The Dorsal Anterior Cingulate Cortex is a region of the brain involved in directing attention and ignoring distractions. Long-term mindfulness practice has been linked to increased activation in this region, suggesting that mindfulness practice can improve one's ability to regulate their attention.

Mindfulness Effects on Dorsal Anterior Cingulate Cortex

The ACC is involved in emotion-related learning, autonomic regulation, and emotion assessment. In other words, it helps in establishing: empathy, emotion, decision making, and impulse. 

University of Toledo

- Anterior Cingulate Cortex
- Insular Cortex
- Prefrontal Cortex
- Amygdala

Areas of the Brain Responsible for Mindfulness

Stevens, F. L., Hurley, R. A., Taber, K. H., &amp; Hayman, L. A. (2011, April 1). Anterior cingulate cortex: Unique role in cognition and Emotion. The Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences. Retrieved October 28, 2021, from https://neuro.psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/jnp.23.2.jnp121. 

Functional Neuroimaging in Healthy Individuals

Anterior Cingulate Cortex (ACC)

The IC relates emotion to physiological experiences. In other words, it helps the conscious brain ascribe specific bodily states to certain emotions. Such as a hug to pleasure and/or comfort. 

Insular Cortex (IC)

The amygdala is a key brain structure that plays a central role in processing and relaying emotional information, making it a major focus of research into the biological basis of emotions like fear and anxiety. It is composed of various subnuclei and has a crucial role in memory, influencing how memories are stored—a process affected by stress hormones—and is involved in memory consolidation, the transfer of new learning into long-term memory. This is facilitated by enabling a deeper level of memory encoding for emotionally arousing events.

Amygdala

A part of the frontal lobe that is responsible for higher-level cognitive functioning and focuses on "in the moment" or rash behavior (decision-making, problem solving, and so on). This area is also responsible for the development of personality. The PFC has a handful of (not universally agreed upon) subdivisions:

- Dorsomedial
- Dorsolateral
- Ventromedial
- Ventrolateral
- Orbitofrontal

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