Abstract #3757

Increased functional connectivity associates with the improved emotion regulation after 8-week mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) training using resting-state fMRI analysis

Yao-Chia Shih^1,2, Chang-Le Chen^2,3, Shih-Chin Fang⁴, Tzung-Kuen Wen⁵, Da-Lun Tang⁶, Si-Chen Lee⁷, and Wen-Yih Issac Tseng^2,3,8

¹Institute of Biomedical Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, ²Institute of Medical Device and Imaging, National Taiwan University College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan, ³Graduate Institute of Brain and Mind Sciences, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, ⁴Department of Neurology, Cardinal Tien Hospital Yonghe Branch, New Taipei City, Taiwan, ⁵Department of Buddhist Studies, Dharma Drum Institute of Liberal Arts, New Taipei City, Taiwan, ⁶Department of Mass Communication, Tamkang University, Taipei, Taiwan, ⁷Department of Electrical Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, ⁸Molecular Imaging Center, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan

Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) is modified from Buddhist traditions and aims to improve self-regulation. In this study, we employed the resting-state functional MRI to investigate changes of functional connectivity (FC) before and after MBSR practice, and before and after 8-week MBSR training. We hypothesized that changes in FC may reflect improvements of self-regulation after MBSR training. We found MBSR strengthened FC couplings of right subgenual anterior cingulate cortex and lateral middle orbitofrontal cortex with posterior cingulate cortex in the beginners after 8-week MBSR training. Our findings reveal an underlying neural mechanism of positive effects of MBSR practice on emotional regulation.

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