Summary: A new study finds that relaxation-based training strengthens connections between brain areas involved in deliberate control, while mindfulness training boosts connections between regions linked to sensory awareness and perception.
Source: Massachusetts General Hospital
Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) have published a study in Psychosomatic Medicine comparing the neural effects of two widely used meditation-based stress-reduction programs: a relaxation response program and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). Although both approaches aim to reduce stress and improve wellbeing, this study shows they engage overlapping but distinct brain networks, reflecting different underlying mechanisms.
Over recent years, a range of meditation-based interventions has been offered to help people manage stress, physical symptoms, and overall wellness. Two prominent programs take different theoretical approaches. The relaxation response program, rooted in the work of Herbert Benson, MD, emphasizes eliciting a deep physiological state of rest—the opposite of the “fight-or-flight” response—using deliberate relaxation techniques. MBSR, developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD, emphasizes mindful, non-judgmental awareness of present-moment experience. While both teach meditation practices, their instructions and cognitive strategies differ, which led the research team to ask whether those differences produce distinct effects in the brain.
Sara Lazar, PhD, of the MGH Psychiatric Neuroscience Research Program and assistant professor of Psychology at Harvard Medical School, explains that if the programs operate through distinct mechanisms, they could have different clinical implications. To test this, the researchers recruited healthy adults reporting high stress and randomized them to eight-week courses of either the relaxation response program (n = 18) or MBSR (n = 16). Both programs reduced perceived stress and increased measures of mindfulness, but the MBSR group showed additional improvements in self-compassion and reduced rumination—evidence that the two interventions are not identical in outcome.
To pinpoint neural similarities and differences, the team focused on a meditation exercise common to both programs: the body scan. During a body scan, attention is moved sequentially through different parts of the body to enhance bodily awareness. In the relaxation response version, participants were instructed to deliberately relax each area as attention moved through the body. In the MBSR version, participants were guided to adopt mindful awareness and acceptance without explicitly trying to change bodily sensations.
Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), the researchers measured brain activity during the respective body-scan practices. Conjunction analyses revealed shared functional coupling between ventromedial prefrontal regions and supplementary motor areas, indicating that both types of practice engage networks related to present-moment awareness and bodily attention. However, disjunction analyses showed clear differences consistent with each program’s approach.
The relaxation response body-scan strengthened connectivity between regions typically involved in deliberate control and voluntary inhibition, notably the right inferior frontal gyrus and supplementary motor areas. This pattern aligns with a cognitive strategy that focuses on intentionally changing bodily state—deliberate relaxation.
By contrast, the MBSR body-scan uniquely increased coupling among regions associated with sensory awareness and the detection of salient internal signals, such as the right anterior insula and the pregenual anterior cingulate cortex. These connections are consistent with an emphasis on open, nonjudgmental awareness of sensation rather than intentional alteration.
Lead author Gunes Sevinc, PhD, noted that by directly comparing two versions of the same practice that differed only in cognitive strategy, the team identified neural regions that mediate the shared and distinct effects of each intervention. “The relaxation-based body scan appears to recruit deliberate control mechanisms, while the mindfulness-based body scan recruits sensory awareness mechanisms,” Sevinc said. The investigators liken the difference to weight training versus aerobic exercise: both are beneficial but operate through separate physiological pathways.
Independent commentator Norman Farb, PhD, remarked that the study clarifies how conceptually similar therapeutic practices can produce different patterns of brain activity. Recognizing these differences can help individuals and clinicians choose the practice that best fits a person’s goals—whether those goals emphasize intentional regulation or cultivating accepting awareness of bodily experience.
Funding: Supported by National Institutes of Health grants R01 AG048351, R21 AT003425, S10 RR019307 and S10 RR023401.
Additional co-authors include Britta Hölzel, PhD; Jonathan Greenberg, PhD; Adrienne McCallister, DO; Marissa Schneider; Javeria Hashmi, PhD; Jeffery Dusek, PhD; Michael Treadway, PhD; and James Carmody, PhD.
Common and Dissociable Neural Activity After Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction and Relaxation Response Programs
Objective: This study examined common and distinct neural and psychological correlates of two frequently used meditation-based stress reduction programs.
Methods: Participants were randomized to either the Relaxation Response (RR; n = 18) or Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR; n = 16) programs. Both use a bodyscan meditation; the RR version emphasizes explicit physical relaxation, while the MBSR version emphasizes mindful awareness without relaxation instructions. Post-intervention neural activity during the respective body-scan was measured with fMRI.
Results: Both programs reduced perceived stress (RR: from 14.1 ± 6.6 to 11.3 ± 5.5; MBSR: from 17.7 ± 5.7 to 11.9 ± 5.0). Conjunction analyses showed functional coupling between ventromedial prefrontal regions and supplementary motor areas. Disjunction results indicated stronger right inferior frontal gyrus–supplementary motor area connectivity for the RR bodyscan, and increased right anterior insula–pregenual anterior cingulate connectivity for the MBSR bodyscan. MBSR participants also showed greater improvements in self-compassion and reductions in rumination.
Conclusions: Bodyscan exercises from each program produced both overlapping and distinct functional connectivity patterns that align with their theoretical foundations. These neural differences may have implications for choosing specific mind-body interventions tailored to particular clinical conditions or therapeutic goals.