Journal of Psychopharmacology
May 18, 2015
Sunjeev K. Kamboj, Emma J. Kilford, Stephanie Minchin et al.
43 citations
MDMA (ecstasy) and compassionate imagery both increase self-compassion and reduce self-criticism in recreational users. In a non-blind experiment, participants who consumed ecstasy showed similar pro-social effects to those produced by a contemplative compassion exercise, particularly in those with higher attachment-related avoidance. The findings suggest MDMA may enhance psychotherapy by fostering compassionate attitudes toward oneself. However, because the study was not blinded and drug purity was unknown, controlled trials with pharmaceutical-grade MDMA are needed to confirm these effects.
Mindfulness
June 21, 2023
Paul Gilbert, Malcolm Huxter, Choden Choden
12 citations
Compassion-Focused Therapy (CFT), an evolution-informed biopsychosocial approach, shares overlapping but distinct methods with two Buddhist traditions for developing insight and compassion. A clinical psychologist and compassion-focused therapist, a clinical psychologist and Theravada Buddhist meditation practitioner, and a Mahayana Buddhist monastic discuss their differing perspectives on training compassion and understanding the mind. The dialogue highlights how CFT and Buddhist practices both aim to cultivate compassion, yet differ in their theoretical foundations and techniques for generating insight and alleviating suffering.
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
December 22, 2025
Carla Pallavicini, Lorena Llobenes, Federico Cavanna et al.
Combining psilocybin with a compassion-focused imagery exercise produces long-term synergistic effects on cognitive absorption, self-compassion, and decentering. In a sample of 105 participants, those who received a compassion imagery prime before taking psilocybin showed distinct changes in brain network interactions—particularly among attentional, executive, and default mode networks—compared to those who simply focused on breathing. fMRI-based classifiers could distinguish the two priming conditions only at a high dose of psilocybin. The findings suggest that pairing psilocybin with compassion-based practices may amplify lasting psychological shifts and reorganize large-scale brain networks, though confirmatory studies are needed.
Psychological Medicine
January 1, 2025
Sunjeev K. Kamboj, Matthew Peniket, Jessica Norman et al.
Transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (tVNS) combined with a brief self-compassion mental imagery training (SC-MIT) produced a larger acute increase in state self-compassion and mindfulness than either intervention alone in healthy adults. Over eight daily sessions, tVNS plus SC-MIT showed accumulating effects on mindfulness but not self-compassion. Self-criticism and attentional bias toward compassionate faces were influenced only by the type of imagery training, not by stimulation. Heart rate variability was unaffected by any condition. The findings suggest tVNS may enhance meditation-based psychotherapies, while oculomotor metrics appear sensitive to self-compassion training.
Discover Psychology
October 23, 2024
Paul Barrows, William van Gordon, Paul Gilbert
Interest in mindfulness-based practices for improving health and wellbeing has grown over the last four decades, prompting renewed study of the psychological and neuropsychological mechanisms involved. This perspective paper presents a taxonomy of meditation types, describes key neuroanatomical regions involved, and critically appraises EEG findings. Correlates between mindfulness and EEG are well described for attentional and interoceptive processes, and understanding is growing for compassion and loving-kindness meditation. However, consistent associations between neuropsychological processes and EEG characteristics remain elusive for wisdom-based and null-state meditation practices, which are considered key to deeper transformative experiences. Promising theoretical developments exist, but more research and standardization are needed.