Randomized controlled trial of mindfulness-based stress reduction versus aerobic exercise: effects on the self-referential brain network in social anxiety disorder.
Philippe R. Goldin, Michal Ziv, Hooria Jazaieri, James J. Gross
Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 2012 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2012.00295 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Randomized controlled trial Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 56 |
| Population | Adult patients with generalized social anxiety disorder |
| Interventions | Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) Aerobic exercise |
| Measures | Self-referential encoding task |
| Topics | Meditation Anxiety |
| Keywords | Brain Exercise FMRI Self-view Social anxiety |
| Key findings | MBSR produced greater decreases in negative self-views than aerobic exercise, with equivalent increases in positive self-views. MBSR-related changes in self-view endorsement were associated with decreased social anxiety symptom severity, and increased dorsomedial prefrontal cortex activity during negative self-view versus case was associated with decreased social anxiety-related disability and increased mindfulness. The authors suggest MBSR attenuates maladaptive habitual self-views by facilitating automatic recruitment of cognitive and attention regulation neural networks. |
Abstract
Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is characterized by distorted self-views. The goal of this study was to examine whether mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) alters behavioral and brain measures of negative and positive self-views. Fifty-six adult patients with generalized SAD were randomly assigned to MBSR or a comparison aerobic exercise (AE) program. A self-referential encoding task was administered at baseline and post-intervention to examine changes in behavioral and neural responses in the self-referential brain network during functional magnetic resonance imaging. Patients were cued to decide whether positive and negative social trait adjectives were self-descriptive or in upper case font. Behaviorally, compared to AE, MBSR produced greater decreases in negative self-views, and equivalent increases in positive self-views. Neurally, during negative self versus case, compared to AE, MBSR led to increased brain responses in the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC). There were no differential changes for positive self versus case. Secondary analyses showed that changes in endorsement of negative and positive self-views were associated with decreased social anxiety symptom severity for MBSR, but not AE. Additionally, MBSR-related increases in dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (DMPFC) activity during negative self-view versus case were associated with decreased social anxiety related disability and increased mindfulness. Analysis of neural temporal dynamics revealed MBSR-related changes in the timing of neural responses in the DMPFC and PCC for negative self-view versus case. These findings suggest that MBSR attenuates maladaptive habitual self-views by facilitating automatic (i.e., uninstructed) recruitment of cognitive and attention regulation neural networks. This highlights potentially important links between self-referential and cognitive-attention regulation systems and suggests that MBSR may enhance more adaptive social self-referential processes in patients with SAD.
Comparable studies
Other randomized controlled trials on anxiety, most cited first.
Citations in the library
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- Mindfulness meditation–based pain relief: a mechanistic account Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences June 1, 2016
- Prospects for a clinical science of mindfulness-based intervention. American Psychologist October 1, 2015
- 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
- Neurophysiological changes associated with vibroacoustically-augmented breath-focused mindfulness for dissociation: targeting interoception and attention Psychological Medicine May 5, 2023
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Cites 13
- Mindfulness training as a clinical intervention: A conceptual and empirical review. Clinical Psychology Science and Practice 2003
- How Does Mindfulness Meditation Work? Proposing Mechanisms of Action From a Conceptual and Neural Perspective Perspectives on Psychological Science October 14, 2011
- Assessment of Mindfulness by Self-Report Assessment September 1, 2004
- Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction for Stress Management in Healthy People: A Review and Meta-Analysis The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine May 1, 2009
- Attending to the present: mindfulness meditation reveals distinct neural modes of self-reference Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience August 13, 2007
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