Long-term mindfulness meditation increases occurrence of sensory and attention brain states.

Long-term mindfulness meditation practice shifts spontaneous brain activity toward states that synchronize sensory and perceptual cortical regions, while reducing time spent in frontal-lobe states linked to higher cognitive functions. Experienced meditators, compared to meditation-naïve participants, showed altered expression of resting-state networks during rest. These findings support a lasting effect of meditation on brain network dynamics and its therapeutic potential for disorders involving imbalanced network activity.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Interest has been growing in the use of mindfulness meditation (MM) as a therapeutic practice, as accumulating evidence highlights its potential to effectively address a range of mental conditions. While many fMRI studies focused on neural activation and functional connectivity during meditation, the impact of long-term MM practice on spontaneous brain activity, and on the expression of resting state networks over time, remains unclear. Here, intrinsic functional network dynamics were compared between experienced meditators and meditation-naïve participants during rest. Our analysis revealed that meditators tend to spend more time in two brain states that involve synchrony among cortical regions associated with sensory perception. Conversely, a brain state involving frontal areas associated with higher cognitive functions was detected less frequently in experienced meditators. These findings suggest that, by shifting attention toward enhanced sensory and embodied processing, MM effectively modulates the expression of functional network states at rest. These results support the suggested lasting effect of long-term MM on the modulation of resting-state networks, reinforcing its therapeutic potential for disorders characterized by imbalanced network dynamics. Moreover, this study reinforces the utility of analytic approaches from dynamical systems theory to extend current knowledge regarding brain activity and evaluate its response to interventions.