Meditation Experience Predicts Introspective Accuracy
PLoS One September 25, 2012 Kieran C. R. Fox, Pierre Zakarauskas, Matthew L. Dixon et al. 194 citations
People who meditate for many years are better at accurately reporting their own internal bodily sensations than beginners. The study compared subjective reports of touch sensitivity in 20 body regions during a body-scanning meditation with objective measures of tactile sensitivity from prior research. Expert meditators (1–15,000 hours of experience) showed significantly greater introspective accuracy than novices, and overall meditation experience predicted individual accuracy. The findings suggest that long-term meditation practice may enhance the ability to accurately introspect.