Current Psychology
August 1, 2026
Sara Sorella, Alessio Matiz, Luca Chittaro et al.
Abstract Mind wandering refers to spontaneous shifts of attention from ongoing tasks to unrelated thoughts. Evidence shows that such shifts are characterized by behavioral and physiological changes, such as heart rate and eye blinks. However, previous findings on cardiac changes during mind wandering are mixed, and little is known about whether mindfulness experience and acceptance-related...
Mindfulness
April 1, 2026
Vasil Kolev, Peter Malinowski, Antonino Raffone et al.
Abstract Objectives The main objective of the present study was to explore the effects of different types of meditation on the neurophysiologic mechanisms of pain processing. Method EEG responses to electric median nerve stimulation were recorded in short-term and long-term meditators (STM, LTM) during rest and three forms of meditation engaging attentional and affective regulation in different...
Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience
2026
Vasil Kolev, Kosio Beshkov, Peter Malinowski et al.
2 citations
The present study applied spectral Granger causality (GC) analysis to EEG recordings obtained during focused attention meditation (FAM), open monitoring meditation (OMM), and loving kindness meditation (LKM) in highly experienced meditators. The aim of the investigation was to characterize distinct connectivity signatures associated with each meditation style by examining the strength,...
bioRxiv
July 7, 2025
Vasil Kolev, Kosio Beshkov, Peter Malinowski et al.
1 citation
preprint
The objective of the present study was to characterize the effects of long-term meditation (LTM) on directed connectivity patterns during resting-state and meditative brain states. Specifically, it was aimed to identify major cortical sources of information flow and target regions of information influx, and to reveal which frequency-specific oscillatory networks are critically involved in...
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
July 4, 2025
Vasil Kolev, Kosio Beshkov, Peter Malinowski et al.
2 citations
preprint
ABSTRACT The present study applied spectral Granger causality analysis to electroencephalographic (EEG) recordings obtained during Focused Attention Meditation (FAM), Open Monitoring Meditation (OMM), and Loving Kindness Meditation (LKM) in highly experienced meditators. The aim of the investigation was to uncover distinct connectivity signatures associated with each meditation style by...
bioRxiv Preprint Server
May 20, 2025
Vasil Kolev, Peter Malinowski, Antonino Raffone et al.
preprint
Objectives The main objective of the present study was to explore the effects of different types of meditation on the neurophysiologic mechanisms of pain processing.
Scientific Reports
March 27, 2025
Juliana Yordanova, Valentina Nicolardi, Peter Malinowski et al.
4 citations
The experience of pain is a combined product of bottom-up and top-down influences mediated by attentional and emotional factors. Meditation states and traits are characterized by enhanced attention/emotion regulation and expanded self-awareness that can be expected to modify pain processing. The main objective of the present study was to explore the effects of long-term meditation on neural...
bioRxiv Preprint Server
April 18, 2024
Melanie Boly, Richard Smith, Giulietta Vigueras Borrego et al.
5 citations
preprint
Pure presence (PP) is described in several meditative traditions as an experience of a vast, vivid space devoid of perceptual objects, thoughts, and self. Integrated information theory (IIT) predicts that such vivid experiences may occur when the cortical substrate of consciousness is virtually silent. To test this, we analyzed high-quality 256-electrode high-density electroencephalography...
Mindfulness
January 28, 2022
Valentina Nicolardi, Luca Simione, Domenico Scaringi et al.
28 citations
Abstract Objectives According to the core Buddhist psychology models of the “two arrows of pain” and “co-dependent origination,” pain is the resultant of bodily and mental factors, which can be regulated by meditation states and traits. Here we investigated how pain and the related aversion and identification (self-involvement) experiences are modulated by focused attention meditation (FAM),...
Scientific Reports
March 1, 2021
Juliana Yordanova, Vasil Kolev, Valentina Nicolardi et al.
Meditation practice is suggested to engage training of cognitive control systems in the brain. To evaluate the functional involvement of attentional and cognitive monitoring processes during meditation, the present study analysed the electroencephalographic synchronization of fronto-parietal (FP) and medial-frontal (MF) brain networks in highly experienced meditators during different meditation...
Scientific Reports
2020
Juliana Yordanova, Vasil Kolev, Federica Mauro et al.
42 citations
Meditation has been integrated into different therapeutic interventions. To inform the evidence-based selection of specific meditation types it is crucial to understand the neural processes associated with different meditation practices. Here we explore commonalities and differences in electroencephalographic oscillatory spatial synchronisation patterns across three important meditation types....
Journal of Cognitive Enhancement
April 12, 2017
Peter Malinowski, Liliana Shalamanova
53 citations
Mindfulness-related meditation practices engage various cognitive skills including the ability to focus and sustain attention, which in itself requires several interacting attentional subfunctions. There is increasing behavioural and neuroscientific evidence that mindfulness meditation improves these functions and associated neural processes. More so than other cognitive training programmes,...
Frontiers in Human Neuroscience
2017
Han-Gue Jo, Peter Malinowski, Stefan Schmidt
Mindfulness meditators often show greater efficiency in resolving response conflicts than non-meditators. However, the neural mechanisms underlying the improved behavioral efficiency are unclear. Here, we investigated frontal theta dynamics-a neural mechanism involved in cognitive control processes-in long-term mindfulness meditators. The dynamics of EEG theta oscillations (4-8 Hz) recorded...
Mindfulness
December 27, 2015
Peter Malinowski, Adam William Moore, Bethan R. Mead et al.
116 citations
There is growing interest in the potential benefits of mindfulness meditation practices in terms of counteracting some of the cognitive effects associated with aging. Pursuing this question, the aim of the present study was to investigate the influence of mindfulness training on executive control and emotion regulation in older adults, by means of studying behavioral and electrophysiological...
Imagination, Cognition and Personality
June 1, 2015
Tadas Stumbrys, Daniel Erlacher, Peter Malinowski
The present study explored the relationship between lucidity in dreams (awareness of dreams while dreaming) and mindfulness during wakefulness, also considering meditation as a possible moderating variable. An online survey was completed by 528 respondents, of whom 386 (73.1%) had lucid dream experiences. The reported frequency of lucid dreams was found to be positively related to higher...
Frontiers in Neuroscience
2013
Peter Malinowski
547 citations
The scientific interest in meditation and mindfulness practice has recently seen an unprecedented surge. After an initial phase of presenting beneficial effects of mindfulness practice in various domains, research is now seeking to unravel the underlying psychological and neurophysiological mechanisms. Advances in understanding these processes are required for improving and fine-tuning...
Frontiers in Human Neuroscience
2012
Adam Moore, Thomas Gruber, Jennifer Derose et al.
323 citations
Mindfulness-based meditation practices involve various attentional skills, including the ability to sustain and focus ones attention. During a simple mindful breathing practice, sustained attention is required to maintain focus on the breath while cognitive control is required to detect mind wandering. We thus hypothesized that regular, brief mindfulness training would result in improvements in...
Journal of Clinical Psychology
January 19, 2011
Alberto Chiesa, Peter Malinowski
456 citations
Mindfulness-based approaches are increasingly employed as interventions for treating a variety of psychological, psychiatric and physical problems. Such approaches include ancient Buddhist mindfulness meditations such as Vipassana and Zen meditations, modern group-based standardized meditations, such as mindfulness-based stress reduction and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, and further...
Appetite
December 10, 2010
Paul Lattimore, Naomi Fisher, Peter Malinowski
Two online surveys were conducted to assess the relationship between trait disinhibition, impulsivity, mindfulness and adverse psychological symptoms. In study 1 adult females (n=196; mean age=21 yrs) completed the Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire (TEFQ-R21), the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and a measure of dispositional mindfulness. In study 2 adult females (n=190; mean age=26 yrs)...
Consciousness and Cognition
March 2009
Adam Moore, Peter Malinowski
This study investigated the link between meditation, self-reported mindfulness and cognitive flexibility as well as other attentional functions. It compared a group of meditators experienced in mindfulness meditation with a meditation-naïve control group on measures of Stroop interference and the "d2-concentration and endurance test". Overall the results suggest that attentional performance and...