Abstract
Mindfulness denotes a state of consciousness characterized by receptive attention to and awareness of present events and experiences. As a personality trait, it constitutes the ability to become aware of mental activities such as sensations, images, feelings, and thoughts, and to disengage from judgment, conditioned emotions, and their cognitive processing or automatic inhibition. Default brain activity reflects the stream of consciousness and sense of self at rest. Analysis of brain activity at rest in persons with mindfulness propensity may help to elucidate the neurophysiological basis of this important mental trait. The sample consisted of 32 persons—23 with mental disorders and 9 healthy controls. Dispositional mindfulness (DM) was operationalized by Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS). Brain activity at rest with eyes closed was assessed by fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (F-18-FDG PET). After adjustment for depression, anxiety, age and years of education, resting glucose metabolism in superior parietal lobule and left precuneus/Brodmann area (BA) 7 was positively associated with DM. Activity of the left inferior frontal orbital gyrus (BA 47) and bilateral anterior thalamus were inversely associated with DM. DM appears to be associated with increased metabolic activity in some core area of the default mode network (DMN) and areas connected to the DMN, such as BA 7, hosting sense of self functions. Hypometabolism on the other hand was found in some nodes connected to the DMN, such as left inferior frontal orbital gyrus and bilateral thalamus, commonly related to functions of memory retrieval, decision making, or outward attention.
Highlights
Mindfulness denotes a state of consciousness characterized by receptive attention to and awareness of present events and experiences. Kabat-Zinn (1994, p. 4) described mindfulness as Bpaying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally.^ the ability of mindfulness means the capacity of becoming aware of mental activities such as sensations, images, feelings, needs, and thoughts, without grasping neither into judgments nor strategic planning.Mindfulness is considered a personality trait (Brown and Ryan 2003) with important implications for mental and somatic health (Kabat-Zinn 1994, Siegel 2007)
Dispositional mindfulness was positively associated with resting glucose metabolism in the right superior parietal lobule within Brodmann areas 5/7 and in left precuneus and superior parietal lobule and negatively with the metabolic activity of the left inferior frontal orbital gyrus (BA 47) and bilateral anterior thalamus
Data from the literature supports the implication of superior parietal lobule in meditative
Summary
Mindfulness denotes a state of consciousness characterized by receptive attention to and awareness of present events and experiences. Kabat-Zinn (1994, p. 4) described mindfulness as Bpaying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally.^ the ability of mindfulness means the capacity of becoming aware of mental activities such as sensations, images, feelings, needs, and thoughts, without grasping neither into judgments nor strategic planning.Mindfulness is considered a personality trait (Brown and Ryan 2003) with important implications for mental and somatic health (Kabat-Zinn 1994, Siegel 2007). Mindfulness denotes a state of consciousness characterized by receptive attention to and awareness of present events and experiences. 4) described mindfulness as Bpaying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally.^ the ability of mindfulness means the capacity of becoming aware of mental activities such as sensations, images, feelings, needs, and thoughts, without grasping neither into judgments nor strategic planning. Mindfulness is considered a personality trait (Brown and Ryan 2003) with important implications for mental and somatic health (Kabat-Zinn 1994, Siegel 2007). Traumatic childhood experience may decrease the ability for mindfulness (Michal et al 2007), while mindfulness-based interventions improve health. Improvement of affect regulation by directing attentional resources towards a limbic pathway for present-moment sensory
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