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focused attention meditation
Also known as: FA, FA meditation, focused attention, Focused Attention practice
Facts (31)
Sources
Self-awareness, self-regulation, and self-transcendence (S-ART) frontiersin.org 29 facts
claimExperienced meditators exhibit increased BOLD-related activity in areas related to the Experiential-Embodied-Self (EES) network during Focused Attention (FA) or Open Monitoring (OM) meditation practices compared to non-meditators, as reported by Lazar et al. (2000), Ritskes et al. (2003), and Brefczynski-Lewis et al. (2007).
claimManna and colleagues (2010) observed that right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) deactivation was positively correlated with meditation expertise, suggesting that advanced practitioners exert less effort during focused attention (FA) meditation.
claimWhile research is beginning to demonstrate state effects related to contemplative practices, the trait changes induced by the continued practice of Focused Attention (FA) and Open Monitoring (OM) meditation have not yet been adequately and objectively measured longitudinally.
referenceAlerting, orienting, engagement, and disengagement involve discrete neural networks that contribute to Focused Attention practice.
referenceManna, A., Raffone, A., Perrucci, M. G., Nardo, D., Ferretti, A., Tartaro, A., et al. (2010) published 'Neural correlates of focused attention and cognitive monitoring in meditation' in Brain Research Bulletin, volume 82, pages 46–56, identifying neural correlates associated with focused attention and cognitive monitoring during meditation.
claimExpert meditators with 10,000 to 24,000 hours of experience show increased activity in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) during focused attention (FA) practice compared to novices.
claimMeditation practices that cultivate ethical qualities such as loving-kindness, compassion, and forgiveness are used to supplement focused attention and open monitoring practices, support explicit ethical development, and accompany most mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs).
referenceThe Satipatthāna Sutta identifies breath focus as a naturally occurring foundation for Focused Attention meditation practice.
claimSamatha-vipassana practitioners with 5,000 to over 10,000 hours of practice demonstrate increased BOLD activation in the rostral anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (DMPFC) during focused attention (FA) meditation, according to studies by Holzel et al. (2007) and Manna et al. (2010).
claimDuring focused attention (FA) meditation, activity in the right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and left posterior insular cortex (PIC) positively correlates with the number of hours of meditation practice, according to Manna et al. (2010).
claimFocused Attention practice functions through an underlying framework of motor learning that strengthens non-conscious, associative memory processes underlying the EES network and supports conscious, explicit processes recruited during practice.
claimThe dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), and the insula are the three most widely cited brain areas showing activity and gross morphological change during and in response to Focused Attention (FA) and Open Monitoring (OM) meditation training.
claimFocused Attention practice instructions create an executive set sustained by working memory processes, while attentional processes focus and sustain concentration on the intended object.
measurementMeditators with brief training (4 sessions of 20 minutes) showed greater bilateral activation in the posterior insular cortex (PIC) and somatosensory areas corresponding to the nose and throat while practicing Focused Attention (FA) meditation, according to Zeidan et al. (2011).
claimThe S-ART framework predicts that mindfulness can facilitate both dorsal and ventral vagal tone through focused attention (FA) on the body during stressors.
claimSome traditions and researchers, including Kabat-Zinn (1990), Brown and Ryan (2004), and Cahn and Polich (2006), equate both insight and focused attention meditation practices with 'mindfulness' and refer to them as 'mindfulness meditation.'
claimTraining in Focused Attention (FA), Open Monitoring (OM), and Effortless Presence (EE) styles of meditation is proposed to support a sustainable healthy mind by reducing maladaptive emotions and cognitions (such as lust, greed, anger, hatred, and worry), increasing pro-social dispositions (such as compassion, empathy, and forgiveness), reducing attachments to thoughts and feelings, and removing biases inherent in habitual cognition.
claimThe goal of Focused Attention practice is to stabilize the mind against distraction, torpor, and hyperexcitability.
claimExtinction and reconsolidation mechanisms can shift biological set-points and modify pathological scripts and schemas into more adaptive trajectories through focused attention (FA), open monitoring (OM), and ethical-based practices.
perspectiveWallace (2006) argues that mindfulness is cultivated in Samatha practice and applied in Vipassana (insight) practice, whereas Lutz et al. (2007) argue that mindfulness can be cultivated in both focused attention (FA) and open monitoring (OM) practice.
referenceThe S-ART framework focuses on two core meditation practices: focused attention (FA), which is a concentrative practice, and open monitoring (OM), which is a receptive practice.
measurementCorrelations between anticorrelated brain networks are stronger during Focused Attention (FA) meditation and smaller during Open Monitoring (OM) forms of practice.
claimThe neural substrates for attentional processes are described through S-ART networks, where preparatory forms of attention are described through EES circuitry, and the substrates for FA and executive monitoring are described through EPS and the FPCS.
claimThe precuneus is activated during Focused Attention (FA) meditation compared to rest, and during Open Monitoring (OM) meditation compared to rest, suggesting it plays a key role in self-induced transitions between meditative and discursive rest states, according to Manna et al. (2010).
procedureThe progression of meditation practice within the S-ART framework involves the following steps: (1) stabilize the mind and decrease mental proliferation (rumination) by developing a fully absorbed state of concentration on an object like the breath using focused attention (FA); (2) move on to open monitoring (OM) and other advanced receptive practices that have no object of focus and are receptive to all physical and mental phenomena that arise.
claimThe S-ART framework distinguishes the term 'mindfulness' from other Buddhist concepts such as equanimity and clarity, integrating them into a multidimensional skillset strengthened through Focused Attention (FA), Open Monitoring (OM), and Effortless Presence (EE) practices.
claimFocused attention (FA) meditation practice involves maintaining sustained attention on a specific mental or sensory object, such as a repeated sound, mantra, imagined or physical image, or specific viscerosomatic sensations.
claimEffort in Focused Attention practice is hypothesized to be inversely correlated with practice duration, which provides a neurobiological mechanism for practitioner advancement and decreased allocation of explicit cognitive resources over time.
measurementTang et al. (2007, 2009, 2010) demonstrated that five days of Integrated Body Mind Training (IBMT), consisting of 20 minutes per day of Focused Attention (FA) and Open Monitoring (OM) components, produces greater activation in the rostral anterior cingulate cortex (rACC) during rest.
The Mechanisms of Psychedelic Visionary Experiences - Frontiers frontiersin.org Sep 27, 2017 1 fact
referenceA 2016 meta-analysis by Fox et al. of 78 neuroimaging studies found that focused attention meditation produced significant activation in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), alongside deactivation of the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) and the posterior inferior parietal lobule.
Classification Schemes of Altered States of Consciousness - ORBi orbi.uliege.be 1 fact
referenceYamaya, N., Tsuchiya, K., Takizawa, I., Shimoda, K., Kitazawa, K., and Tozato, F. published 'Effect of one-session focused attention meditation on the working memory capacity of meditation novices: a functional near-infrared spectroscopy study' in Brain Behav., 11(8), 2021, e2288, doi: 10.1002/brb3.2288.