The Effect of Mindfulness Meditation on Impulsivity and its Neurobiological Correlates in Healthy Adults

Abstract

Interest has grown in using mindfulness meditation to treat conditions featuring excessive impulsivity. However, while prior studies find that mindfulness practice can improve attention, it remains unclear whether it improves other cognitive faculties whose deficiency can contribute to impulsivity. Here, an eight-week mindfulness intervention did not reduce impulsivity on the go/no-go task or Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS-11), nor produce changes in neural correlates of impulsivity (i.e. frontostriatal gray matter, functional connectivity, and dopamine levels) compared to active or wait-list control groups. Separately, long-term meditators (LTMs) did not perform differently than meditation-naïve participants (MNPs) on the go/no-go task. However, LTMs self-reported lower attentional impulsivity, but higher motor and non-planning impulsivity on the BIS-11 than MNPs. LTMs had less striatal gray matter, greater cortico-striatal-thalamic functional connectivity, and lower spontaneous eye-blink rate (a physiological dopamine indicator) than MNPs. LTM total lifetime practice hours (TLPH) did not significantly relate to impulsivity or neurobiological metrics. Findings suggest that neither short- nor long-term mindfulness practice may be effective for redressing impulsive behavior derived from inhibitory motor control or planning capacity deficits in healthy adults. Given the absence of TLPH relationships to impulsivity or neurobiological metrics, differences between LTMs and MNPs may be attributable to pre-existing differences.

Non-replication of structural brain changes from Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction: Two combined randomized controlled trials

“…for MBSR compared to the Health Enhancement Program (HEP) active control group, or the waitlist (WL) control group, in the whole-brain analysis. This is consistent with a prior whole-brain analysis of GMV conducted with sample one (Korponay et al, 2019). There were no significant interactions between MBSR and HEP practice time and change in GMV in the whole-brain analysis.…”

Effects of Mindfulness Training Program on the Impulsivity Among Students with Learning Disabilities

“…There are different demonstrations of mindfulness results, such as reducing rumination (Calvete et al, 2017;Korponay et al, 2019), increasing self-control (Franco et al, 2016;Yusainy & Lawrence, 2014). Additionally, mindfulness practices may help reduce internal behaviors in which participants became less affected by mood and urgency.…”

Mindfulness and Shinrin-Yoku: Potential for Physiological and Psychological Interventions during Uncertain Times

“…SY experiences have demonstrated a decrease in the stress response [ 38 ] and multiple overall health benefits [ 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 ]. Mindfulness and SY have shown an increase in positive emotional responses [ 31 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 ], neuroendocrine effects [ 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 ], and even neurobiological responses [ 35 , 36 , 37 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 ]. The greatest effects may be best utilized together with the support of the symbiotic relationship of humanity and nature [ 60 , 61 , 62 , 63 , 64 , 65 ].…”

“…The neurobiological correlates of mindfulness meditation are especially interesting on impulsivity and emotional regulation [ 35 , 36 , 37 ]. Guendelman et al [ 37 ] explored mindfulness-based regulation interventions to more clearly explore and define a top-down and bottom-up perspective.…”