PSYCH 2NF3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 28: Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex, Mind-Wandering, Gyrus
22 Jan 2019
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Document Summary
One possibility: changing the way our brain is connected. Mindfulness meditation alters resting-state functional connectivity (rsfc) of brain networks: this in turn improves emotion regulation, stress resilience, and stress-related health outcomes in at-risk patient populations. Strength of the connection between mind wandering regions (e. g. , posterior cingulate. Gyrus) and executive control regions (e. g. , dorsolateral prefrontal cortex: this is what meditation / focused attention does strengthens the connection. Cingulate cortex: thought to be involved in capability to mind wander. Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex: has executive control, aka can control the cingulate cortex and therefore reduce mind wandering. Research: experiece meditators demonstrate coactivation of pcc, dacc and dipfc. More connection in brain of the meditators versus those that are not practicing mindfulness in the study. A study: these include apps such as headspace, smiling mind, imindfulnessm etc. Andy puddicombe: monk turned entrepeneur: in 2016, 6 million people using headspace.
