Mindfulness meditation increases default mode, salience, and central executive network connectivity

Augmentation of Interstitial Cystitis-Bladder Pain Syndrome Treatment With Meditation and Yoga: A Randomized Controlled Trial

OBJECTIVE

To investigate whether yoga and meditation added to usual care improves treatment response in women with interstitial cystitis-bladder pain syndrome.

METHODS

This randomized trial compared women with interstitial cystitis-bladder pain syndrome receiving standard care alone (control group) with those receiving standard care plus meditation and yoga (mind-body group). Standard care was defined as behavioral changes or medications recommended by the American Urological Association. Individuals in the control group received standard care, and those in the mind-body group received standard care augmented with a commercially available meditation application and standardized yoga tutorial video. Both groups continued their current interstitial cystitis-bladder pain syndrome standard care treatments. The primary outcome was the modified GRA (Global Response Assessment), comparing responders (moderately, markedly improved) with nonresponders at 12 weeks. On power analysis assuming α=5% and β=80%, a sample size of 82 participants was required to find 30% difference on the GRA between groups. Weekly GRA scores over 12 weeks were also compared. Secondary outcomes included ICPI (Interstitial Cystitis Problem Index)/ICSI (Interstitial Cystitis Symptom Index), pain, pain interference, anxiety/depression, and self-efficacy scores and treatment escalation over 12 weeks.

RESULTS

Among 97 randomized participants (49 mind-body group, 48 control group), groups did not differ in characteristics or symptoms at baseline. The mind-body group had more GRA responders compared with the control group at 12 weeks (31/43 [72.1%] vs 10/39 [25.6%], relative risk [RR] 2.8, 95% CI, 1.6-4.6), corroborated by superior weekly GRA results over 12 weeks. The mind-body group had superior beneficial change on the ICPI (RR 1.8, 95% CI, 0.5-3.1), ICSI (RR 1.9, 95% CI, 0.2-3.6), and pain (RR 1.4, 95% CI, 0.4-2.5) scores than the control group at 12 weeks. The mind-body group required less treatment escalation than the control group (2/45 [4.4%] vs 14/42 [33.3%], RR 0.13, 95% CI, 0.03-0.55).

CONCLUSION

The addition of meditation and yoga to standard interstitial cystitis-bladder pain syndrome care was associated with improved treatment response and required fewer additional interventions compared with standard care alone.

CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION

ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04820855.

Improving brain health via the central executive network

Cognitive and physical stress have significant effects on brain health, particularly through their influence on the central executive network (CEN). The CEN, which includes regions such as the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex and inferior parietal lobe, is central to managing the demands of cognitively challenging motor tasks. Acute stress can temporarily reduce connectivity within the CEN, leading to impaired cognitive function and emotional states. However a rebound in these states often follows, driven by motivational signals through the mesocortical and mesolimbic pathways, which help sustain inhibitory control and task execution. Chronic exposure to physical and cognitive challenges leads to long-term improvements in CEN functionality. These changes are supported by neurochemical, structural and systemic adaptations, including mechanisms of tissue crosstalk. Myokines, adipokines, anti-inflammatory cytokines and gut-derived metabolites contribute to a biochemical environment that enhances neuroplasticity, reduces neuroinflammation and supports neurotransmitters such as serotonin and dopamine. These processes strengthen CEN connectivity, improve self-regulation and enable individuals to adopt and sustain health-optimizing behaviours. Long-term physical activity not only enhances inhibitory control but also reduces the risk of age-related cognitive decline and neurodegenerative diseases. This review highlights the role of progressive physical stress through exercise as a practical approach to strengthening the CEN and promoting brain health, offering a strategy to improve cognitive resilience and emotional well-being across the lifespan.

Resting-state BOLD temporal variability of the default mode network predicts spontaneous mind wandering, which is negatively associated with mindfulness skills

Mind wandering (MW) encompasses both a deliberate and a spontaneous disengagement of attention from the immediate external environment to unrelated internal thoughts. Importantly, MW has been suggested to have an inverse relationship with mindfulness, a state of nonjudgmental awareness of present-moment experience. Although they are, respectively, associated with increased and decreased activity in the default mode network (DMN), the specific contributions of deliberate and spontaneous MW, and their relationships with mindfulness abilities and resting-state macro networks remain to be elucidated. Therefore, resting-state MRI scans from 76 participants were analyzed with group independent component analysis to decompose brain networks into independent macro-networks and to see which of them predicted specific aspects of spontaneous and deliberate MW or mindfulness traits. Our results show that temporal variability of the resting-state DMN predicts spontaneous MW, which in turn is negatively associated with the acting with awareness facet of mindfulness. This finding shows that the DMN is not directly associated with overall mindfulness, but rather demonstrates that there exists a close relationship between DMN and MW, and furthermore, that the involvement of mindfulness abilities in this dynamic may be secondary. In sum, our study contributes to a better understanding of the neural bases of spontaneous MW and its relationship with mindfulness. These results open up the possibility of intervening on specific aspects of our cognitive abilities: for example, our data suggest that training the mindfulness facet acting with awareness would allow lessening our tendency for MW at inopportune times.

Default mode network functional connectivity as a transdiagnostic biomarker of cognitive function

The default mode network (DMN) is intricately linked with processes such as self-referential thinking, episodic memory recall, goal-directed cognition, self-projection, and theory of mind. Over recent years, there has been a surge in examining its functional connectivity, particularly its relationship with frontoparietal networks (FPN) involved in top-down attention, executive function, and cognitive control. The fluidity in switching between these internal and external modes of processing-highlighted by anti-correlated functional connectivity-has been proposed as an indicator of cognitive health. Due to the ease of estimation of functional connectivity-based measures through resting state fMRI paradigms, there is now a wealth of large-scale datasets, paving the way for standardized connectivity benchmarks. This review delves into the promising role of DMN connectivity metrics as potential biomarkers of cognitive state across attention, internal mentation, mind wandering and meditation states, and investigating deviations in trait-level measures across aging and in clinical conditions such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's, depression, ADHD, and others. Additionally, we tackle the issue of reliability of network estimation and functional connectivity and share recommendations for using functional connectivity measures as a biomarker of cognitive health.

Long-term mindfulness meditation increases occurrence of sensory and attention brain states

Interest has been growing in the use of mindfulness meditation (MM) as a therapeutic practice, as accumulating evidence highlights its potential to effectively address a range of mental conditions. While many fMRI studies focused on neural activation and functional connectivity during meditation, the impact of long-term MM practice on spontaneous brain activity, and on the expression of resting state networks over time, remains unclear. Here, intrinsic functional network dynamics were compared between experienced meditators and meditation-naïve participants during rest. Our analysis revealed that meditators tend to spend more time in two brain states that involve synchrony among cortical regions associated with sensory perception. Conversely, a brain state involving frontal areas associated with higher cognitive functions was detected less frequently in experienced meditators. These findings suggest that, by shifting attention toward enhanced sensory and embodied processing, MM effectively modulates the expression of functional network states at rest. These results support the suggested lasting effect of long-term MM on the modulation of resting-state networks, reinforcing its therapeutic potential for disorders characterized by imbalanced network dynamics. Moreover, this study reinforces the utility of analytic approaches from dynamical systems theory to extend current knowledge regarding brain activity and evaluate its response to interventions.

Multimodal neurophenomenology of advanced concentration absorption meditation: An intensively sampled case study of Jhana

Using a combination of fMRI, EEG, and phenomenology ratings, we examined the neurophenomenology of advanced concentrative absorption meditation, namely jhanas (ACAM-J), in a practitioner with over 23,000 h of meditation practice. Our study shows that ACAM-J states induce reliable changes in conscious experience and that these experiences are related to neural activity. Using resting-state fMRI functional connectivity, we found that ACAM-J is associated with decreased within-network modularity, increased global functional connectivity (GFC), and desegregation of the default mode and visual networks. Compared to control tasks, the ACAM-J were also related to widespread decreases in broadband EEG oscillatory power and increases in Lempel-Ziv complexity (LZ, a measure of brain entropy). Some fMRI findings varied by the control task used, while EEG results remained consistent, emphasizing both shared and unique neural features of ACAM-J. These differences in fMRI and EEG-measured neurophysiological properties correlated with specific changes in phenomenology - and especially with ACAM-J-induced states of bliss - enriching our understanding of these advanced meditative states. Our results show that advanced meditation practices markedly dysregulate high-level brain systems via practices of enhanced attention to sensations, corroborating recent neurocognitive theories of meditation as the deconstruction of the brain's cortical hierarchy. Overall, our results suggest that ACAM-J is associated with the modulation of large-scale brain networks in both fMRI and EEG, with potential implications for understanding the mechanisms of deep concentration practices and their effects on subjective experience.

Remodeling the Epigenome Through Meditation: Effects on Brain, Body, and Well-being

Epigenetic mechanisms are key processes that constantly reshape genome activity carrying out physiological responses to environmental stimuli. Such mechanisms regulate gene activity without modifying the DNA sequence, providing real-time adaptation to changing environmental conditions. Both favorable and unfavorable lifestyles have been shown to influence body and brain by means of epigenetics, leaving marks on the genome that can either be rapidly reversed or persist in time and even be transmitted trans-generationally. Among virtuous habits, meditation seemingly represents a valuable way of activating inner resources to cope with adverse experiences. While unhealthy habits, stress, and traumatic early-life events may favor the onset of diseases linked to inflammation, neuroinflammation, and neuroendocrine dysregulation, the practice of mindfulness-based techniques was associated with the alleviation of many of the above symptoms, underlying the importance of lifestyles for health and well-being. Meditation influences brain and body systemwide, eliciting structural/morphological changes as well as modulating the levels of circulating factors and the expression of genes linked to the HPA axis and the immune and neuroimmune systems. The current chapter intends to give an overview of pioneering research showing how meditation can promote health through epigenetics, by reshaping the profiles of the three main epigenetic markers, namely DNA methylation, histone modifications, and non-coding RNAs.

Addressing Inconsistency in Functional Neuroimaging: A Replicable Data-Driven Multi-Scale Functional Atlas for Canonical Brain Networks

The advent of multiple neuroimaging methodologies has greatly aided in the conceptualization of large-scale functional brain networks in the field of cognitive neuroscience. However, there is inconsistency across studies in both nomenclature and the functional entities being described. There is a need for a unifying framework that standardizes terminology across studies while also bringing analyses and results into the same reference space. Here we present a whole-brain atlas of canonical functional brain networks derived from more than 100,000 resting-state fMRI datasets. These data-driven functional networks are highly replicable across datasets and capture information from multiple spatial scales. We have organized, labeled, and described the networks with terms familiar to the fields of cognitive and affective neuroscience in order to optimize their utility in future neuroimaging analyses and enhance the accessibility of new findings. The benefits of this atlas are not limited to future template-based or reference-guided analyses, but also extend to other data-driven neuroimaging approaches across modalities, such as those using blind independent component analysis (ICA). Future studies utilizing this atlas will contribute to greater harmonization and standardization in functional neuroimaging research.

What can the psychoneuroimmunology of yoga teach us about depression's psychopathology?

Depression, the most prevailing mental health condition, remains untreated in over 30% of patients. This cluster presents with sub-clinical inflammation. Investigations trialling anti-inflammatory medications had mixed results. The lack of results may result from inflammation's complexity and targeting only a few of depression's abnormal pathways. Mind-body therapies' biological and neuro-imaging studies offer valuable insights into depression psychopathology. Interestingly, mind-body therapies, like yoga, reverse the aberrant pathways in depression. These aberrant pathways include decreased cognitive function, interoception, neuroplasticity, salience and default mode networks connectivity, parasympathetic tone, increased hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activity, and metabolic hyper/hypofunction. Abundant evidence found yogic techniques improving self-reported depressive symptoms across various populations. Yoga may be more effective in treating depression in conjunction with pharmacological and cognitive therapies. Yoga's psychoneuroimmunology teaches us that reducing allostatic load is crucial in improving depressive symptoms. Mind-body therapies promote parasympathetic tone, downregulate the HPA axis, reduce inflammation and boost immunity. The reduced inflammation promotes neuroplasticity and, subsequently, neurogenesis. Improving interoception resolves the metabolic needs prediction error and restores homeostasis. Additionally, by improving functional connectivity within the salience network, they restore the dynamic switching between the default mode and central executive networks, reducing rumination and mind-wandering. Future investigations should engineer therapies targeting the mechanisms mentioned above. The creation of multi-disciplinary health teams offering a combination of pharmacological, gene, neurofeedback, behavioural, mind-body and psychological therapies may treat treatment-resistant depression.

Mindfulness training reduces the preference for proenvironmental outcomes

Theoretical accounts posit that mindfulness promotes proenvironmental behavior. While this claim is supported by correlational findings, past intervention studies provided no evidence that enhancing mindfulness increases self-report measures of proenvironmental behavior. Here, we tested whether a 31-day mindfulness intervention strengthens preferences for proenvironmental outcomes with decision tasks involving real conflict between participants' selfish interests and beneficial consequences for the environment. To unravel the psychological mechanisms underlying the impact of mindfulness on proenvironmental behavior, we assessed the impact of mindfulness training on prosociality and future orientation. Contrary to our hypotheses, the mindfulness intervention reduced instead of increased preferences for proenvironmental and prosocial outcomes, whereas no effects were observed on future orientation. Baseline preferences for proenvironmental and prosocial outcomes (and the intervention effects on them) were correlated, providing empirical evidence for a link between proenvironmental behavior and prosociality. Together, the current data suggest that the relationship between mindfulness and proenvironmental behavior as well as prosociality may be more complicated than assumed in the literature.

Mindfulness-Based Interventions and the Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis: A Systematic Review

BACKGROUND

Numerous studies have evaluated the effect that mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) have on multiple health outcomes. For its part, stress is a natural response to environmental disturbances and within the associated metabolic responses, alterations in cortisol levels and their measurement in different tissues are a way to determine the stress state of an individual. Therefore, it has been proposed that MBIs can modify cortisol levels.

METHODS AND RESULTS

The objective of this systematic review was to analyze and summarize the different studies that have evaluated the effect of MBIs on cortisol levels. The following databases were consulted: MEDLINE, AMED, CINAHL, Web of Science, Science Direct, PsycINFO, SocINDEX, PubMed, the Cochrane Library and Scopus. The search terms "mindfulness", "mindfulness-based interventions" and "cortisol" were used (and the search was limited to studies from January 1990 to May 2024). In order to reduce selection bias, each article was scrutinized using the JBI Critical Appraisal Checklist independently by two authors. We included those studies with specified intervention groups with at least one control group and excluded duplicate studies or those in which the intervention or control group was not adequately specified. Significant changes in cortisol following MBIs were found in 25 studies, while 10 found no changes. The small sample size, lack of randomization, blinding, and probable confounding and interaction variables stand out in these studies.

CONCLUSION

MBIs have biological plausibility as a means of explaining a positive effect on cortisol levels; however, the weakness of the studies and the absence of robust designs makes it difficult to establish a causal association between both variables.

REGISTRATION NUMBER

INPLASY2024110017.

Combination of non-invasive brain stimulation with mindfulness-based interventions for anxiety and depression symptoms: systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

In this article we aimed synthesize all available evidence regarding the effects of non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) techniques combined with mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) on mental health indicators. We performed a systematic review of randomized controlled trials evaluating NIBS/MBIs combinations in clinical populations and a random effects pairwise meta-analysis of studies evaluating anxiety and depression symptoms. After independent trial selection by two authors based on titles/abstracts, and then on full texts, twelve trials were retrieved. There was a large effect size favoring the NIBS/MBIs over the control intervention for anxiety symptoms (Cohen's d = - 0.82 (- 1.35, - 0.30), I2 = 55%, moderate certainty of evidence). As for depression symptoms, there was a small-to-medium effect size that did not reach statistical significance (Cohen's d = - 0.24 (- 0.61, 0.13), I2 = 30%, low certainty of evidence). MBIs/NIBS combination is feasible and well tolerated. There is preliminary evidence for its therapeutic promise. Future studies should inform combination choices by neural correlates of respective interventions and offer patients mindfulness familiarization before implementation of the NIBS/MBIs treatment.Trial registration CRD42022353971.

ENIGMA-Meditation: Worldwide Consortium for Neuroscientific Investigations of Meditation Practices

Meditation is a family of ancient and contemporary contemplative mind-body practices that can modulate psychological processes, awareness, and mental states. Over the last 40 years, clinical science has manualized meditation practices and designed various meditation interventions that have shown therapeutic efficacy for disorders including depression, pain, addiction, and anxiety. Over the past decade, neuroimaging has been used to examine the neuroscientific basis of meditation practices, effects, states, and outcomes for clinical and nonclinical populations. However, the generalizability and replicability of current neuroscientific models of meditation have not yet been established, because they are largely based on small datasets entrenched with heterogeneity along several domains of meditation (e.g., practice types, meditation experience, clinical disorder targeted), experimental design, and neuroimaging methods (e.g., preprocessing, analysis, task-based, resting-state, structural magnetic resonance imaging). These limitations have precluded a nuanced and rigorous neuroscientific phenotyping of meditation practices and their potential benefits. Here, we present ENIGMA (Enhancing Neuro Imaging Genetics through Meta Analysis)-Meditation, the first worldwide collaborative consortium for neuroscientific investigations of meditation practices. ENIGMA-Meditation will enable systematic meta- and mega-analyses of globally distributed neuroimaging datasets of meditation using shared, standardized neuroimaging methods and tools to improve statistical power and generalizability. Through this powerful collaborative framework, existing neuroscientific accounts of meditation practices can be extended to generate novel and rigorous neuroscientific insights that account for multidomain heterogeneity. ENIGMA-Meditation will inform neuroscientific mechanisms that underlie therapeutic action of meditation practices on psychological and cognitive attributes, thereby advancing the field of meditation and contemplative neuroscience.

Salience network resting state functional connectivity during airway inflammation in asthma: A feature of mental health resilience?

BACKGROUND

Inflammation is an established contributor to the pathophysiology of depression and the prevalence of depression in those with chronic inflammatory disease is two- to four-fold higher than the general population. Yet little is known about the neurobiological changes that confer depression or resilience to depression, that occur when episodes of heightened inflammation are frequent or span many years.

METHODS

We used an innovative combination of longitudinal resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging coupled to segmental bronchial provocation with allergen (SBP-Ag) to assess changes in resting state functional connectivity (rsFC) of the salience network (SN) caused by an acute inflammatory exacerbation in twenty-six adults (15 female) with asthma and varying levels of depressive symptoms. Eosinophils measured in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and blood provided an index of allergic inflammation and the Beck Depression Inventory provided an index of depressive symptoms.

RESULTS

We found that in those with the highest symptoms of depression at baseline, SN rsFC declined most from pre- to post-SBP-Ag in the context of a robust eosinophilic response to challenge, but in those with low depressive symptoms SN rsFC was maintained or increased, even in those with the most pronounced SBP-Ag response.

CONCLUSIONS

Thus, the maintenance of SN rsFC during inflammation may be a biomarker of resilience to depression, perhaps via more effective orchestration of large-scale brain network dynamics by the SN. These findings advance our understanding of the functional role of the SN during inflammation and inform treatment recommendations for those with comorbid inflammatory disease and depression.

The Role of Mindfulness Therapy in the Treatment of Chronic Pain

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

Mindfulness therapy is a widely used treatment for many diseases and has been shown to improve pain-related functions. There is growing support for the use of psychotherapy in the treatment of chronic pain. While studies have shown a positive effect of mindfulness therapy, it is important to consider psychosocial factors as there are still a small number of studies that question its effectiveness.

RECENT FINDINGS

Based on current studies, mindfulness therapy involves cognitive factors related to chronic pain, both in terms of cognitive production and its impact on cognitive control. Psychological and neurobasic studies were reviewed to provide a deeper understanding of these components, which include thought inhibition, attention deficit, pain catastrophizing, and self-efficacy. Mindfulness therapy has the potential to normalize psychology and nerves, and increase internal and external connectivity to work networks related to stress perception, cognition, and emotion. However, further research is needed to fully understand its effects. By exploring the relationship between mindfulness therapy and chronic pain. This review provides a new avenue for future research in psychotherapy for patients with chronic pain.

Augmenting mindfulness training through neurofeedback: a pilot study of the pre-post changes on resting-state functional connectivity in typically developing adolescents

Background

Mindfulness training has been shown to promote positive mental health outcomes and related changes in neural networks such as the default mode network, which has a central node in the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC). Previous work from our group reported on the impact of a novel, neurofeedback augmented mindfulness training (NAMT) task on regulation of PCC hemodynamic activity in typically developing adolescents. The present pilot study aimed to expand on this finding by examining the pre-post changes of the NAMT task on resting-state functional connectivity of the PCC.

Methods

Thirty-one typically developing adolescents (14.77 ± 1.23 years; 45% female) underwent a resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging scan both before and after completing the NAMT task. A linear mixed effects model was used to assess for changes in functional connectivity of the PCC across the two resting-state runs.

Results

Data did not support the hypothesized decrease in connectivity between the PCC seed and other DMN regions from pre- to post-NAMT task. However, we observed a significant increase in functional connectivity between the PCC and a cluster encompassing the left hippocampus and amygdala following completion of the NAMT task (run 1 Fisher's Z = 0.16; run 2 Fisher's Z = 0.26).

Conclusion

Although preliminary, this finding suggests NAMT has the potential to strengthen connectivity between default mode and salience regions. We speculate that such changed connectivity may facilitate enhanced self-referential and emotional processing in adolescents.

Clinical trial registration

https://clinicaltrials.gov/, identifier NCT04053582.

Tai Chi Practice Buffers Aging Effects in Functional Brain Connectivity

Tai Chi (TC) practice has been shown to improve both cognitive and physical function in older adults. However, the neural mechanisms underlying the benefits of TC remain unclear. Our primary aims are to explore whether distinct age-related and TC-practice-related relationships can be identified with respect to either temporal or spatial (within/between-network connectivity) differences. This cross-sectional study examined recurrent neural network dynamics, employing an adaptive, data-driven thresholding approach to source-localized resting-state EEG data in order to identify meaningful connections across time-varying graphs, using both temporal and spatial features derived from a hidden Markov model (HMM). Mann-Whitney U tests assessed between-group differences in temporal and spatial features by age and TC practice using either healthy younger adult controls (YACs, n = 15), healthy older adult controls (OACs, n = 15), or Tai Chi older adult practitioners (TCOAs, n = 15). Our results showed that aging is associated with decreased within-network and between-network functional connectivity (FC) across most brain networks. Conversely, TC practice appears to mitigate these age-related declines, showing increased FC within and between networks in older adults who practice TC compared to non-practicing older adults. These findings suggest that TC practice may abate age-related declines in neural network efficiency and stability, highlighting its potential as a non-pharmacological intervention for promoting healthy brain aging. This study furthers the triple-network model, showing that a balancing and reorientation of attention might be engaged not only through higher-order and top-down mechanisms (i.e., FPN/DAN) but also via the coupling of bottom-up, sensory-motor (i.e., SMN/VIN) networks.

Childhood maltreatment and transdiagnostic connectivity of the default-mode network: The importance of duration of exposure

Childhood maltreatment (CM) has been demonstrated to be associated with changes in resting-state functional connectivity of the default-mode network (DMN) across various mental disorders. Growing evidence regarding severity of CM is available but transdiagnostic research considering the role of both severity and duration of CM for DMN connectivity at rest is still scarce. We recruited a sample of participants with varying levels of CM suffering from three disorders in which a history of CM is frequently found, namely, post-traumatic stress disorder, major depressive disorder, or somatic symptom disorder, as well as healthy volunteers to examine DMN connectivity in a transdiagnostic sample. We expected to find changes in inter-network connectivity of the DMN related to higher self-reported levels of CM severity and duration. Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging scans of 128 participants were analyzed focusing on regions of interest (ROI-to-ROI approach) and whole-brain Seed-to-Voxel analyses with retrospectively assessed CM as predictor in a regression model. Changes in connectivity between nodes of the DMN and the visual network were identified to be associated with CM duration but not severity. CM duration showed associations with increased connectivity of the precuneus and visual regions, as well as sensory-motor regions. The observed changes in connectivity could be interpreted as an impairment of information transfer between the transmodal DMN and unimodal visual and sensory-motor regions with impairment increasing with duration of exposure to CM.

Interoceptive brain network mechanisms of mindfulness-based training in healthy adolescents

Introduction

This study evaluated changes in the white matter of the brain and psychological health variables, resulting from a neuroscience-based mindfulness intervention, the Training for Awareness, Resilience, and Action (TARA), in a population of healthy adolescents.

Methods

A total of 100 healthy adolescents (57 female, age ranges 14-18 years) were randomized into the 12-week TARA intervention or a waitlist-control group. All participants were imaged with diffusion MRI to quantify white matter connectivity between brain regions. Imaging occurred at baseline/randomization and after 12 weeks of baseline (pre- and post-intervention in the TARA group). We hypothesized that structural connectivity in the striatum and interoceptive networks would increase following the TARA intervention, and that, this increased connectivity would relate to psychological health metrics from the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) and the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI). The TARA intervention and all assessments, except for the MRIs, were fully remotely delivered using secure telehealth platforms and online electronic data capture systems.

Results

The TARA intervention showed high consistency, tolerability, safety, recruitment, fidelity, adherence, and retention. After 12 weeks, the TARA group, but not controls, also demonstrated significantly improved sleep quality (p = 0.02), and changes in the right putamen node strength were related to this improved sleep quality (r = -0.42, p = 0.006). Similarly, the TARA group, but not controls, had significantly increased right insula node strength related to improved emotional well-being (r = -0.31, p = 0.04). Finally, we used the network-based statistics to identify a white matter interoception network that strengthened following TARA (p = 0.009).

Discussion

These results suggest that the TARA mindfulness-based intervention in healthy adolescents is feasible and safe, and it may act to increase structural connectivity strength in interoceptive brain regions. Furthermore, these white matter changes are associated with improved adolescent sleep quality and emotional well-being. Our results suggest that TARA could be a promising fully remotely delivered intervention for improving psychological well-being in adolescents. As our findings suggest that TARA affects brain regions in healthy adolescents, which are also known to be altered during depression in adolescents, future studies will examine the effects of TARA on depressed adolescents.

Clinical trial registration

https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT04254796.

The Brain Salience Network at the Intersection of Pain and Substance use Disorders: Insights from Functional Neuroimaging Research

Purpose of Review

The brain's salience network (SN), primarily comprising the anterior insula and anterior cingulate cortex, plays a key role in detecting salient stimuli and processing physical and socioemotional pain (e.g., social rejection). Mounting evidence underscores an altered SN in the etiology and maintenance of substance use disorders (SUDs). This paper aims to synthesize recent functional neuroimaging research emphasizing the SN's involvement in SUDs and physical/socioemotional pain and explore the therapeutic prospects of targeting the SN for SUD treatment.

Recent Findings

The SN is repeatedly activated during the experience of both physical and socioemotional pain. Altered activation within the SN is associated with both SUDs and chronic pain conditions, characterized by aberrant activity and connectivity patterns as well as structural changes. Among individuals with SUDs, functional and structural alterations in the SN have been linked to abnormal salience attribution (e.g., heightened responsiveness to drug-related cues), impaired cognitive control (e.g., impulsivity), and compromised decision-making processes. The high prevalence of physical and socioemotional pain in the SUD population may further exacerbate SN alterations, thus contributing to hindered recovery progress and treatment failure. Interventions targeting the restoration of SN functioning, such as real-time functional MRI feedback, neuromodulation, and psychotherapeutic approaches, hold promise as innovative SUD treatments.

Summary

The review highlights the significance of alterations in the structure and function of the SN as potential mechanisms underlying the co-occurrence of SUDs and physical/socioemotional pain. Future work that integrates neuroimaging with other research methodologies will provide novel insights into the mechanistic role of the SN in SUDs and inform the development of next-generation treatment modalities.

Impact of a mindfulness-based intervention on neurobehavioral functioning and its association with large-scale brain networks in preterm young adolescents

AIM

Adolescents born very preterm (VPT; <32 weeks of gestation) face an elevated risk of executive, behavioral, and socioemotional difficulties. Evidence suggests beneficial effects of mindfulness-based intervention (MBI) on these abilities. This study seeks to investigate the association between the effects of MBI on executive, behavioral, and socioemotional functioning and reliable changes in large-scale brain networks dynamics during rest in VPT young adolescents who completed an 8-week MBI program.

METHODS

Neurobehavioral assessments and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging were performed before and after MBI in 32 VPT young adolescents. Neurobehavioral abilities in VPT participants were compared with full-term controls. In the VPT group, dynamic functional connectivity was extracted by using the innovation-driven coactivation patterns framework. The reliable change index was used to quantify change after MBI. A multivariate data-driven approach was used to explore associations between MBI-related changes on neurobehavioral measures and temporal brain dynamics.

RESULTS

Compared with term-born controls, VPT adolescents showed reduced executive and socioemotional functioning before MBI. After MBI, a significant improvement was observed for all measures that were previously reduced in the VPT group. The increase in executive functioning, only, was associated with reliable changes in the duration of activation of large-scale brain networks, including frontolimbic, amygdala-hippocampus, dorsolateral prefrontal, and visual networks.

CONCLUSION

The improvement in executive functioning after an MBI was associated with reliable changes in large-scale brain network dynamics during rest. These changes encompassed frontolimbic, amygdala-hippocampus, dorsolateral prefrontal, and visual networks that are related to different executive processes including self-regulation, attentional control, and attentional awareness of relevant sensory stimuli.

Inducing a meditative state by artificial perturbations: A mechanistic understanding of brain dynamics underlying meditation

Contemplative neuroscience has increasingly explored meditation using neuroimaging. However, the brain mechanisms underlying meditation remain elusive. Here, we implemented a mechanistic framework to explore the spatiotemporal dynamics of expert meditators during meditation and rest, and controls during rest. We first applied a model-free approach by defining a probabilistic metastable substate (PMS) space for each condition, consisting of different probabilities of occurrence from a repertoire of dynamic patterns. Moreover, we implemented a model-based approach by adjusting the PMS of each condition to a whole-brain model, which enabled us to explore in silico perturbations to transition from resting-state to meditation and vice versa. Consequently, we assessed the sensitivity of different brain areas regarding their perturbability and their mechanistic local-global effects. Overall, our work reveals distinct whole-brain dynamics in meditation compared to rest, and how transitions can be induced with localized artificial perturbations. It motivates future work regarding meditation as a practice in health and as a potential therapy for brain disorders.

The Role of Momentary Dissociation in the Sensory Cortex: A Neurophysiological Review and its Implications for Maladaptive Daydreaming

Daydreaming, a form of spontaneous and self-generated mental process, may lead to the disintegration of attention from the immediate external environment. In extreme cases, patients may develop maladaptive daydreaming comorbid with dissociation. The examination of dissociative alterations frequently occurs within the framework of complex cognitive processes. While dissociation may be a neurological and psychological dysfunction of integration, transient dissociative occurrences, i.e., momentary dissociation may signify a dynamic interplay between attentional division and orientation within the sensory cortex. Furthermore, previous studies have recorded the interactivity of attention by stimuli onset with P3 event-related potentials and the active suppression of distractor positivity. In this context, during auditory and visual mismatch negativity, the sensory cortex may interact with attentional orientation. Additionally, distractor positivity during task-relevant stimuli may play a crucial role in predicting momentary dissociation since sensory cortices share cerebral correlates with attentional fluctuations during mental imagery. Thus, this theoretical review investigated the cerebral activities associated with attentional orientation and may be extended to mindfulness. By integrating these findings, we aim to provide a comprehensive understanding of dissociative states which may lead to a resolution for dissociative psychopathology.

Effects of standardized mindfulness programs on burnout: a systematic review and original analysis from randomized controlled trials

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), burnout is a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic occupational stress that has not been successfully managed. It is characterized by emotional exhaustion, cynicism toward work, and a lack of personal accomplishment at work. Recent WHO guidelines on mental health suggest that mindfulness could have beneficial effects in a professional environment, but to the best of our knowledge, there is currently no study that has made a large inventory of research focused specifically on the effects of standardized programs on burnout. Which professional populations have already been studied? What are the characteristics of the programs? Have studies shown a significant effect and on what indicator?

Objective

To assess the effects of standardized programs of mindfulness on burnout, we carried out a systematic review using an exhaustive inventory of the international literature based on randomized controlled trials (RCTs).

Methods

The articles were selected according to PRISMA recommendations. The Embase, PubMed/MEDLINE, EBSCOhost, HAL databases were searched with the keywords "mindfulness," "burnout," and "randomized" in the title and abstract of each article. The data were all collected in an Excel spreadsheet and analyzed in pivot tables, which were then presented in graphs and maps.

Results

A total of 49 RCTs were thus selected, the majority of which were of good methodological quality, of American origin (43% of studies), concerned professionals in the health sector (64% of participants included), and mostly women (76%). The RCTs assessed the effects of 31 different mindfulness programs, mostly with the Maslach Burnout Inventory (78% of RCTs). More than two-thirds of RCTs (67%) showed a significant beneficial effect on burnout measurement indicators, with emotional exhaustion being the most impacted component.

Conclusion

This systematic review shows that mindfulness-based interventions could be approaches of choice to prevent emotional distress of burnout. Further studies are still needed to determine which type of program is best suited to impact the two other components of burnout.

Aberrant Brain Triple-Network Effective Connectivity Patterns in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

INTRODUCTION

Aberrant brain functional connectivity network is thought to be related to cognitive impairment in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). This study aims to investigate the triple-network effective connectivity patterns in patients with T2DM within and between the default mode network (DMN), salience network (SN), and executive control network (ECN) and their associations with cognitive declines.

METHODS

In total, 92 patients with T2DM and 98 matched healthy controls (HCs) were recruited and underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI). Spectral dynamic causal modeling (spDCM) was used for effective connectivity analysis within the triple network. The posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC), supramarginal gyrus (SMG), and anterior insula (AINS) were selected as the regions of interest. Group comparisons were performed for effective connectivity calculated using the fully connected model, and the relationships between effective connectivity alterations and cognitive impairment as well as clinical parameters were detected.

RESULTS

Compared to HCs, patients with T2DM exhibited increased or decreased effective connectivity patterns within the triple network. Furthermore, diabetes duration was significantly negatively correlated with increased effective connectivity from the r-LPFC to the mPFC, while body mass index (BMI) was significantly positively correlated with increased effective connectivity from the l-LPFC to the l-AINS (r = - 0.353, p = 0.001; r = 0.377, p = 0.004).

CONCLUSION

These results indicate abnormal effective connectivity patterns within the triple network model in patients with T2DM and provide new insight into the neurological mechanisms of T2DM and related cognitive dysfunction.

Re-examining the Mysterious Role of the Cerebellum in Pain

Pain is considered a multidimensional experience that embodies not merely sensation, but also emotion and perception. As is appropriate for this complexity, pain is represented and processed by an extensive matrix of cortical and subcortical structures. Of these structures, the cerebellum is gaining increasing attention. Although association between the cerebellum and both acute and chronic pain have been extensively detailed in electrophysiological and neuroimaging studies, a deep understanding of what functions are mediated by these associations is lacking. Nevertheless, the available evidence implies that lobules IV-VI and Crus I are especially pertinent to pain processing, and anatomical studies reveal that these regions connect with higher-order structures of sensorimotor, emotional, and cognitive function. Therefore, we speculate that the cerebellum exerts a modulatory role in pain via its communication with sites of sensorimotor, executive, reward, and limbic function. On this basis, in this review, we propose numerous ways in which the cerebellum might contribute to both acute and chronic pain, drawing particular attention to emotional and cognitive elements of pain. In addition, we emphasise the importance of advancing our knowledge about the relationship between the cerebellum and pain by discussing novel therapeutic opportunities that capitalize on this association.

Infraslow dynamic patterns in human cortical networks track a spectrum of external to internal attention

Early efforts to understand the human cerebral cortex focused on localization of function, assigning functional roles to specific brain regions. More recent evidence depicts the cortex as a dynamic system, organized into flexible networks with patterns of spatiotemporal activity corresponding to attentional demands. In functional MRI (fMRI), dynamic analysis of such spatiotemporal patterns is highly promising for providing non-invasive biomarkers of neurodegenerative diseases and neural disorders. However, there is no established neurotypical spectrum to interpret the burgeoning literature of dynamic functional connectivity from fMRI across attentional states. In the present study, we apply dynamic analysis of network-scale spatiotemporal patterns in a range of fMRI datasets across numerous tasks including a left-right moving dot task, visual working memory tasks, congruence tasks, multiple resting state datasets, mindfulness meditators, and subjects watching TV. We find that cortical networks show shifts in dynamic functional connectivity across a spectrum that tracks the level of external to internal attention demanded by these tasks. Dynamics of networks often grouped into a single task positive network show divergent responses along this axis of attention, consistent with evidence that definitions of a single task positive network are misleading. Additionally, somatosensory and visual networks exhibit strong phase shifting along this spectrum of attention. Results were robust on a group and individual level, further establishing network dynamics as a potential individual biomarker. To our knowledge, this represents the first study of its kind to generate a spectrum of dynamic network relationships across such an axis of attention.

Meditation Moderates the Relationship between Insecure Attachment and Loneliness: A Study of Long-Term Care Residents in Thailand

Background and Objectives: Loneliness is prevalent among residents of long-term care settings, posing significant challenges to their mental wellbeing. Insecure attachment has been identified as a contributing factor to loneliness in this population. Previous research has suggested that meditation may have beneficial effects on mental health outcomes. This study aimed to examine the relationship between meditation, insecure attachment, and loneliness among residents of long-term care facilities in Thailand. Specifically, the study sought to investigate the moderating effect of meditation on the association between insecure attachment (both avoidance and anxiety) and loneliness. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted involving 236 residents living in long-term care homes in Thailand. Participants completed self-report measures including the 18-item Revised Experience of Close Relationship questionnaire (to assess attachment anxiety and avoidance), the Inner Strength-Based Inventory (to measure meditation practice), and the 6-item Revised Version of the University of California Los Angeles Loneliness Scale. Moderation analyses were performed to explore the role of meditation in the relationship between insecure attachment and loneliness. Results: The mean age of participants was 73.52 years, with females accounting for 57.6% of the sample. Among the participants, 58.4% reported engaging in meditation, with practice frequency ranging from often to daily. The mean meditation score was 2.92 out of 5, indicating regular but not daily practice. Meditation was found to moderate the relationship between insecure attachment (both avoidance and anxiety) and loneliness. Specifically, the moderation effect between attachment anxiety and loneliness was significant (B = 0.44, SE = 0.21, 95% CI [0.30, 0.86]), as was the interaction effect between attachment anxiety and loneliness (B = -0.34, SE = 0.17, 95% CI [-0.67, -0.02]). Conclusions: The findings suggest that the impact of meditation practice on loneliness is influenced by an individual's attachment dimension. Meditation demonstrates a moderating effect on attachment avoidance, anxiety, and loneliness, with variations observed in the direction of these effects. The clinical implications of these findings and recommendations for further research are discussed.

Beneficial effects of mindfulness-based intervention on hippocampal volumes and episodic memory for childhood adversity survivors

Background

Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) has detrimental impacts on neural development, especially hippocampal morphometry. Mindfulness-Based Interventions (MBI) has been shown to induce adaptive hippocampal changes especially at the subiculum. The present study aims to investigate the effects of MBI on subiculum volumes among ACE survivors, as well as the effects on episodic memory as a probe into hippocampal functionality.

Methods

We analyzed anatomical MRI data and performance indices from an episodic memory task called the Mnemonic Similarity Task (MST) collected from a randomized controlled longitudinal study that compared an 8-week MBI (N = 20) to an active control condition of Stress Management Education (SME) (N = 19). FreeSurfer 6.0 was used for automated hippocampal subfield segmentation and volumetric estimation.

Results

Significant group differences were observed with the volumetric changes of the right whole hippocampus and right subiculum. Only the MBI group showed improved pattern separation capability from MST, which was associated with stress reduction and right subiculum volumetric changes.

Limitations

Modest sample size. MST task was performed outside of MRI.

Conclusions

These findings suggest beneficial effects of MBI for hippocampal volumes and episodic memory, while highlighting the importance of the subiculum for MBI-induced neural and cognitive changes. The subiculum's known role in inhibitory control was interpreted as a potential mechanism for it to exhibit MBI-induced volumetric changes, which sheds light on the potential neural underpinnings of mindfulness meditation for reducing stress reactivity among ACE survivors.

Electroencephalography microstates highlight specific mindfulness traits

The present study aimed to investigate the spontaneous dynamics of large-scale brain networks underlying mindfulness as a dispositional trait, through resting-state electroencephalography (EEG) microstates analysis. Eighteen participants had attended a standardized mindfulness-based stress reduction training (MBSR), and 18 matched waitlist individuals (CTRL) were recorded at rest while they were passively exposed to auditory stimuli. Participants' mindfulness traits were assessed with the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ). To further explore the relationship between microstate dynamics at rest and mindfulness traits, participants were also asked to rate their experience according to five phenomenal dimensions. After training, MBSR participants showed a highly significant increase in FFMQ score, as well as higher observing and non-reactivity FFMQ sub-scores than CTRL participants. Microstate analysis revealed four classes of microstates (A-D) in global clustering across all subjects. The MBSR group showed lower duration, occurrence and coverage of microstate C than the control group. Moreover, these microstate C parameters were negatively correlated to non-reactivity sub-scores of FFMQ across participants, whereas the microstate A occurrence was negatively correlated to FFMQ total score. Further analysis of participants' self-reports suggested that MBSR participants showed a better sensory-affective integration of auditory interferences. In line with previous studies, our results suggest that temporal dynamics of microstate C underlie specifically the non-reactivity trait of mindfulness. These findings encourage further research into microstates in the evaluation and monitoring of the impact of mindfulness-based interventions on the mental health and well-being of individuals.

Mindfulness meditation modulates stress-eating and its neural correlates

Stress-related overeating can lead to excessive weight gain, increasing the risk of metabolic and cardiovascular disease. Mindfulness meditation has been demonstrated to reduce stress and increase interoceptive awareness and could, therefore, be an effective intervention for stress-related overeating behavior. To investigate the effects of mindfulness meditation on stress-eating behavior, meditation-naïve individuals with a tendency to stress-eat (N = 66) participated in either a 31-day, web-based mindfulness meditation training or a health training condition. Behavioral and resting-state fMRI data were acquired before and after the intervention. Mindfulness meditation training, in comparison to health training, was found to significantly increase mindfulness while simultaneously reducing stress- and emotional-eating tendencies as well as food cravings. These behavioral results were accompanied by functional connectivity changes between the hypothalamus, reward regions, and several areas of the default mode network in addition to changes observed between the insula and somatosensory areas. Additional changes between seed regions (i.e., hypothalamus and insula) and brain areas attributed to emotion regulation, awareness, attention, and sensory integration were observed. Notably, these changes in functional connectivity correlated with behavioral changes, thereby providing insight into the underlying neural mechanisms of the effects of mindfulness on stress-eating.Clinical trial on the ISRCTN registry: trial ID ISRCTN12901054.

Neural correlates of mindfulness meditation and hypnosis on magnetic resonance imaging: similarities and differences. A scoping review

BACKGROUND

Mindfulness meditation (MM) and hypnosis practices are gaining interest in mental health, but their physiological mechanisms remain poorly understood. This study aimed to synthesize the functional, morphometric and metabolic changes associated with each practice using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and to identify their similarities and differences.

METHODS

MRI studies investigating MM and hypnosis in mental health, specifically stress, anxiety, and depression, were systematically screened following PRISMA guidelines from four research databases (PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, PsycINFO) between 2010 and 2022.

RESULTS

In total, 97 references met the inclusion criteria (84 for MM and 13 for hypnosis). This review showed common and divergent points regarding the regions involved and associated brain connectivity during MM practice and hypnosis. The primary commonality between mindfulness and hypnosis was decreased default mode network intrinsic activity and increased central executive network - salience network connectivity. Increased connectivity between the default mode network and the salience network was observed in meditative practice and mindfulness predisposition, but not in hypnosis.

CONCLUSIONS

While MRI studies provide a better understanding of the neural basis of hypnosis and meditation, this review underscores the need for more rigorous studies.

Positive affect disrupts neurodegeneration effects on cognitive training plasticity in older adults

Cognitive training for older adults varies in efficacy, but it is unclear why some older adults benefit more than others. Positive affective experience (PAE), referring to high positive valence and/or stable arousal states across everyday scenarios, and associated functional networks can protect plasticity mechanisms against Alzheimer's disease neurodegeneration, which may contribute to training outcome variability. The objective of this study is to investigate whether PAE explains variability in cognitive training outcomes by disrupting the adverse effect of neurodegeneration on plasticity. The study's design is a secondary analysis of a randomized control trial of cognitive training with concurrent real or sham brain stimulation (39 older adults with mild cognitive impairment; mean age, 71). Moderation analyses, with change in episodic memory or executive function as the outcome, PAE or baseline resting-state connectivity as the moderator and baseline neurodegeneration as the predictor are the methods used in the study. The result of the study is that PAE stability and baseline default mode network (DMN) connectivity disrupted the effect of neurodegeneration on plasticity in executive function but not episodic memory. The study concludes that PAE stability and degree of DMN integrity both explained cognitive training outcome variability, by reducing the adverse effect of neurodegeneration on cognitive plasticity. We highlight the need to account for PAE, brain aging factors and their interactions with plasticity in cognitive training.

Effects of web-based mindfulness training on psychological outcomes, attention, and neuroplasticity

Mindfulness meditation training (MMT) reliably reduces stress and anxiety while also improving attention. The primary aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between MMT, stress and anxiety reduction, and its impact upon improvements in attention on the behavioral and neuronal levels. As a second aim, we sought to explore any relationship between MMT, attention, and modified states of mind such as flow. 118 healthy, meditation-naïve, participants were either assigned to a 31-day, web-based, MMT or an active control, health training (HT). Participants underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging while performing the attention network test (ANT) to assess functional and behavioural attentional changes, diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to assess microstructural neuronal changes and completed relevant questionnaires to explore changes in psychological outcomes. Results confirmed a reduction in perceived stress and anxiety levels in the MMT group and significant improvements in the overall reaction time during the ANT, albeit no specific effects on the attentional components were observed. No statistically significant changes were found in the HT group. Interestingly, a significant group-by-time interaction was seen in flow experience. Functional data exhibited an increased activity in the superior frontal gyrus, posterior cingulate cortex, and right hippocampus during the alerting condition of the ANT after the MMT; decreased stress and trait anxiety were significantly correlated with the activation in the right hippocampus, and increased flow was also significantly correlated with all the aforementioned areas. DTI data showed increased fractional anisotropy values in the right uncinate fasciculus indicating white matter microarchitecture improvement between the right hippocampus and frontal areas of the brain. This study, therefore, demonstrates the effectiveness of web-based MMT on overall well-being and attentional performance, while also providing insight into the relationship between psychological outcomes, attention, and neuroplastic changes.

Mindfulness-based therapy improves brain functional network reconfiguration efficiency

Mindfulness-based interventions are showing increasing promise as a treatment for psychological disorders, with improvements in cognition and emotion regulation after intervention. Understanding the changes in functional brain activity and neural plasticity that underlie these benefits from mindfulness interventions is thus of interest in current neuroimaging research. Previous studies have found functional brain changes during resting and task states to be associated with mindfulness both cross-sectionally and longitudinally, particularly in the executive control, default mode and salience networks. However, limited research has combined information from rest and task to study mindfulness-related functional changes in the brain, particularly in the context of intervention studies with active controls. Recent work has found that the reconfiguration efficiency of brain activity patterns between rest and task states is behaviorally relevant in healthy young adults. Thus, we applied this measure to investigate how mindfulness intervention changed functional reconfiguration between rest and a breath-counting task in elderly participants with self-reported sleep difficulties. Improving on previous longitudinal designs, we compared the intervention effects of a mindfulness-based therapy to an active control (sleep hygiene) intervention. We found that mindfulness intervention improved self-reported mindfulness measures and brain functional reconfiguration efficiency in the executive control, default mode and salience networks, though the brain and behavioral changes were not associated with each other. Our findings suggest that neuroplasticity may be induced through regular mindfulness practice, thus bringing the intrinsic functional configuration in participants' brains closer to a state required for mindful awareness.

The Missing Ingredient: How Misogyny and the Patriarchy Sabotage our Clinical Practice and Research

Discussing massive, unrelenting trauma, especially during a global pandemic, when the threat is not only personally affecting you, but also everyone else, is not an easy thing to do. We can see the consequences of two years of being locked inside. People's trauma responses literally came flooding out. It seems that the pandemic tipped us over an abyss that is hard to comprehend. In so many countries there are protests, laws rolling back basic human rights, the threat of fascism, and actual war. There seems to be widespread governmental corruption that cannot stop the favouritism of those who have wealth, and perpetually admonish those who do not. Our world seems very unstable. Change is deeply desired. Yet, this instability is predictable. It is predictable because the systems that created the structures that "run and rule" us are fundamentally destructive and violent. In never-ending ways, the only way that change happens is by utilizing violence as the only way to achieve change. This is the legacy of patriarchy. A system that not only is ruled by one group of people but also tends to be controlled by a very specific type of person. It is a system that cultivates human cruelty, selfishness, and violence. It is a system that is managed by those who do the "best" in violence. Most of us do not work this way but are forced to live this way because of the belief that humans are innately violent, selfish, and self-serving; a myth based on the traumatic reaction of fight. It is a dissociated, relational injury that is a direct result of not having our mothers and fathers able to be mothers and fathers. It is formed in misogyny. There are ways to heal, if one can comprehend what misogyny does to human beings, and what we would be like in its absence.

Reliability of self-reported dispositional mindfulness scales and their association with working memory performance and functional connectivity

We systematically investigated the link between trait mindfulness scores and functional connectivity (FC) features or behavioral data, to emphasize the importance of the reliability of self-report mindfulness scores. Sixty healthy young male participants underwent two functional MRI runs with three mindfulness or mind-wandering task blocks with an N-back task (NBT) block. The data from 49 participants (age: 23.3 ± 2.8) for whom two sets of the self-reported Mindfulness Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS) and NBT performance were available were analyzed. We divided participants into two groups based on the consistency level of their MAAS scores (i.e., a "consistent" and an "inconsistent" group). Then, the association between the MAAS scores and FC features or NBT performance was investigated using linear regression analysis with p-value correction and bootstrapping. Meaningful associations (a) between MAAS and NBT accuracy (slope = 0.41, CI = [0.10, 0.73], corrected p < 0.05), (b) between MAAS and the FC edges in the frontoparietal network, and (c) between the FC edges and NBT performance were only observed in the consistent group (n = 26). Our findings demonstrate the importance of appropriate screening mechanisms for self-report-based dispositional mindfulness scores when trait mindfulness scores are combined with neuronal features and behavioral data.