Central and autonomic nervous system interaction is altered by short-term meditation

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors reviewed the latest literature on the effectiveness of mindfulness meditation on ADHD, and explored the brain mechanism underlying ADHD intervention, and proposed a mindfulness-based preventive intervention for ADHD symptoms and treatments.

Abstract: Mindfulness meditation is linked to a broad range of psychological and physical health benefits, potentially mediated by changes in neural oscillations. This study explored changes in neural oscillations associated with both immediate and regular mindfulness meditation practice. Electroencephalographic (EEG) data were collected from 40 healthy young adults (Mage = 20.8, 24 females) during eyes-closed resting and mindfulness meditation states in two separate recording sessions, six weeks apart. Participants were novice meditators, and following the first recording session, were randomly assigned to either a daily mindfulness meditation practice or classical music listening as an active control, which they completed until the second recording session. Traditional bands of delta (1.0-3.5 Hz), theta (4.0-7.5 Hz), alpha (8.0-13.0 Hz), beta (13.5-30.0 Hz), and gamma (30.5-45.0 Hz) were used to explore changes in global EEG spectral amplitude. A significant increase in theta between sessions was observed in both groups and states. Alpha decreased significantly during meditation compared with rest, and a three-way interaction indicated a smaller reduction during meditation between sessions in the mindfulness group. There was a similar interaction in beta, which remained stable between sessions during both rest and meditation in the mindfulness group while varying in the classical music listening group. No significant effects were observed in global delta or gamma amplitudes. These findings suggest that changes in neural oscillations associated with breath-focused mindfulness meditation may be related to processes underlying attention and awareness. Further research is necessary to consolidate these findings, particularly in relation to the associated health benefits.

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors discuss future directions of the field of mindfulness, such as the from state to trait mindfulness, large-scale brain network dynamics in mindfulness, different stages of mindfulness and different states of practice, individual differences, the effects of combining mindfulness with other training regimens, and how to translate mindfulness into clinical practice.

TL;DR: A baseline state of the normal adult human brain in terms of the brain oxygen extraction fraction or OEF is identified, suggesting the existence of an organized, baseline default mode of brain function that is suspended during specific goal-directed behaviors.

TL;DR: It is suggested that both task-driven neuronal responses and behavior are reflections of this dynamic, ongoing, functional organization of the brain, featuring the presence of anticorrelated networks in the absence of overt task performance.

TL;DR: Recent studies examining spontaneous fluctuations in the blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) signal of functional magnetic resonance imaging as a potentially important and revealing manifestation of spontaneous neuronal activity are reviewed.

TL;DR: Various findings are reviewed in relation to the idea that ACC is a part of a circuit involved in a form of attention that serves to regulate both cognitive and emotional processing, and how the success of this regulation in controlling responses might be correlated with cingulate size.