Practicing Focused Attention or Open Monitoring During Interoceptive Challenges: Seed-Based Functional Connectivity Changes Following Video-Based Online MBSR

Biomed J. 2026 Nov 14:101068. doi: 10.1016/j.bj.2026.101068. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) has been shown to improve well-being, but its neural mechanisms during interoceptive challenges remain unclear, particularly when delivered online. Previous neuroimaging research has primarily focused on the salience network, with limited attention to the dorsal attention network. This study investigated changes in functional connectivity within these networks following an eight-week video-based online MBSR program.

METHODS: Thirty-nine healthy adults were included in the analysis (18 in the MBSR group and 21 in the control group). Participants underwent functional MRI before and after the intervention, while experiencing intermittent inspiratory occlusions under baseline, focused attention (FA), and open monitoring (OM) conditions. Seed-based connectivity analyses used bilateral frontal eye fields and anterior cingulate cortices as seeds for the dorsal attention and salience networks, respectively.

RESULTS: Exploratory analysis revealed a significant Group × Time interaction in anterior cingulate seed connectivity during OM. This finding survived correction within the seed-by-condition map but not across all six interaction analyses. Connectivity with the right frontal pole showed a greater negative change in the MBSR group than in the control group. Within the MBSR group, frontal eye field connectivity changed with frontal and occipital regions during FA. Anterior cingulate connectivity also changed in frontal, sensorimotor, parietal, and occipital regions during FA and with the left frontal pole during OM. In the control group, the only significant change was increased frontal eye field connectivity with the right temporal fusiform cortex during OM.

CONCLUSIONS: Functional connectivity between the network seeds and specific cortical regions changed following video-based online MBSR. Exploratory analysis also identified a group difference in connectivity changes between the anterior cingulate cortex and the right frontal pole during OM, although this finding requires replication. The functional significance of these neural changes for behavioral outcomes, including interoceptive awareness and attentional regulation, warrants further investigation.

PMID:43034044 | DOI:10.1016/j.bj.2026.101068