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Impact of a mindfulness-based intervention on neurobehavioral functioning and its association with large-scale brain
Vanessa Siffredi1,2,3, Maria Chiara Liverani1,4, Natalia Fernandez1
1Division of Development and Growth, Department of Paediatrics, Gynaecology and Obstetrics, Geneva University Hospitals and University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
Insights
Mindfulness training improved executive function in adolescents born very preterm. These improvements were linked to changes in brain network activity, specifically in areas related to self-regulation and attention.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Psychology
- Clinical Psychology
Background:
- Adolescents born very preterm (VPT) exhibit higher risks for executive, behavioral, and socioemotional challenges.
- Mindfulness-based interventions (MBI) show promise in enhancing these cognitive and emotional abilities.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine how an 8-week MBI impacts executive, behavioral, and socioemotional functioning in VPT adolescents.
- To investigate the association between MBI-induced neurobehavioral changes and alterations in large-scale brain network dynamics during rest.
Main Methods:
- 32 VPT adolescents underwent neurobehavioral assessments and resting-state fMRI before and after an 8-week MBI.
- Dynamic functional connectivity analysis using the innovation-driven coactivation patterns framework was applied.
- The reliable change index quantified post-intervention improvements, with multivariate analyses exploring links between behavioral and neural changes.
Main Results:
- VPT adolescents demonstrated lower executive and socioemotional functioning compared to term-born controls pre-MBI.
- Significant improvements in all previously reduced measures were observed post-MBI.
- Enhanced executive functioning correlated with reliable changes in the activation duration of frontolimbic, amygdala-hippocampus, dorsolateral prefrontal, and visual networks.
Conclusions:
- MBI effectively improved executive functioning in VPT adolescents.
- These functional gains were associated with significant, reliable changes in the temporal dynamics of key brain networks.
- The observed neural changes support MBI's role in enhancing self-regulation, attentional control, and sensory awareness in this population.
Aim:
Adolescents born very preterm (VPT; <32 weeks of gestation) face an elevated risk of executive, behavioral, and socioemotional difficulties. Evidence suggests beneficial effects of mindfulness-based intervention (MBI) on these abilities. This study seeks to investigate the association between the effects of MBI on executive, behavioral, and socioemotional functioning and reliable changes in large-scale brain networks dynamics during rest in VPT young adolescents who completed an 8-week MBI program.
Methods:
Neurobehavioral assessments and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging were performed before and after MBI in 32 VPT young adolescents. Neurobehavioral abilities in VPT participants were compared with full-term controls. In the VPT group, dynamic functional connectivity was extracted by using the innovation-driven coactivation patterns framework. The reliable change index was used to quantify change after MBI. A multivariate data-driven approach was used to explore associations between MBI-related changes on neurobehavioral measures and temporal brain dynamics.
Results:
Compared with term-born controls, VPT adolescents showed reduced executive and socioemotional functioning before MBI. After MBI, a significant improvement was observed for all measures that were previously reduced in the VPT group. The increase in executive functioning, only, was associated with reliable changes in the duration of activation of large-scale brain networks, including frontolimbic, amygdala-hippocampus, dorsolateral prefrontal, and visual networks.
Conclusion:
The improvement in executive functioning after an MBI was associated with reliable changes in large-scale brain network dynamics during rest. These changes encompassed frontolimbic, amygdala-hippocampus, dorsolateral prefrontal, and visual networks that are related to different executive processes including self-regulation, attentional control, and attentional awareness of relevant sensory stimuli.
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