Abstract
This study examined the effects of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) on the brain-behavior mechanisms of self-referential processing in patients with social anxiety disorder (SAD). Sixteen patients underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging while encoding self-referential, valence, and orthographic features of social trait adjectives. Post-MBSR, 14 patients completed neuroimaging. Compared to baseline, MBSR completers showed (a) increased self-esteem and decreased anxiety, (b) increased positive and decreased negative self-endorsement, (c) increased activity in a brain network related to attention regulation, and (d) reduced activity in brain systems implicated in conceptual-linguistic self-view. MBSR-related changes in maladaptive or distorted social self-view in adults diagnosed with SAD may be related to modulation of conceptual self-processing and attention regulation. Self-referential processing may serve as a functional biobehavioral target to measure the effects of mindfulness training.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 242-256 |
Number of pages | 15 |
Journal | Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy |
Volume | 23 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 2009 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Clinical intervention
- fMRI
- Mindfulness
- Self
- Social anxiety disorder
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
- Clinical Psychology
- Psychiatry and Mental health