(November 22, 2010) 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 MRI images from sixteen healthy,
meditation-naïve participants were obtained before and after they underwent the
eight-week program. Changes in gray matter concentration were investigated
using voxel-based morphometry, and compared to a wait-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 to 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.