The Effect of Mindfulness on the Brain

July 24, 2023 | Sophie Mixon Reeves | Neurology

In the last few decades, the practice of mindfulness, in which an individual consciously draws awareness to the present moment, has skyrocketed in popularity in the United States. Originally stemming from Buddhist meditation traditions, mindfulness includes actions such as body scans, yoga, and drawing attention to the breath. While these practices have been in many cultures for centuries, it wasn’t until the late 1990’s that mindfulness emerged in the United States, as a mixture between Buddhist meditation, Western philosophy and Western psychology.

While mindfulness and meditation are terms that are often synonymous, the former typically refers to the practice of understanding our thoughts and how we respond to them outside of Buddhism and can be subject to scientific investigation, while the latter refers to the practice of honing attention and focus and usually connotes a Buddhist context. Meditation can be a component of a mindfulness practice and vice versa. Regardless of the specifics of each technique, both show profound effects on subjective well-being over time and are corroborated by empirical scientific studies on brain structure pre- and post-mindfulness intervention. 

The rise of mindfulness

As someone that was born in the early 2000’s, I like to think that I escaped the social perjury surrounding mental health that plagued much of the 20th century. While my parents grew up in an era where seeking therapy for mental health equated to being inferior, I grew up with social media, where celebrities and early-stage influencers made videos discussing their mental health journeys for the first time. Mental health became (and is still becoming) something that was not just talked about, but embraced, along with simple techniques to improve it. Mindfulness, a practice previously associated with the counterculture, has slowly but surely made its way to the forefront of these techniques and has gained support along with a viable scientific basis. 

Often dismissed as a fad and not worth the time that high-achievers would have to carve out of their busy days, mindfulness is increasingly gaining recognition for its prolonged positive effect on mental health if practiced routinely over time. This effect is not just measured subjectively but has been subjected to scientific studies that attempt to understand structural changes in the brain that may be induced by mindfulness. This phenomenon largely leans on the principle of neuroplasticity, which insinuates that our brains are not stagnant processing centers but rather can change as we take in new information. As it turns out, mindfulness is essentially a way to fast-track habit-breaking and new habit-forming by learning to control one’s mind. As Socrates put it, “the unexamined life is not worth living”. 

So, how exactly does mindfulness change the brain? 

Studies have shown that after practicing mindfulness, gray matter density in the prefrontal cortex thickens and white matter increases in efficiency. Higher gray matter density in the prefrontal cortex allows the brain to complete harder tasks, as it is the region that carries out planning, problem solving, and emotional control. Moreover, a study conducted at the University of the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia found that sensory processing pathways in the brain become more efficient with more mindfulness training. Increased activity in the prefrontal cortex related to attention syncs up with these pathways, which allowed study participants to see information more accurately. In other words, increased mindfulness training is correlated with enhanced “bottom-up” processes, allowing the brain to direct attention towards information of interest more efficiently.

Aside from the prefrontal cortex, there are five other brain regions that have been observed to change in response to mindfulness meditation practices: the left hippocampus, the posterior cingulate, the pons, the temporo-parietal junction (TPJ), and the amygdala. Similar to the prefrontal cortex, gray matter density in the hippocampus increases with more mindfulness, thereby strengthening the processes that happen in this region, including cognitive ability, memory, self-awareness, and empathy. Meditation also seems to strengthen the posterior cingulate, which is related to our sense of self, the TPJ, which is associated with empathy and compassion, and the pons, which produces many neurotransmitters that regulate brain activity. Perhaps the most interesting structural effect of meditation is on the amygdala, which is the region of our brains that processes fear. In the brains of expert meditators, the amygdala is physically smaller in size, which is correlated to fewer feelings of anxiety, stress, and fear. Along the same lines, meditation also has a positive effect on the default mode network, reducing its activity and subsequent feelings of stress and unpleasant emotions.

Can mindfulness assist in alleviating symptoms of mental illness?

Correlations between routine mindfulness and severity of psychiatric disorders have also been studied. In particular, mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) can be effective in reducing the symptoms of major depressive disorder (MDD) and concurrently in preventing MDD relapse, measured via subjective surveys and through biological markers, such as cortisol levels pre vs. post treatment. 

MBCT also has observed positive effects for people with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). One study found that after following an 8-week mindfulness course, study participants, each of whom met the criteria for GAD, reported significantly lower levels of worry, anxiety, and depressive symptoms. More research is needed in this area to establish a basis for causation, but the correlation between mindfulness and a greater sense of well-being is seen time and time again in the scientific literature. 

Conclusion

All of the research surrounding mindfulness and meditation points to the notion that establishing a routine practice can strengthen the mind-body continuum. By giving the mind space to simply observe sensations, feelings, and thoughts as they come, mindfulness can help us understand the idea that our bodies are vessels by which our realities unfold. 

It is important to consider that mindfulness does not have to be a structured daily event. Once you become familiar with the technique, even taking a few moments during the day to restructure your awareness and bring it back to the breath can have tremendous impacts. To learn more about mindfulness, visit Meditation and Mindfulness: What You Need To Know.