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Alterations in Brain and Immune Function Produced by Mindfulness Meditation

From Laboratory for Affective Neuroscience (R.J.D., J.S., M.R.), Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin; Stress Reduction Clinic, Division of Preventive and Behavioral Medicine (J.K.-Z., S.F.S., F.U.), Department of Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts; Departments of Medicine and Microbiology (D.M.), University of Wisconsin Medical School; Department of the History of Science (A.H.), Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts; Departments of Preventive Cardiology and Sports Medicine (K.B.), University of Wisconsin-Madison Hospitals and Clinics Center for Mindfulness, Madison, Wisconsin; and Department of Oral Biology (J.F.S.), College of Dentistry, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio.

View larger version (30K): [in a new window]   Fig. 1. Mean trait anxiety from the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (24) measured separately by group and time. Error bars reflect means ± SE.

View larger version (14K): [in a new window]   Fig. 2. Means ± SE of asymmetric activation during baseline for subjects in the Meditation group and Control group during Time 1 (before random assignment, before treatment began) and Time 3. The ordinate is an asymmetric metric that represents right minus left log-transformed power density from the C4/C3 electrode sites. This is a standard index of asymmetric activation (20). Higher numbers on this indicate greater left-sided activation.

View larger version (21K): [in a new window]   Fig. 3. Means ± SE asymmetric activation (in the T3/T4 electrode sites) in response to the positive emotion induction in the Meditation group and Control group during Times 1 and 2. The ordinate is the same metric of asymmetric activation displayed in Figure 2.

View larger version (19K): [in a new window]   Fig. 4. Means ± SE asymmetric activation in response to the negative emotion induction in the Meditation group and Control group during Times 1 and 3. The ordinate is the same metric of asymmetric activation displayed in Figure 2 (C3/C4).

View larger version (30K): [in a new window]   Fig. 5. Means ± SE antibody rise from the 3- to 5-week to the 8- to 9-week blood draw in the Meditation and Control groups. The ordinate displays the difference in the log-transformed antibody rise between the 3- to 5- and the 8- to 9-week blood draws derived from the hemagglutination inhibition assay.

View larger version (13K): [in a new window]   Fig. 6. Scatter plot for the meditation group only showing the relation between the change in asymmetric anterior activation at baseline from Time 1 to Time 2 in C3/C4 and the magnitude of rise in antibody titers to the influenza vaccine from the week 3 to 5 to the week 8 to 9 blood draw. The meditators that showed the largest magnitude increase in left-sided anterior activation from Time 1 to Time 2 also showed the largest rise in antibody titers from the 3- to 5- to 8- to 9-week blood draws. There was no significant relation between these variables in the control group.