Nature Vol. 16, 4/15, P214

Question 1

Brain state

Answer 1

A reliable pattern of activity and/or connectivity in multiple large-scale brain networks

Question 2

Sperduti, M. Et al. A neurocognitive model of meditation based on activation likelihood estimation meta-analysis. Consciousness and Cognition 21, 269-276 (2012)

Answer 2

Three areas showed clusters of activity:
The caudate - disengagement from irrelevant stimuli allowing meditative state
Parahippocampus - control stream of thought and maybe stop mind wandering
Medial PFC - support enhanced self awareness in meditation
- thought to be core cognitive network in experienced meditators

Question 3

Three components of attention

Answer 3

Alerting - readiness in preparation of an impending task

Orienting- selecting specific information from multiple sensory inputs

Conflict monitoring- monitoring and resolving conflict between computation in different networks; executive attention

Question 4

Attention Network Test ( ANT)

Answer 4

Test using an arrow pointing left or right and distractions. Quantified efficiency in the 3 components of attention.

Question 5

Alerting

Answer 5

Component of attention involving noradrenergis system ( locus coeruleus)

Question 6

Orienting

Answer 6

Component of attention involving frontal and parietal areas: frontal eye fields, inferior and superior parietal lobe

Question 7

Conflict monitoring

Answer 7

Component of attention involving the executive network for attention which include the ACC, anterior insula and basal ganglia

Question 8

Anterior Cingulate Cortex

vmPFC

Answer 8

Enables executive attention and control by detecting the presence of conflict emerging from incompatible streams of information processing.

Question 9

Brain region to which the effects of mindfulness training on attention is most consistently linked in structural and fMRI studies.

Answer 9

ACC

(Also dlPFC) J Neuroscience 32 15601-10 (2012)

(also putamen) decreased grey matter loss, increased sustained attention
Neurobiology of Aging 28, 1623-27(2010)

Question 10

Emotional regulation

Answer 10

Strategies that can influence which emotions arise and when, how long they occur and how these emotions are experienced and expressed

Question 11

Mindfulness based emotional regulation may include:

Answer 11

Attention deployment: attending to mental processes, including emotions (present moment awareness)
Cognitive change: changing typical patterns of appraisal of one’s emotions
Response modulation: decreasing tonic levels of suppression (or over-expression?) (non-judgmental acceptance)

Question 12

Brain regions activated in mindfulness meditation beginners

Answer 12

Lateral PFC and parietal cortex (attentional control and mental effort)

Question 13

Brain regions active in experienced mindfulness meditation

Answer 13

PFC-parietal often gone.

ACC, striatum and insula remain (decreased need for effort?)

Question 14

Down regulated connectivity with MB meditation

Emotional regulation

Answer 14

Two studies:
Executive-pain processing
Executive- craving related

Question 15

Positive connectivity with executive function in MB meditation

Answer 15

Frontal-amygdaloid

Not suppression, but better Mobutu. Might be unique signature of mindful emotional regulation

Question 16

Default mode network

Answer 16

Believed to be involved in self-referential processing.

mPFC, PCC, anterior precuneus, inferior parietal lobe

High activity during rest, mind-wandering and stimulus independent thought

Question 17

Insula in meditation

Answer 17

Stronger activation in compassion meditation and after mindfulness training.

Greater cortical thickness in experienced meditators

May represent increased present moment awareness

Question 18

Shift of self-referential processing to more self-detached

Answer 18

Uncoupling right insula from mPFC while strengthening connection to dlPFC (after mindfulness training)

Question 19

Areas of the brain showing most consistent change on structural and fMRI (longitudinal randomized control studies and meta-analyses(

Answer 19

ACC
PFC
PCC
insula 
Striatum- caudate and puts men
Amygdala

Question 20

Brain areas vulnerable to stress-induced brain plasticity

Answer 20

PFC
Hippocampus
Amygdala

Associated with fear-related memories and self-regulatory behavior

Question 21

Chronic stress induces less flexibility of attention shifting in rats and adult humans

Answer 21

Reduced apical dendritic arborization in raT ACC and fewer feedforward PFC connections

Recovered when stressor removed

Question 22

Effects on brain of moderate to severe stress

Answer 22

Increase amygdala volume

Decrease PFC and hippocampus volume

Mindfulness training enhance gray matter density in hippocampus and associated reduction in reported stress correlates with decreased amygdala gray matter density

(But is change related to M meditation or increased parasympathetic activity?)

Question 23

Extinction via exposure

Answer 23

vmPFC (ACC) - recalls the extinction (also executive monitor of disparate info - settles discrepancy?)
Hippocampus- signals contextual safety
Amygdala- acquisition and expression of conditioned fear

Question 24

Blood-oxygen-level-dependent contrasts (BOLD)

Answer 24

Signals that can be extracted with fMRI and that reflect the change on the amount of deoxyhemoglobin that is induced by changes in the activity of neurons and their synapses in a region of the brain. The signals reflect the activity in a local brain region.

Question 25

Arterial Spin Labeling (ASL)

Answer 25

An MRI technique that is capable of measuring cerebral blood flow in vivo. It provides cerebral profusion maps without requiring the administration of a contrast agent or the use of ionizing radiation because it uses magnetically labeled endogenous blood water as a freely diffusible tracer.

Question 26

Fractional anisotropic

Answer 26

A parameter in diffusion tensor imaging, which images brain structures by measuring the diffusion properties of water molecules. It provides information about the microstructural integrity of white matter.

Question 27

Axial and radial diffusivity

Answer 27

Derived from the eigenvalues of the diffusion tensor, their underlying biophysical properties are associated with axonal density and myelination, respectively.

Question 28

Activation likelihood estimation meta-analysis

Answer 28

A technique for coordinate-based meta-analysis of neuroimaging data. It determines the convergence of foci reported from different experiments, weighted by the number of participants in each study.

Question 29

Brain regions noted by ALEMA to be altered in meditators (not while meditating)

Answer 29

1) fronto-polar cortex- meta-awareness?
2,3) sensory cortex and insula- body awareness
4) hippocampus- memory processes
5,6,7) ACC, mid-cingulate cortex, orbitofrontal cortex- self and emotional regulation
8) superior longitudinal fasciculus, corpus callosum- Intra and inter hemisphere communication

Question 30

Stages of mindfulness meditation practice

Answer 30

Early- effortful doing

Middle/intermediate- effort to reduce mind wandering

Advanced - effortless being