Minding one's emotions: mindfulness training alters the neural expression of sadness

Abstract

Recovery from emotional challenge and increased tolerance of negative affect are both hallmarks of mental health. Mindfulness training (MT) has been shown to facilitate these outcomes, yet little is known about its mechanisms of action. The present study employed functional MRI (fMRI) to compare neural reactivity to sadness provocation in participants completing 8 weeks of MT and waitlisted controls. Sadness resulted in widespread recruitment of regions associated with self-referential processes along the cortical midline. Despite equivalent self-reported sadness, MT participants demonstrated a distinct neural response, with greater right-lateralized recruitment, including visceral and somatosensory areas associated with body sensation. The greater somatic recruitment observed in the MT group during evoked sadness was associated with decreased depression scores. Restoring balance between affective and sensory neural networks-supporting conceptual and body based representations of emotion-could be one path through which mindfulness reduces vulnerability to dysphoric reactivity.

Conflict of interest statement

There were no conflicts of interest for any authors.

Figures

Figure 1

Regional activation (a) and deactivation (b) in response to sadness provocation in the control group (sad vs. neutral within-group contrast). Panel C provides some examples of both activation (Precuneus and mPFC) and deactivation (right insula) in the control group relative to a resting state baseline; activation/ deactivation is computed as the difference score between sad and neutral film clip activity. Pcn = precuneus; mPFC = medial prefrontal cortex; Opc = operculum; STS = superior temporal sulcus; Som = primary and secondary somatosensory cortices; rLPFC = right lateral prefrontal cortex; mCing = middle cingulate gyrus; sPar = superior parietal lobule; Ins = insula; Fus = fusiform; red clusters = sad > neutral (neu); blue clusters = neutral > sad.

Figure 2

Differences in regional activation and deactivation between control and mindfulness training (MT) groups in response to sadness provocation (the interaction between-groups and sad vs. neutral within-group contrasts). Top panel: sadness-related deactivations in the control group with nonsignificant activity in the MT group (red clusters = MT > control); bottom panel: sadness-related activations in the control group with nonsignificant activity in the MT group (blue clusters = control > MT). Error bars are 95% confidence intervals. LPFC = lateral prefrontal cortex; STS = superior temporal sulcus/Wernicke’s area.

Figure 3

Correlation plot between the right insula percentage signal change from all participants (control and mindfulness training [MT]) and their raw Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) scores. Greater BDI-II scores at time of functional MRI scan predict greater reductions of activity in the right insula region of interest (ROI).