title: Pons to Posterior Cingulate Functional Projections Predict Affective Processing Changes in the Elderly Following Eight Weeks of Meditation Training.
abstract: Evidence indicates meditation facilitates affective regulation and reduces negative affect. It also influences resting-state functional connectivity between affective networks and the posterior cingulate (PCC)/precuneus, regions critically implicated in self-referential processing. However, no longitudinal study employing active control group has examined the effect of meditation training on affective processing, PCC/precuneus connectivity, and their association. Here, we report that eight-week meditation, but not relaxation, training 'neutralized' affective processing of positive and negative stimuli in healthy elderly participants. Additionally, meditation versus relaxation training increased the positive connectivity between the PCC/precuneus and the pons, the direction of which was largely directed from the pons to the PCC/precuneus, as revealed by dynamic causal modeling. Further, changes in connectivity between the PCC/precuneus and pons predicted changes in affective processing after meditation training. These findings indicate meditation promotes self-referential affective regulation based on increased regulatory influence of the pons on PCC/precuneus, which new affective-processing strategy is employed across both resting state and when evaluating affective stimuli. Such insights have clinical implications on interventions on elderly individuals with affective disorders.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Neuropsychology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong; Laboratory of Cognitive Affective Neuroscience, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: Robin
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Shao
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Neuropsychology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong; Laboratory of Cognitive Affective Neuroscience, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: Kati
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Keuper
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Neuropsychology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong; Laboratory of Cognitive Affective Neuroscience, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong; The State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong. Electronic address: gengx@hku.hk.
authors.forename: Xiujuan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Geng
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Neuropsychology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong; Laboratory of Cognitive Affective Neuroscience, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong; The State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong; Institute of Clinical Neuropsychology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong. Electronic address: tmclee@hku.hk.
authors.forename: Tatia M C
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology; D001931:Brain Mapping; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D006179:Gyrus Cinguli / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D019122:Meditation; D008875:Middle Aged; D011149:Pons / Q000502:physiology*; D012063:Relaxation
keywords: Affective processing; Functional connectivity; Meditation; Pons; Resting-state MRI