The Effect of Web-based Mindfulness Training on Cerebral Respiratory Sensation: An fMRI Study
Poster No:
2114
Submission Type:
Abstract Submission
Authors:
Pei-Ying Chan1,2, Wen-Pin Chang3, Ai-Ling Hsu4, Changwei Wu5
Institutions:
1Department of Occupational Therapy, College of Medicine, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan City, Taiwan, 2Department of Psychiatry, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital at Linkou, Taoyuan City, Taiwan, 3Department of Occupational Therapy, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Edinburg, TX, 4Bachelor Program in Artificial Intelligence, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan City, Taiwan, 5Graduate Institute of Mind, Brain and Consciousness, Taipei Municipal Univeristy, Taipei, Taiwan
First Author:
Pei-Ying Chan
Department of Occupational Therapy, College of Medicine, Chang Gung University|Department of Psychiatry, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital at Linkou
Taoyuan City, Taiwan|Taoyuan City, Taiwan
Department of Occupational Therapy, College of Medicine, Chang Gung University|Department of Psychiatry, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital at Linkou
Taoyuan City, Taiwan|Taoyuan City, Taiwan
Co-Author(s):
Wen-Pin Chang
Department of Occupational Therapy, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
Edinburg, TX
Department of Occupational Therapy, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
Edinburg, TX
Changwei Wu
Graduate Institute of Mind, Brain and Consciousness, Taipei Municipal Univeristy
Taipei, Taiwan
Graduate Institute of Mind, Brain and Consciousness, Taipei Municipal Univeristy
Taipei, Taiwan
Introduction:
Past research has suggested that cultivating interoceptive awareness by focusing on neutral internal sensations like breathing exercises in mindfulness practice could improve the capacity to notice and respond to internal sensations when experiencing distress (Daubenmier et al., 2013). However, there is limited evidence regarding the impact of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) training in terms of functional connectivity network under experimental respiratory interoceptive challenges. Inspiratory occlusions provide a straightforward method to establish strong experimental setups (Harrison et al., 2021). The present study aims to determine the effects of an 8-week online self-paced MBSR education training on the changes in the functional connectivity network when the participants underwent the respiratory obstruction task. Previous studies have shown that the online MBSR significantly reduces depression, anxiety, and stress with a pooled 94% adherence rate (Witarto et al., 2022), which is cost-effective when face-to-face interventions are impossible or limited. We hypothesized that the group participating in the 8-week self-paced MBSR would demonstrate increased functional connectivity in the frontoparietal network (FPN) compared to the control group.
Methods:
A group of healthy adults who had never taken mindfulness training were recruited by convenience sampling method. Each participant completed the fMRI image acquisition using a 3-T MRI scanner at baseline and approximately 8 weeks at post-test. The experimental group received an 8-week video-prerecorded mindfulness training program consisting weekly modules of practice. The control group received no intervention. During the 12-minute scan, the participant was asked to breathe normally with a customized facemask while experiencing intermittent respiratory obstructions every 2-4 breaths.
After preprocessing, a seed-based functional connectivity analysis during the task was performed to characterize the connectivity patterns between the seed of the bilateral lateral prefrontal cortex (bLPFC) and the rest of the brain using a weighted general linear model (Nieto-Castanon, 2020). Voxel-wise statistical analyses were performed to identify the connections with significantly changed strengths following the 8-week intervention for participants in both experimental and control groups (FDR-corrected p < 0.05).
After preprocessing, a seed-based functional connectivity analysis during the task was performed to characterize the connectivity patterns between the seed of the bilateral lateral prefrontal cortex (bLPFC) and the rest of the brain using a weighted general linear model (Nieto-Castanon, 2020). Voxel-wise statistical analyses were performed to identify the connections with significantly changed strengths following the 8-week intervention for participants in both experimental and control groups (FDR-corrected p < 0.05).
Results:
Figure 1 on the FPN map between the control and MBSR groups showed a statistically significant POST-PRE increased activation in the functional connectivity between the bLPFC and sensorimotor area in the MBSR group than the control group (FDR-corrected p < 0.05). Additionally, there was a POST-PRE change in the MBSR group, demonstrating a significantly decreased functional connectivity between the bLPFC and superior frontal cortex with a cluster of 132 voxels (FDR-corrected p < 0.05). Interestingly, there was a significantly reduced functional connectivity between the bLPFC and sensorimotor area with a cluster of 98 voxels in the control group (FDR-corrected p < 0.05).
Conclusions:
The present study provides evidence that an 8-week online MBSR program significantly enhances functional connectivity within the FPN. Future studies should explore differential effects between the online and in-person mindfulness trainings towards functional connectivity in respiratory interoceptive processing.
Perception, Attention and Motor Behavior:
Perception: Tactile/Somatosensory 2
Perception and Attention Other
Physiology, Metabolism and Neurotransmission:
Neurophysiology of Imaging Signals 1
Keywords:
Cortex
FUNCTIONAL MRI
Perception
Somatosensory
Other - respiratory sensation; mindfulness education; inspiratory occlusions
1|2Indicates the priority used for review
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Healthy subjects only or patients (note that patient studies may also involve healthy subjects):
Was this research conducted in the United States?
Were any human subjects research approved by the relevant Institutional Review Board or ethics panel? NOTE: Any human subjects studies without IRB approval will be automatically rejected.
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Provide references using APA citation style.
Harrison, O. K., Köchli, L., Marino, S., Luechinger, R., Hennel, F., Brand, K., Hess, A. J., Frässle, S., Iglesias, S., Vinckier, F., Petzschner, F. H., Harrison, S. M., & Stephan, K. E. (2021). Interoception of breathing and its relationship with anxiety. Neuron, 109(24), 4080-4093.e8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2021.09.045.
Nieto-Castanon, A. (2020). Functional Connectivity measures. In Handbook of functional connectivity Magnetic Resonance Imaging methods in CONN. Hilbert Press.
Witarto, B. S., Visuddho, V., Witarto, A. P., Bestari, D., Sawitri, B., Melapi, T. a. S., & Wungu, C. D. K. (2022). Effectiveness of online mindfulness-based interventions in improving mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. PloS One, 17(9), e0274177. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0274177