Functional neural correlates of mindfulness meditations in comparison with psychotherapy, pharmacotherapy and placebo effect. Is there a link?
Alberto Chiesa, Paolo Brambilla, Alessandro Serretti
Acta Neuropsychiatrica June 2010 DOI: 10.1111/j.1601-5215.2010.00460.x (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Systematic review Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Meditation |
| Key findings | The authors report that long-term mindfulness meditation practice is associated with more flexible emotional regulation via frontal cortical engagement that dampens automatic amygdala activation. They note substantial overlap in activated brain areas across meditation, psychotherapy, pharmacotherapy, and placebo, and propose that meditation, psychotherapy, and placebo act through top-down regulation while antidepressants act bottom-up. |
Abstract
Chiesa A, Brambilla P, Serretti A. Functional neural correlates of mindfulness meditations in comparison with psychotherapy, pharmacotherapy and placebo effect. Is there a link? Mindfulness meditations (MM) are a group of meditation practices which are increasingly receiving attention. The aim of the present work is to review current findings about the neural correlates of MM and compare such findings with other specific and non-specific treatments. A literature search was undertaken using MEDLINE, ISI web of knowledge, the Cochrane database and references of retrieved articles. Studies which focused on the functional neural correlates of MM, psychotherapy, pharmacotherapy and placebo published up to August 2009 were screened in order to be considered for the inclusion. Main findings suggest that long-term MM practice allows a more flexible emotional regulation by engaging frontal cortical structures to dampen automatic amygdala activation. A large overlap exists between cerebral areas activated during MM, psychotherapy, pharmacotherapy and those activated by placebo. However, while MM, psychotherapy and placebo seem to act through a top-down regulation, antidepressants seem to act through a bottom-up process. MM seem to target specific brain areas related to emotions and emotional regulation. Similar mechanisms have been observed also in other interventions, particularly psychotherapy.
Comparable studies
Other systematic reviews and meta-analyses on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meditation Programs for Psychological Stress and Well-being Diverse adult clinical populations | 2014 | Meta-analysis | n = 3,515 |
| Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction for Stress Management in Healthy People: A Review and Meta-Analysis Healthy subjects | 2009 | Systematic review and meta-analysis | |
| The psychological effects of meditation: A meta-analysis. Nonclinical groups of adult meditators | 2012 | Meta-analysis | n = 163 |
| Efficacy of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy in Prevention of Depressive Relapse Adults with recurrent depression in full or partial remission | 2016 | Meta-analysis of individual patient data from randomized controlled trials | n = 1,258 |
| Mindfulness‐Based Stress Reduction and Mindfulness‐Based Cognitive Therapy – a systematic review of randomized controlled trials | 2011 | Systematic review |
Citations in the library
Cited by 13
- Mindfulness‐based approaches: are they all the same? Journal of Clinical Psychology January 19, 2011
- Mindful attention reduces neural and self-reported cue-induced craving in smokers Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience November 22, 2011
- EEG manifestations of nondual experiences in meditators. Consciousness and Cognition 2015
- Dancing Mindfulness: A Phenomenological Investigation of the Emerging Practice. Explore 2015
- Neuro-imaging of mindfulness meditations: implications for clinical practice Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences March 29, 2011
and 8 more in the library
Cites 33
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- Using Self-Report Assessment Methods to Explore Facets of Mindfulness Assessment January 27, 2006
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- 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
and 28 more in the library