concept

mindfulness meditation

Also known as: mindfulness practice, mindfulness-based meditation, mindfulness meditations

Facts (30)

Sources

Self-awareness, self-regulation, and self-transcendence (S-ART) frontiersin.org Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 29 facts

referenceZeidan, Martucci, Kraft, Gordon, McHaffie, and Coghill (2011) identified brain mechanisms supporting the modulation of pain by mindfulness meditation in The Journal of Neuroscience.

claimThe S-ART (Self-awareness, self-regulation, and self-transcendence) framework provides mechanisms through which mindfulness practice can unravel the cycle of dysfunctional attitudes toward the self and toward one's relationship with the world.

referenceRamel et al. (2004) investigated the effects of mindfulness meditation on cognitive processes and affect in patients with a history of depression.

claimResearch has investigated the impact of mindfulness-based meditation on attentional subcomponents (alerting, orienting, engagement, and disengagement) and early perceptual stages of processing external stimuli (Brefczynski-Lewis et al., 2007; Chan and Woollacott, 2007; Slagter et al., 2007; Tang et al., 2007; Cahn and Polich, 2009; Hodgins and Adair, 2010; van den Hurk et al., 2010b; Ganaden and Smith, 2011; Vago and Nakamura, 2011).

claimMindfulness practice is believed to cultivate a framework for the interdependence of self within a social network and supports a cognitive framework for empathy and mentalizing.

referenceFarb et al. (2007) demonstrated that mindfulness meditation reveals distinct neural modes of self-reference in the study 'Attending to the present: mindfulness meditation reveals distinct neural modes of self-reference' published in Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience.

referenceVago and Nakamura (2011) provided preliminary evidence for the effects of mindfulness meditation training on selective attentional bias towards pain-related threat in fibromyalgia patients, published in Cognitive Therapy and Research.

referencevan den Hurk et al. (2010b) provided psychophysiological evidence that mindfulness meditation is associated with alterations in bottom-up processing, specifically reduced reactivity, in the International Journal of Psychophysiology.

referenceJ. C. Smith published 'Alterations in brain and immune function produced by mindfulness meditation: three caveats' in Psychosomatic Medicine in 2004 (Volume 66, pages 148–152).

referenceB. K. Holzel, U. Ott, T. Gard, H. Hempel, M. Weygandt, K. Morgen, et al. published a 2008 study in Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience investigating mindfulness meditation practitioners using voxel-based morphometry.

referencevan den Hurk et al. (2010a) reported greater efficiency in attentional processing related to mindfulness meditation in the Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology.

referenceZeidan, Gordon, Merchant, and Goolkasian (2010) studied the effects of brief mindfulness meditation training on experimentally induced pain, published in The Journal of Pain.

claimSlagter et al. (2007) demonstrated that three months of intensive mindfulness meditation training leads to improved efficiency of attentional networks, characterized by reduced resource allocation to the first target (T1) in an attentional-blink paradigm, which is reflected by a smaller T1-elicited P3b brain potential.

referenceDimidjian and Linehan (2003) defined an agenda for future research on the clinical application of mindfulness practice in Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice.

referenceB. K. Holzel, S. W. Lazar, T. Gard, Z. Schuman-Olivier, D. R. Vago, and U. Ott published a 2011 article in Perspectives on Psychological Science titled 'How does mindfulness meditation work? Proposing mechanisms of action from a conceptual and neural perspective'.

claimAs mindfulness practice advances, motivation is proposed to become more internally driven, suggesting increased control, and less focused on specific outcomes.

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.'

referenceChiesa and Serretti (2010) conducted a systematic review of the neurobiological and clinical features of mindfulness meditations.

referenceMindfulness-based meditation practice can lead to the realization of 'no-self,' a concept derived from Buddhist teachings on the nature of impermanence, which distinguishes the phenomenological experience of oneself from one's thoughts, emotions, and feelings (Varela et al., 1991).

claimKabat-Zinn (1982) developed an outpatient program in behavioral medicine for chronic pain patients based on the practice of mindfulness meditation.

referenceB. K. Holzel, J. Carmody, M. Vangel, C. Congleton, S. M. Yerramsetti, T. Gard, et al. published a 2011 study in Psychiatry Research finding that mindfulness practice leads to increases in regional brain gray matter density.

referenceOtt et al. (2010b) reported on the inhibition of default mode network activity during mindfulness meditation.

claimThe S-ART framework outlines specific neural networks of self-specifying and non-self (NS) processing, alongside an integrative fronto-parietal network, which are supported by six neurocognitive processes developed in mindfulness-based meditation practices.

perspectiveThe S-ART framework is a simplified parcellation of the nature of self, intended to scaffold a conceptual account of self-specific processing that is susceptible to influence by mindfulness practice, rather than an exhaustive account.

claimMindfulness practice can produce enduring neuroplastic changes, including gross morphological changes, across self-specific networks and the frontoparietal control network (FPCN) which supports self-awareness, self-regulation, and self-transcendence (S-ART).

claimIn a study of female fibromyalgia patients, 8 weeks of mindfulness meditation training resulted in decreased avoidance of pain-related cues during early stages of attention as reported by Vago and Nakamura (2011).

referenceRichard J. Davidson, Jon Kabat-Zinn, J. Schumacher, M. Rosenkranz, D. Muller, S. F. Santorelli, et al. authored the 2003 paper 'Alterations in brain and immune function produced by mindfulness meditation', published in Psychosomatic Medicine.

referenceCarmody and Baer (2008) found relationships between mindfulness practice and levels of mindfulness, medical and psychological symptoms, and well-being in a mindfulness-based stress reduction program.

claimThe S-ART framework is based on existing brain networks that support systems of self-processing, which are proposed to be subject to modulation through specific mechanisms cultivated by mindfulness-based meditation practices.

The Mechanisms of Psychedelic Visionary Experiences - Frontiers frontiersin.org Frontiers Sep 27, 2017 1 fact

claimIn mindfulness meditation conditions, the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) show less activity in meditators compared to control groups.