Medial orbital gyrus modulation during spatial perspective changes: Pre- vs. post-8 weeks mindfulness meditation.
Barbara Tomasino, Fabio Campanella, Franco Fabbro
Consciousness and Cognition February 2016 DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2016.01.006 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Pre-post within-subject fMRI experiment Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Duration | 8 weeks |
| Measures | self-maturity personality scale |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Mindfulness meditation Orbitofrontal cortex Own-body mental transformation FMRI |
| Key findings | After 8 weeks of mindfulness training, the own-body mental transformation task (versus a non-bodily control task) significantly increased activation in the medial orbital gyrus. Signal change in the right medial orbital gyrus correlated with changes in a self-maturity personality scale. The authors suggest this indicates increased activation in self-related processing regions and increased self-maturity, consistent with mindfulness meditation's aim of changing self-perspective. |
Abstract
Mindfulness meditation exercises the ability to shift to an "observer perspective". That means learning to observe internally and externally arising stimulations in a detached perspective. Both before and after attending a 8-weeks mindfulness training (MT) participants underwent an fMRI experiment (serving as their own internal control) and solved a own-body mental transformation task, which is used to investigate embodiment and perspective taking (and an non-bodily mental transformation task as control). We found a stimulus×time-points interaction: the own-body mental transformation task (vs. non-bodily) in the post (vs. pre-MT) significantly increased activations in the medial orbital gyrus. The signal change in the right medial orbital gyrus significantly correlated with changes in a self-maturity personality scale. A brief MT caused increased activation in areas involved in self related processing and person perspective changes, together with an increase in self-maturity, consistently with the aim of mindfulness meditation that is exercising change in self perspective.
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 8
- 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
- Mindfulness Through Storytelling for Mental Health of Primary School Children: Impact on Acceptability and Its Associations with Personality. Psychology Research and Behavior Management 2024
- Temperament and Character Moderate the Effects of Mindfulness Training on Psychological and Professional Well-Being of School Teachers Mindfulness April 23, 2025
- Meditating with One’s Avatar in Virtual Reality Enhances Self-Compassion and Perspective-Taking Mindfulness August 5, 2026
- Neural Differences in Conflict Monitoring, Stimulus Expectancy, and Attention-Related Processes in Experienced Meditators Mindfulness July 3, 2026
and 3 more in the library
Cites 18
- How Does Mindfulness Meditation Work? Proposing Mechanisms of Action From a Conceptual and Neural Perspective Perspectives on Psychological Science October 14, 2011
- Meditation experience is associated with differences in default mode network activity and connectivity Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences November 23, 2011
- Attending to the present: mindfulness meditation reveals distinct neural modes of self-reference Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience August 13, 2007
- Introduction to Research Topic – Binocular Rivalry: A Gateway to Studying Consciousness Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 2012
- Linking Out-of-Body Experience and Self Processing to Mental Own-Body Imagery at the Temporoparietal Junction Journal of Neuroscience January 19, 2005
and 13 more in the library