Mindfulness Meditation Training Reshapes Somatomotor Edge-Centric Connectivity Underlying Somatic Awareness: Insights for Healthy and Depressed Individuals
medRxiv July 29, 2025 Yuwen He, Shan Lei, Wangli Si et al. preprint
Mindfulness meditation training alters functional connectivity in the somatomotor network (SMN) in both healthy and depressed populations. In 51 healthy and 35 depressed participants, common changes involved SMN-attentional network connections, suggesting that training modulates attention through somatic awareness. Population-specific changes also emerged: healthy individuals showed SMN-subcortical network shifts, indicating more pervasive effects on automatic processes, while depressed individuals showed SMN-default mode network interactions, which may explain why mindfulness is effective for depression. These altered connectivity patterns significantly predicted insomnia improvements after training in both groups, highlighting shared and distinct neural mechanisms underlying mindfulness-related mental health benefits.