Abstract
Meditation as a cognitive enhancement technique is of growing interest in the field of health and research on brain function. The Stroop Word-Color Task (SWCT) has been adapted for neuroimaging studies as an interesting paradigm for the understanding of cognitive control mechanisms. Performance in the SWCT requires both attention and impulse control, which is trained in meditation practices. We presented SWCT inside the MRI equipment to measure the performance of meditators compared with non-meditators before and after a meditation retreat. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of a 7-day Zen intensive meditation training (a retreat) on meditators and non-meditators in this task on performance level and neural mechanisms. Nineteen meditators and 14 non-meditators were scanned before and after a 7-day Zen meditation retreat. No significant differences were found between meditators and non-meditators in the number of the correct responses and response time (RT) during SWCT before and after the retreat. Probably, due to meditators training in attention, their brain activity in the contrast incongruent > neutral during the SWCT in the anterior cingulate, ventromedial prefrontal cortex/anterior cingulate, caudate/putamen/pallidum/temporal lobe (center), insula/putamen/temporal lobe (right) and posterior cingulate before the retreat, were reduced compared with non-meditators. After the meditation retreat, non-meditators had reduced activation in these regions, becoming similar to meditators before the retreat. This result could be interpreted as an increase in the brain efficiency of non-meditators (less brain activation in attention-related regions and same behavioral response) promoted by their intensive training in meditation in only 7 days. On the other hand, meditators showed an increase in brain activation in these regions after the same training. Intensive meditation training (retreat) presented distinct effects on the attention-related regions in meditators and non-meditators probably due to differences in expertise, attention processing as well as neuroplasticity.
Highlights
There is growing interest in meditation as a way to improve cognitive performance and emotional balance
A meta-analysis reviewed 78 functional neuroimaging studies and revealed that despite of dissociable patterns for different meditation categories (such as focused attention (FA), open monitoring, mantra and compassion/loving-kindness meditation practices) brain regions, involved in cognitive control, proprioception and motor regulation are commonly presented in all these styles: insula, dorsal anterior cingulate, frontopolar, pre/supplementary motor cortices (Fox et al, 2016)
A significant group∗time interaction on brain activation in the contrast INC > NEU was observed in clusters encompassing the anterior cingulate/ventromedial prefrontal cortex, putamen/pallidum/caudate/temporal lobe, insula/putamen/temporal lobe and the posterior cingulate (Table 3, Figure 2)
Summary
There is growing interest in meditation as a way to improve cognitive performance and emotional balance. Even though researches suggest that meditation modulates brain activities associated with cognitive control, the neural mechanisms underlying the benefits of meditation are not completely understood It might be, for some authors, a ‘‘top–down’’ regulation strategy, while for others a ‘‘bottom–up’’. In another meta-analysis, the authors found brain differences in meditators compared with non-meditators or naïve meditators, in frontopolar and orbitofrontal cortex, insula, hippocampus, anterior and mid cingulate cortex, superior longitudinal fasciculus and corpus callosum. These regions are implicated in meta, interoceptive and exteroceptive awareness, memory, emotional regulation, intra and interhemispheric communication between brain regions (Fox et al, 2014)
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