Examining how brief mindfulness training influences communication within the brain of musicians with music performance anxiety: A resting state fMRI study

Abstract

Many musicians live with music performance anxiety (MPA), which may affect their psychological and physiological functioning. Mindfulness, being aware in the present moment without judgment, has been found to help ease anxiety. Mindfulness may also help alleviate the negative effects of MPA, but what is the neurophysiological basis for this effect? Core components of mindfulness, including emotional processing and acceptance, are related to specific patterns of brain activity. In the current study, 20 musicians with MPA underwent a resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan (Time 1), a method to examine the communication between brain regions at rest. Notably, 10 musicians then underwent 2 weeks of mindfulness training, while 10 did not. The same scan sequence was repeated in all participants 2 weeks later (Time 2). Compared with Time 1, participants in the mindfulness group exhibited decreased resting-state functional connectivity between areas of the prefrontal cortex and the vermis-6 and crus-II at Time 2. These two areas of the cerebellum are related to emotional processing and acceptance. Changes in communication between these brain regions and the prefrontal cortex suggest the neurophysiological influences of mindfulness and how mindfulness can be used to strengthen emotion regulation networks in musicians with MPA.