Brain changes following mindfulness: Reduced caudate volume is associated with decreased positive urgency Mas Cuesta, Laura Baltruschat, Sabina Cándido Ortiz, Antonio Verdejo Lucas, Carmen Catena Verdejo, Elvira Catena Martínez, Andrés Mindfulness Gray matter Caudate nucleus Mindfulness training has been shown to improve psychological health and general well-being. However, it is unclear which brain and personality systems may be affected by this practice for improving adaptive behavior and quality of life. The present study explores the effects of a 5-week mindfulness-based intervention (MBI) at the neuroanatomical level and its relationship with dispositional mindfulness and impulsivity. Sixty-six risky drivers were quasi-randomly assigned to a mindfulness training group (MT) or a control group (N). Participants underwent magnetic resonance imaging and completed the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) and the UPPS-P impulsivity scale twice, at baseline and after receiving the MBI. We observed that MBI changes dispositional mindfulness in the non-reactivity and observing facets. Further, we observed that the magnitude of change in impulsivity was associated with the change in dispositional mindfulness. Whole-brain voxel-wise analysis revealed that the volume of the right caudate nucleus of the MT group (n = 27) showed a reduction compared to that of the control group (n = 33), which increased in terms of the pre-post measurement (MT=-1.76 mm3; N = 6.31 mm3). We also observed that reduced caudate nucleus volume correlated with decreased positive urgency in the MT group. Taken together, our results show that MBI improves the skills of observing and non-reactivity to inner experience, while producing changes in the structure of the caudate nucleus. These structural changes are associated with a reduction in impulsivity levels, decreasing the tendency to act rashly in situations that generate positive emotions and thus facilitating more adaptive behavior. 2024-06-12T09:07:59Z 2024-06-12T09:07:59Z 2024-01-10 journal article Mas-Cuesta, Laura, et al. Brain changes following mindfulness: Reduced caudate volume is associated with decreased positive urgency. Behavioural Brain Research 461 (2024) 114859 [10.1016/j.bbr.2024.114859] https://hdl.handle.net/10481/92524 10.1016/j.bbr.2024.114859 eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ open access Atribución 4.0 Internacional Elsevier