Parkinson Tracie D, Kornelsen Jennifer, Smith Stephen D
Department of Psychology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada.
Department of Radiology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada.
Front Hum Neurosci. 2019 Apr 12;13:112. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2019.00112. eCollection 2019.
Mindfulness has been described as an orienting of attention to the present moment, with openness and compassion. Individuals displaying high mindfulness exhibit this tendency as a more permanent personality attribute. Given the numerous physical and mental health benefits associated with mindfulness, there is a great interest in understanding the neural substrates of this trait. The purpose of the current research was to examine how individual differences in trait mindfulness associated with functional connectivity in five resting-state networks related to cognition and attention: the default mode network (DMN), the salience network (SN), the central executive network (CEN), and the dorsal and ventral attention networks (DAN and VAN). Twenty-eight undergraduate participants completed the Five-Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ), a self-report measure of trait mindfulness which also provides scores on five of its sub-categories (, , , , and ). Participants then underwent a structural MRI scan and a 7-min resting state functional MRI scan. Resting-state data were analyzed using independent-component analyses. An analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was performed to determine the relationship between each resting state network and each FFMQ score. These analyses indicated that: (1) trait mindfulness and its facets showed increased functional connectivity with neural regions related to attentional control, interoception, and executive function; and (2) trait mindfulness and its facets showed decreased functional connectivity with neural regions related to self-referential processing and mind wandering. These patterns of functional connectivity are consistent with some of the benefits of mindfulness-enhanced attention, self-regulation, and focus on present experience. This study provides support for the notion that non-judgmental attention to the present moment facilitates the integration of regions in neural networks that are related to cognition, attention, and sensation.
正念被描述为以开放和慈悲的态度将注意力导向当下。表现出高度正念的个体将这种倾向展现为一种更为持久的人格特质。鉴于正念与诸多身心健康益处相关，人们对理解这一特质的神经基础有着浓厚兴趣。当前研究的目的是考察特质正念方面的个体差异如何与五个与认知和注意力相关的静息态网络中的功能连接性相关：默认模式网络（DMN）、突显网络（SN）、中央执行网络（CEN）以及背侧和腹侧注意网络（DAN和VAN）。28名本科参与者完成了五因素正念问卷（FFMQ），这是一种特质正念的自我报告测量工具，它还能提供五个子类别（、、、和）的得分。参与者随后接受了一次结构磁共振成像扫描和一次7分钟的静息态功能磁共振成像扫描。静息态数据使用独立成分分析进行分析。进行了协方差分析（ANCOVA）以确定每个静息态网络与每个FFMQ得分之间的关系。这些分析表明：（1）特质正念及其各个方面与与注意力控制、内感受和执行功能相关的神经区域的功能连接性增加；（2）特质正念及其各个方面与与自我参照加工和走神相关的神经区域的功能连接性降低。这些功能连接模式与正念增强注意力、自我调节以及专注于当下体验的一些益处相一致。本研究为以下观点提供了支持，即对当下的非评判性关注有助于神经网络中与认知、注意力和感觉相关区域的整合。
