A preliminary neuroimaging investigation of the effects of mindfulness training on attention reorienting and amygdala reactivity to emotional faces in adolescent and adult females.
- Resource Type
- Academic Journal
- Authors
- Dumontheil I; Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London, London, UK.; Centre for Educational Neuroscience, University of London, London, UK.; Lyons KE; Department of Psychological Sciences, Metropolitan State University of Denver, Denver, Colorado, USA.; Russell TA; Department of Neuroimaging, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.; Zelazo PD; Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.
- Source
- Publisher: Elsevier Country of Publication: England NLM ID: 7808986 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1095-9254 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 01401971 NLM ISO Abbreviation: J Adolesc Subsets: MEDLINE
- Subject
- Language
- English
Introduction: Adolescence is a time of increased emotional reactivity and improving cognitive control. Mindfulness meditation training may foster adolescents' cognitive control and emotional regulation skills; however little is known about the impact of mindfulness training in adolescents compared to adults. We examined the effect of mindfulness meditation versus a closely matched active control condition (relaxation training) on behavioral and neural measures of cognitive control and emotional reactivity in a small group of adolescents and adults.
Methods: Structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging data were collected before and after 8 weeks of training in 26 adolescent (12-14 years) and 17 adult (23-33 years) female participants in the United Kingdom while they completed an n-back task with emotional face distractors and an attentional control task. Participants of each group chose a class date/time and the classes were then randomly allocated to mindfulness or relaxation conditions.
Results: Compared to relaxation training, mindfulness training led to an increase in the speed of reorienting attention across age groups. In addition, there was preliminary evidence for reduced amygdala response to emotional face distractors in adolescents after mindfulness training.
Conclusions: An 8-week mindfulness program showed similar facilitative effects in adolescent and adult females on the reorienting of attention, a skill that is repeatedly practiced during mindfulness meditation. Mindfulness also reduced left amygdala reactivity to emotional face distractors in adolescents only. Mindfulness meditation practice can therefore have a facilitative effect on female adolescents' attentional control, and possibly attenuate their emotional reactivity.
(© 2022 The Foundation for Professionals in Services for Adolescents.)