title: Adaptive neural reward processing during anticipation and receipt of monetary rewards in mindfulness meditators.
abstract: Reward seeking is ubiquitous and adaptive in humans. But excessive reward seeking behavior, such as chasing monetary rewards, may lead to diminished subjective well-being. This study examined whether individuals trained in mindfulness meditation show neural evidence of lower susceptibility to monetary rewards. Seventy-eight participants (34 meditators, 44 matched controls) completed the monetary incentive delay task while undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging. The groups performed equally on the task, but meditators showed lower neural activations in the caudate nucleus during reward anticipation, and elevated bilateral posterior insula activation during reward anticipation. Meditators also evidenced reduced activations in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex during reward receipt compared with controls. Connectivity parameters between the right caudate and bilateral anterior insula were attenuated in meditators during incentive anticipation. In summary, brain regions involved in reward processing-both during reward anticipation and receipt of reward-responded differently in mindfulness meditators than in nonmeditators, indicating that the former are less susceptible to monetary incentives.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Psychology, University of Southern Denmark, 5230 Odense, Denmark, Department of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia 23284, USA, Neuropsychiatry and Sleep Clinic, Toronto Western Hospital, Toronto, Ontario M5T 2S8, Canada, and Centre for Addition and Mental Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5T 1R8, Canada ukirk@health.sdu.dk.
authors.forename: Ulrich
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Kirk
authors.affiliation: Institute of Psychology, University of Southern Denmark, 5230 Odense, Denmark, Department of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia 23284, USA, Neuropsychiatry and Sleep Clinic, Toronto Western Hospital, Toronto, Ontario M5T 2S8, Canada, and Centre for Addition and Mental Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5T 1R8, Canada.
authors.forename: Kirk Warren
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.affiliation: Institute of Psychology, University of Southern Denmark, 5230 Odense, Denmark, Department of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia 23284, USA, Neuropsychiatry and Sleep Clinic, Toronto Western Hospital, Toronto, Ontario M5T 2S8, Canada, and Centre for Addition and Mental Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5T 1R8, Canada Institute of Psychology, University of Southern Denmark, 5230 Odense, Denmark, Department of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia 23284, USA, Neuropsychiatry and Sleep Clinic, Toronto Western Hospital, Toronto, Ontario M5T 2S8, Canada, and Centre for Addition and Mental Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5T 1R8, Canada.
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Downar
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological / Q000502:physiology*; D000328:Adult; D059031:Anticipation, Psychological / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007206:Individuality; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D019122:Meditation / Q000523:psychology; D064866:Mindfulness; D009042:Motivation; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000502:physiology; D012201:Reward; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: connectivity analysis; dorsal striatum; fMRI; insular cortex; mindfulness; reward processing