Brain Structure and Functional Connectivity Correlate with Psychosocial Development in Contemplative Practitioners and Controls

Abstract

Jane Loevinger’s theory of adult development, termed ego development (1966) and more recently maturity development, provides a useful framework for understanding the development of the self throughout the lifespan. However, few studies have investigated its neural correlates. In the present study, we use structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to investigate the neural correlates of maturity development in contemplative practitioners and controls. Since traits possessed by individuals with higher levels of maturity development are similar to those attributed to individuals at advanced stages of contemplative practice, we chose to investigate levels of maturity development in meditation practitioners as well as matched controls. We used the Maturity Assessment Profile (MAP) to measure maturity development in a mixed sample of participants composed of 14 long-term meditators, 16 long-term yoga practitioners, and 16 demographically matched controls. We investigated the relationship between contemplative practice and maturity development with behavioral, seed-based resting state functional connectivity, and cortical thickness analyses. The results of this study indicate that contemplative practitioners possess higher maturity development compared to a matched control group, and in addition, maturity development correlates with cortical thickness in the posterior cingulate. Furthermore, we identify a brain network implicated in theory of mind, narrative, and self-referential processing, comprising the posterior cingulate cortex, dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, temporoparietal junction, and inferior frontal cortex, as a primary neural correlate.

The ABC Model of Happiness—Neurobiological Aspects of Motivation and Positive Mood, and Their Dynamic Changes through Practice, the Course of Life

“…In this context, it is important to note that, e.g., for different meditation and mindfulness techniques, and for contemplative practice in general, an influence on the reward and motivation systems or a correlation with their function has been proven [ 69 , 73 , 74 , 112 , 113 , 114 ]. Long-term effects of contemplative practice have also been demonstrated, not only in relation to alterations in the limbic system, including the amygdala, insular cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, etc., but also to the connectivity between these areas [ 112 , 114 , 115 , 116 ]—in addition to areas for empathy, altruism and self-reference [ 68 , 112 , 117 , 118 , 119 , 120 ]. All of the areas mentioned are highly relevant to our considerations: Basically, meditation techniques, and mindfulness in particular, can influence essential social and emotional-affective functions, which in turn are connected to the reward system—and hence to the experience of happiness.…”

Grasping the paradoxical nature of wisdom through unconscious integrative complexity

“…Integrative Complexity is a component of Adult Ego Development (AED), which is the study of the development of the ego, also known as "the self, " in its process of maturation largely pioneered by Jane Loevinger (Loevinger, 1976(Loevinger, , 1987Singleton et al, 2021). Some key assumptions of AED are that psychological growth is characterized by paradigm shifts in seeing the world from simple to complex, static to dynamic, and inflexible to flexible (Cook-Greuter, 2004).…”