
| Intervention | Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) |
| Duration | 8-week MBCT course |
| Measures | Texas Revised Inventory of Grief, numerical Stroop task |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Bereavement grief Emotion regulation Executive control |
| Key points | The authors report that an 8-week MBCT course was followed by improved mindfulness and reduced grief, emotion-regulation difficulties, anxiety, and depression, along with faster responses on incongruent Stroop trials and slightly lower fronto-parietal activity. They argue that MBCT supported executive control by reducing emotional interference on cognition in bereaved individuals. |
Abstract
The grief of bereavement is recognized as a severe psychosocial stressor that can trigger a variety of mental and physical disorders, and the long-lasting unresolved grief has a detrimental effect on brain functionality. Literature has documented mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) as an efficient treatment for improving well-being, specifically related to the mood and cognition, in a variety of populations. However, little attention has been devoted to neural mechanisms with regard to bereaved individuals' cognition after MBCT intervention. In this study, we recruited 23 bereaved participants who lost a significant relative within 6 months to 4 years to attend 8-week MBCT course. We used self-reporting questionnaires to measure emotion regulation and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) with the numerical Stroop task to evaluate the MBCT effect on executive control among the bereaved participants. The self-reported questionnaires showed improvements on mindfulness and reductions in grief, difficulties in emotion regulation, anxiety, and depression after the MBCT intervention. The fMRI analysis demonstrated two scenarios: (1) the activity of the fronto-parietal network slightly declined accompanied with significant improvements in the reaction time of incongruent trials; (2) the activities in the posterior cingulate cortex and thalamus were positively associated with the Texas Revised Inventory of Grief, implying emotional interferences on cognitive functions. Results indicated that MBCT facilitated the executive control function by alleviating the emotional interferences over the cognitive functions and suggested that the 8-week MBCT intervention significantly improved both executive control and emotion regulation in bereaved individuals.
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
Cited by 20
- Effects of a mindfulness-based interventions on stress, burnout in nurses: a systematic review and meta-analysis Frontiers in Psychiatry August 3, 2023
- Interoceptive awareness: MBSR training alters information processing of salience network Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience March 21, 2023
- Emotion Self-Regulation in Neurotic Students: A Pilot Mindfulness-Based Intervention to Assess Its Effectiveness through Brain Signals and Behavioral Data Sensors March 31, 2022
- A meta-analysis of mindfulness-based interventions for improving mental health and burden among caregivers of persons living with dementia. Worldviews on Evidence-Based Nursing April 1, 2024
- Neural correlates of mindfulness meditation and hypnosis on magnetic resonance imaging: similarities and differences. A scoping review. Journal of neuroradiology = Journal de neuroradiologie March 1, 2024
and 15 more in the library
Cites 20
- Mechanisms of mindfulness Journal of Clinical Psychology December 29, 2005
- How Does Mindfulness Meditation Work? Proposing Mechanisms of Action From a Conceptual and Neural Perspective Perspectives on Psychological Science October 14, 2011
- Construct Validity of the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire in Meditating and Nonmeditating Samples Assessment February 29, 2008
- Prevention of relapse/recurrence in major depression by mindfulness-based cognitive therapy. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 2000
- Effectiveness of a meditation-based stress reduction program in the treatment of anxiety disorders American Journal of Psychiatry July 1, 1992
and 15 more in the library