International Journal of Psychophysiology
March 28, 2022
Enrico Fucci, A. Poublan-Couzardot, O. Abdoun et al.
A well-powered experiment found no evidence that focused attention or open monitoring meditation alters the auditory mismatch negativity (MMN) amplitude—a brain response linked to automatic change detection—in either expert or novice practitioners, failing to replicate earlier findings. Bayesian analysis provided strong evidence against any interaction between expertise and meditation practice on MMN amplitude, strong evidence against effects of either meditation practice compared to a control condition, and moderate evidence against an effect of expertise during meditation. The study did replicate increased alpha oscillatory power during meditation. The null results are discussed in light of low statistical power, flexible analysis methods, and possible publication bias in prior work.
Neuroscience Letters
November 1, 2021
P. Bauer, C. Sabourdy, Benoit Chatard et al.
Intracranial electroencephalography (iEEG) can be used to compare brain activity during mind wandering, mindfulness meditation, and hypnosis. In three patients new to meditation and hypnosis, widespread amplitude modulations were common across all three states, especially in low-frequency bands (delta, theta, alpha) with positively correlated activity. Unique connectivity patterns for each state predominated in the gamma band, where about one-third of correlations were negative. The findings suggest iEEG is feasible for directly comparing these states and that gamma-band activity warrants further investigation.
Ageing Research Reviews
October 1, 2021
A. Lutz, G. Chételat, F. Collette et al.
Regular practice of mindfulness meditation and loving-kindness and compassion meditation in the aging population may protect against Alzheimer's disease by strengthening attention control, emotion regulation, and prosocial capacities, which could reduce risk factors such as stress and depression while upregulating cognitive reserve. The paper presents this hypothesis and describes the ongoing Medit-Ageing study, which assesses the impact of such non-pharmacological interventions.
Brain Stimulation
November 1, 2018
O. Bodart, M. Fecchio, M. Massimini et al.
Meditation involves complex emotional and attentional training that may improve self-awareness, emotion regulation, attention, and brain structure, but its neurophysiology is not well understood. Transcranial magnetic stimulation combined with electroencephalography (TMS-EEG) offers a non-invasive way to probe brain activity and connectivity. This work aims to determine whether TMS-EEG can detect changes in brain reactivity during meditation and whether those changes are specific to the meditative state and the brain region stimulated.
Neuroimage
July 7, 2018
T. Kral, Brianna S. Schuyler, J. Mumford et al.
Mindfulness meditation training is linked to reduced amygdala reactivity to positive emotional pictures, but not to negative ones, in healthy adults. Long-term meditators (average 9,081 lifetime hours) showed less amygdala response to positive images. In a randomized trial, an 8-week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) course also reduced amygdala reactivity to positive pictures compared to an active control, and increased connectivity between the amygdala and the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC), a region involved in emotion regulation. Lower amygdala reactivity to negative pictures was associated with more retreat practice hours in long-term meditators, but not with MBSR practice time. These findings suggest meditation improves emotional responding through reduced amygdala reactivity and enhanced amygdala-VMPFC coupling.
Trends in Cognitive Sciences
July 28, 2015
Cortland J. Dahl, A. Lutz, R. Davidson
A novel classification system categorizes meditation styles into attentional, constructive, and deconstructive families based on their primary cognitive mechanisms. The authors propose that meta-awareness, perspective taking and cognitive reappraisal, and self-inquiry serve as key mechanisms within specific families, and that altering these processes may target experiential fusion, maladaptive self-schema, and cognitive reification. This framework integrates insights from scientific research on psychological processes related to the self with Buddhist and other contemplative traditions.