Forty days of mindfulness meditation training in 13 novice meditators altered functional connectivity in brain networks linked to self-referential thought and emotion regulation. During meditation, internal consistency increased in the precuneus and temporoparietal junction but decreased in frontal regions, and connectivity between the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and anterior insula was reduced. After training, resting-state connectivity between the pregenual anterior cingulate and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex decreased. Participants also reported significantly reduced depression and anxiety scores. These results suggest that meditation may produce antidepressant effects through neuroplastic changes in brain networks underlying affective disorders.
The default-mode network (DMN) in rats contains three coactive micropattern (CAMP) networks that show greater functional connectivity and efficiency than the original DMN structure across all states of consciousness. In the waking state, these three networks do not differ significantly in connectivity or network properties, but in two sleep states they exhibit distinct characteristics, suggesting each plays a specific role. Changes in the CAMP networks' connectivity and properties mirror those of the original DMN, indicating that different states of consciousness intrinsically affect DMN dynamics. These findings deepen understanding of how DMN functional connectivity alters during the sleep-wake cycle.
The first neural recordings during the ecstatic meditative states called jhanas show that the extreme joy reported by an experienced meditator is associated with activation of the nucleus accumbens in the brain's dopamine/opioid reward system, along with changes in 10 other brain regions. These brain changes occurred promptly after entering jhana. The findings demonstrate an apparently novel method of self-stimulating a brain reward system using only internal mental processes, as three possible external mechanisms were tested and rejected.