Table 1.
Evidence of changes after mindfulness meditation.
| Reference | Sample | Mean age | Duration | Results | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Neuroimaging studies | |||||
| (58) | Experienced mindfulness meditators/non-meditators | 33.8 | Meditators had 7.9 years of experience | Enhanced activation during meditation | Anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) (self-regulation of attention and emotion) |
| (47) | Students (integrative body-mind training vs. relaxation training) | 21.5 | 5 days, 20 min a day | Greater activation of the ventral and/or rostral ACC during resting state after meditation | |
| (47) | Enhancement of the caudate nucleus and putamen during resting state following mindfulness meditation | Striatum (regulation of attention and emotion) | |||
| (41) | Experienced mindfulness meditators vs. healthy non-meditators | 50.5 | 10 years experience | Reduced activation of the DMN during meditation | Default-mode network (brain network that is active in the resting state and inactive during task performance) |
| Stronger functional connectivity of: posterior cingulate, dorsal anterior cingulate, and dorsolateral prefrontal cortices | |||||
| (59) | Healthy participants | 26 | 6 weeks, 1066 min practice in total | Enhanced dorsolateral PFC activation during an emotional Stroop task | Prefrontal cortex (PFC) (attention and emotion) |
| (60) | Patients with general anxiety disorder vs. healthy controls | 37.9 | 8-week program, once weekly, teacher-led group meetings plus one “day of mindfulness” in the sixth week of the course | Greater dorsolateral and dorsomedial PFC activation when participants were engaging in a mindful state while expecting to see negative emotional images | |
| Clinical studies | |||||
| (50) | Patients with ADHD | 39.5 | 12 weekly sessions of 3 h MBCT, at-home practice | Reduced hyperactivity/impulsivity, as well as improved attention control | |
| (61) | Patients with ADHD | 48.5 | 8 weekly sessions of 2.5 h of mindfulness training and daily at-home practice | Improvements in self-reported ADHD symptoms, anxiety and depression, improved performance on tasks measuring attention and cognitive inhibition | |
| (49) | Patients with ADHD | 40.5 | 8 weekly sessions of 2.5 h of mindfulness training and daily at-home practice | Improved self-reported ADHD symptoms and improvement in executive functioning and in measured clinical ratings of ADHD symptoms | |