Prefrontal Cortical Activation while Doing Mindfulness Task: A Pilot Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Study

Mindfulness interventions are increasingly used in clinical settings. Neurophysiological mechanisms underlying mindfulness offer objective evidence that can help us evaluate the efficacy of mindfulness. Recent advances in technology have facilitated the use of functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) as a light weight, portable, and relatively lower cost neuroimaging device as compared to functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI). In contrast to numerous fMRI studies, there are scanty investigations using fNIRS to study mindfulness. Hence, this study was done to investigate the feasibility of using a continuous-wave multichannel fNIRS system to study cerebral cortex activations on a mindfulness task versus a baseline task. NIRS data from 14 healthy Asian subjects were collected. A statistical parametric mapping toolbox specific for statistical analysis of NIRS signal called NIRS-SPM was used to study the activations. The results from group analysis performed on the contrast of the mindfulness versus baseline tasks showed foci of activations on the left and central parts of the prefrontal cortex. The findings are consistent with prevailing fMRI studies and show promise of using fNIRS system for studying real-time neurophysiological cortical activations during mindfulness practice.