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Cited by 110Mindfulness and Compassion InterventionsPsychological Well-being and Life SatisfactionReligion, Spirituality, and Psychology

Change in Brainstem Gray Matter Concentration Following a Mindfulness-Based Intervention is Correlated with Improvement in Psychological Well-Being

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Singleton, Omar, Hölzel, Britta K., Vangel, Mark, Brach, Narayan, Carmody, James, Lazar, Sara W.·2014·Frontiers in Human Neuroscience
DOI 10.3389/fnhum.2014.00033PMC PMC3927233
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Abstract

Individuals can improve their levels of psychological well-being (PWB) through utilization of psychological interventions, including the practice of mindfulness meditation, which is defined as the non-judgmental awareness of experiences in the present moment. We recently reported that an 8-week-mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) course lead to increases in gray matter concentration in several brain areas, as detected with voxel-based morphometry of magnetization prepared rapid acquisition gradient echo MRI scans, including the pons/raphe/locus coeruleus area of the brainstem. Given the role of the pons and raphe in mood and arousal, we hypothesized that changes in this region might underlie changes in well-being. A subset of 14 healthy individuals from a previously published data set completed anatomical MRI and filled out the PWB scale before and after MBSR participation. PWB change was used as the predictive regressor for changes in gray matter density within those brain regions that had previously shown pre- to post-MBSR changes. Results showed that scores on five PWB subscales as well as the PWB total score increased significantly over the MBSR course. The change was positively correlated with gray matter concentration increases in two symmetrically bilateral clusters in the brainstem. Those clusters appeared to contain the area of the pontine tegmentum, locus coeruleus, nucleus raphe pontis, and the sensory trigeminal nucleus. No clusters were negatively correlated with the change in PWB. This preliminary study suggests a neural correlate of enhanced PWB. The identified brain areas include the sites of synthesis and release of the neurotransmitters, norepinephrine and serotonin, which are involved in the modulation of arousal and mood, and have been related to a variety of affective functions as well as associated clinical dysfunctions.

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  • The ability of Mindfulness meditation to alleviate stress, induce relaxation, and regulate anxiety is widely accepted in scientific research and clinical contexts.

    “the ability of Mindfulness meditation to alleviate stress, induce relaxation, and regulate anxiety is now a widely accepted phenomenon in scientific research as well as clinical contexts (e.g., [12, 98–101]).”

    From The Influence of Buddhist Meditation Traditions on the Autonomic System and Attention (2015) · cites this paper as [99]

    The Introduction says mindfulness interventions improve anxiety symptoms and have been incorporated into psychotherapy. The Discussion describes an extensive research base for improved well-being and refers to stress-reducing interventions, but our copy does not establish that mindfulness induces relaxation. Thus, it supports much of the broad background claim, but not that specific effect. (LLM, conf=0.83)

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Cited by

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Authors
Singleton, O., Hölzel, B. K., Vangel, M., Brach, N., Carmody, J., & Lazar, S. W.
Affiliations
  • Harvard University (US)
  • Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin (DE)
  • Palo Alto University (US)
  • University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School (US)
Corresponding author
Lazar, Sara W.
ORCID
Venue
Frontiers in Human Neuroscience
Publisher
Frontiers Media SA
Published
2014
Volume
8
Pages
33-33
ISSN
1662-5161 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.3389/fnhum.2014.00033
PMC
PMC3927233
OpenAlex
W2126379859
Cited by
110
References
38
Citations by year
2026: 4 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 11 · 2023: 12 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 15 · 2019: 8 · 2018: 10 · 2017: 6 · 2016: 13 · 2015: 11 · 2014: 4
FWCI
13.41
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by
Locations
  • Frontiers in Human Neuroscience (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Digital Access to Scholarship at Harvard (DASH) (Harvard University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Funders
  • National Institutes of Health
  • National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine
  • National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (R21AT003425, K01AT000694, R01AT006344)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction
  • Social Sciences › Health › Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology
Keywords
mindfulness-based stress reduction, mindfulness meditation, psychological well-being, gray matter density, locus coeruleus, pontine tegmentum, norepinephrine, serotonin

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