Mindfulness meditation changes the boundary and configuration of the primary functional networks in the brain

Abstract

Research has shown that meditation not only improves our cognitive and motivational functioning (e.g., attention, mental health), it influences the way how our brain networks [e.g., default mode network (DMN), fronto-parietal network (FPN), and sensory-motor network (SMN)] function and operate. However, surprisingly little attention has been paid to the possibility that meditation alters the structure (composition) of these functional brain networks. Here, using a single-case experimental design with longitudinal intensive data, we examined the effect of mediation practice on intra-individual changes in the composition of whole-brain networks. The results showed that meditation (1) changed the community size (with a number of regions in the FPN being merged into the DMN after meditation), (2) changed the brain regions composing the SMN community without changing its size, and (3) led to instability in the community allegiance of the regions in the FPN. These results suggest that, in addition to altering specific functional connectivity, meditation leads to reconfiguration of whole-brain network structure. The reconfiguration of community structure in the brain provides fruitful information about the neural mechanisms of meditation.