My Research

I study how stress affects structure and function in the human brain - and how we can counter those effects with stress reduction training through mindfulness.

Media

I talked to Scientific American about the neuroscience of mindfulness for this article: http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/2014/06/12/what-does-mindfulness-meditation-do-to-your-brain/

Interview with Reset.me covering our mindfulness-based stress reduction and IL-6 study: http://reset.me/study/study-mindfulness-meditation-can-reduce-inflammation-and-prevent-disease/

Scenes from my Winter 2017 class "The Science of Stress", taught at Middlebury College: J-Term Scenes: The Science of Stress

Published Papers

• Functional Parcellation of the Default Mode Network: A Large-Scale Meta-Analysis  Wang S*, Taren AA*, Smith DV. (2018)
• 
  
• Alterations in Resting-State Functional Connectivity Link Mindfulness Meditation With Reduced Interleukin-6: A Randomized Controlled Trial. (Taren et al, 2017) Psychosomatic Medicine.

• Mindfulness meditation training alters stress-related amygdala resting state functional connectivity: a randomized controlled trial (Taren et al, 2015): http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26048176

• Dispositional Mindfulness Covaries with Smaller Amygdala and Caudate Volumes in Community Adults (Taren et al, 2013):   http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0064574

• Sayers, W.M., Creswell, J.D., Taren, A.A. "The Emerging Neurobiology of Mindfulness and Emotion Processing" Handbook of Mindfulness and Self-Regulation (In press)

• A parallel functional topography between medial and lateral prefrontal cortex: evidence and implications for cognitive control. (Taren et al, 2010):  http://www.jneurosci.org/content/31/13/5026.long

• Resolving response, decision, and strategic control: evidence for a functional topography in dorsomedial prefrontal cortex. http://www.jneurosci.org/content/29/42/13158.long

Presentations

Creswell, J. David, Taren, Adrienne A., Gianaros, Peter (2014) Neural Pathways of Mindfulness and Stress Reduction: Amygdala Functional Connectivity Covaries with Dispositional Mindfulness and Changes with Mindfulness Meditation Training. Poster presented at American Psychosomatic Society Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA.

Coutlee, C., Taren, A., Hoyle, R., Costanza, P, Huettel, S. (2011) Dissociating impulsivity subtypes using questionnaires, behavior, and functional neuroimaging. Poster presented at Society for Neuroeconomics Conference, Evanston, IL.

Taren, A., Venkatraman, V., Huettel, S. (2010) A parallel functional topography between medial and lateral prefrontal cortex: Evidence and implications for cognitive control. Poster presented at Society for Neuroscience Conference, San Diego, CA.

Venkatraman, V., Taren, A., Rosati, A., Huettel. S.  (2009) Distinguishing Response, Decision and Strategy Conflict in Dorsomedial Prefrontal Cortex. Poster presented at Organization for Human Brain Mapping meeting, June 2009.

Carter, R.M., Cirulli, E.T., Clithero, J.A., Meyer, J., Mullette-Gillman, O., Smith, D.V., Taren, A., Venkatraman, V., Platt, M.L., Skeene, J.H.P., Huettel. S.A. (2009) Reward sensitivity for self and others. Poster presented at Society for Neuroeconomics conference, Sept 2009.