The Mindful Brain: A Systematic Review of the Neural Correlates of Trait Mindfulness

Trait self-report mindfulness scales measure one's disposition to pay nonjudgmental attention to the present moment. Concerns have been raised about the validity of trait mindfulness scales. Despite this, there is extensive literature correlating mindfulness scales with objective brain measures, with the goal of providing insight into mechanisms of mindfulness, and insight into associated positive mental health outcomes. Here, we systematically examined the neural correlates of trait mindfulness. We assessed 68 correlational studies across structural magnetic resonance imaging, task-based fMRI, resting-state fMRI, and EEG. Several consistent findings were identified, associating greater trait mindfulness with decreased amygdala reactivity to emotional stimuli, increased cortical thickness in frontal regions and insular cortex regions, and decreased connectivity within the default-mode network. These findings converged with results from intervention studies and those that included mindfulness experts. On the other hand, the connections between trait mindfulness and EEG metrics remain inconclusive, as do the associations between trait mindfulness and between-network resting-state fMRI metrics. ERP measures from EEG used to measure attentional or emotional processing may not show reliable individual variation. Research on body awareness and self-relevant processing is scarce. For a more robust correlational neuroscience of trait mindfulness, we recommend larger sample sizes, data-driven, multivariate approaches to self-report and brain measures, and careful consideration of test-retest reliability. In addition, we should leave behind simplistic explanations of mindfulness, as there are many ways to be mindful, and leave behind simplistic explanations of the brain, as distributed networks of brain areas support mindfulness.