title: Mindfulness meditation training alters stress-related amygdala resting state functional connectivity: a randomized controlled trial.
abstract: Recent studies indicate that mindfulness meditation training interventions reduce stress and improve stress-related health outcomes, but the neural pathways for these effects are unknown. The present research evaluates whether mindfulness meditation training alters resting state functional connectivity (rsFC) of the amygdala, a region known to coordinate stress processing and physiological stress responses. We show in an initial discovery study that higher perceived stress over the past month is associated with greater bilateral amygdala-subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (sgACC) rsFC in a sample of community adults (n = 130). A follow-up, single-blind randomized controlled trial shows that a 3-day intensive mindfulness meditation training intervention (relative to a well-matched 3-day relaxation training intervention without a mindfulness component) reduced right amygdala-sgACC rsFC in a sample of stressed unemployed community adults (n = 35). Although stress may increase amygdala-sgACC rsFC, brief training in mindfulness meditation could reverse these effects. This work provides an initial indication that mindfulness meditation training promotes functional neuroplastic changes, suggesting an amygdala-sgACC pathway for stress reduction effects.
authors.affiliation: Center for Neuroscience, University of Pittsburgh, Department of Psychology and Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, Carnegie Mellon University.
authors.forename: Adrienne A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Taren
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology and Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, University of Pittsburgh, and.
authors.forename: Peter J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Gianaros
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Carol M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Greco
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology and Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, Carnegie Mellon University.
authors.forename: Emily K
authors.initials: EK
authors.lastname: Lindsay
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology and Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, Carnegie Mellon University.
authors.forename: April
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fairgrieve
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Kirk Warren
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology and Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, University of Pittsburgh, and.
authors.forename: Rhonda K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Rosen
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology and Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, Carnegie Mellon University.
authors.forename: Jennifer L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Ferris
authors.affiliation: California State University, Los Angeles, CA 90032, USA, and.
authors.forename: Erica
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Julson
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology and Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, University of Pittsburgh, and.
authors.forename: Anna L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Marsland
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology and Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, Carnegie Mellon University.
authors.forename: James K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Bursley
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Illinois, Chicago, IL, USA.
authors.forename: Jared
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ramsburg
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology and Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, Carnegie Mellon University, creswell@cmu.edu.
authors.forename: J David
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Creswell
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000679:Amygdala / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006179:Gyrus Cinguli / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D064866:Mindfulness; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000503:physiopathology*; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity; D012064:Relaxation Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D016037:Single-Blind Method; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy*; D014478:Unemployment / Q000523:psychology
keywords: amygdala; cingulate; health; mindfulness; stress