Mindfulness meditation training alters cortical representations of interoceptive attention

1. Norman A. S. Farb¹, 
2. Zindel V. Segal²,³ and 
3. Adam K. Anderson¹,⁴

1. ¹Rotman Research Institute at Baycrest, 3560 Bathurst St, Toronto, ON, Canada M6A 2E1, ²Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, 250 College St, Toronto, ON, Canada M5T 1R8, ³Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, 250 College St, Toronto, ON, Canada M5T 1R8 and ⁴Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, 100 St George Street, Toronto, ON, Canada M5S 3G3

Abstract

One component of mindfulness training (MT) is the development of interoceptive attention (IA) to visceral bodily sensations, facilitated through daily practices such as breath monitoring. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we examined experience-dependent functional plasticity in accessing interoceptive representations by comparing graduates of a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction course to a waitlisted control group. IA to respiratory sensations was contrasted against two visual tasks, controlling for attentional requirements non-specific to IA such as maintaining sensation and suppressing distraction. In anatomically partitioned analyses of insula activity, MT predicted greater IA-related activity in anterior dysgranular insula regions, consistent with greater integration of interoceptive sensation with external context. MT also predicted decreased recruitment of the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (DMPFC) during IA, and altered functional connectivity between the DMPFC and the posterior insula, putative primary interoceptive cortex. Furthermore, meditation practice compliance predicted greater posterior insula and reduced visual pathway recruitment during IA. These findings suggest that interoceptive training modulates task-specific cortical recruitment, analogous to training-related plasticity observed in the external senses. Further, DMPFC modulation of IA networks may be an important mechanism by which MT alters information processing in the brain, increasing the contribution of interoception to perceptual experience.

Key words

   interoception

 

fMRI

 

mindfulness

 

attention

 

insula

plasticity

Mindfulness practice leads to increases in regional brain gray matter density

A study by Britta K Holzel et al in Psychiatry Research:Neuroimaging highlights the changes in brain as a result of mindful meditation. More can be known about mindfullness here 

Abstract Therapeutic interventions that incorporate training in mindfulness meditation have become increasingly popular, but to date little is known about neural mechanisms associated with these interventions. Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), one of the most widely used mindfulness training programs, has been reported to produce positive effects on psychological well-being and to ameliorate symptoms of a number of disorders. Here, we report a controlled longitudinal study to investigate pre–post changes in brain gray matter concentration attributable to participation in an MBSR program. Anatomical magnetic resonance (MR) images from 16 healthy, meditation-naïve participants were obtained before and after they underwent the 8-week program. Changes in gray matter concentration were investigated using voxel-based morphometry, and compared with a waiting list control group of 17 individuals. Analyses in a priori regions of interest confirmed increases in gray matter concentration within the left hippocampus. Whole brain analyses identified increases in the posterior cingulate cortex, the temporo-parietal junction, and the cerebellum in the MBSR group compared with the controls. The results suggest that participation in MBSR is associated with changes in gray matter concentration in brain regions involved in learning and memory processes, emotion regulation, self-referential processing, and perspective taking.

Source:

http://www.psyn-journal.com/article/S0925-4927(10)00288-X/abstract

Britta K. Hölzel, James Carmody, Mark Vangel, Christina Congleton, Sita M. Yerramsetti, Tim Gard, Sara W. Lazar

Volume 191, Issue 1 , Pages 36-43, 30 January 2011

Meditation

In a discussion with SB I learnt that the best way to perform meditation is not by clearing your mind of any thoughts, but by letting the thoughts come in and letting them go right away. Infact no one thought should stay back or the mind should not hook on a chain of thoughts from one thought. I have to admit that it is a tricky endeavour but it instantly relaxes you. Makes you get in touch with inner self. The key is to focus on the awareness of one's being. To consciously realise that one is alive and exists. The thoughts can come and go around this awareness. So I close my eyes and the battle between the awareness of being and random thoughts starts. Instantly I feel something going down my spine and back and I start to feel relaxed and kind of more 'in touch' with my self and 'in control' , if thats the right way to describe it. May be SB has better ways to put this feeling. I some times try it even with eyes open and while doing some task. I enjoy doing it as it makes me realise the power of inner self instantly.