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David R. Vago

Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard University

31 papers in the library · 8,181 citations · publishing 2011-2026

Papers

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Potential self-regulatory mechanisms of yoga for psychological health.

Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 2014 Tim Gard, Jessica J Noggle, Crystal L Park et al.

Research suggesting the beneficial effects of yoga on myriad aspects of psychological health has proliferated in recent years, yet there is currently no overarching framework by which to understand yoga's potential beneficial effects. Here we provide a theoretical framework and systems-based network model of yoga that focuses on integration of top-down and bottom-up forms of self-regulation. We...

Mapping modalities of self‐awareness in mindfulness practice: a potential mechanism for clarifying habits of mind

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences October 1, 2013 David R. Vago 68 citations

To better understand the neurobiological mechanisms by which mindfulness-based practices function in a psychotherapeutic context, this article details the definition, techniques, and purposes ascribed to mindfulness training as described by its Buddhist tradition of origin and by contemporary neurocognitive models. Included is theory of how maladaptive mental processes become habitual and...

Can enlightenment be traced to specific neural correlates, cognition, or behavior? No, and (a qualified) Yes

Frontiers in Psychology 2013 Jake H. Davis, David R. Vago 43 citations

The field of contemplative science is rapidly growing and integrating into the basic neurosciences, psychology, clinical sciences, and society-at-large. Yet the majority of current research in the con-templative sciences has been divorced from the soteriological context fromwhich these meditative practices originate and has focused instead on clinical applica-tions with goals of stress...

Contemplative Practices and Mental Training: Prospects for American Education

Child Development Perspectives April 23, 2012 Richard J. Davidson, John D. Dunne, Jacquelynne S Eccles et al. 320 citations

Drawing upon research in neuroscience, cognitive science, developmental psychology and education, as well as scholarship from contemplative traditions concerning the cultivation of positive development, we highlight a set of mental skills and socio-emotional dispositions that we believe are central to the aims of education in the 21(st) century. These include self-regulatory skills associated...

Self-awareness, self-regulation, and self-transcendence (S-ART): a framework for understanding the neurobiological mechanisms of mindfulness

Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 2012 David R. Vago, David A. Silbersweig 1,324 citations

Mindfulness-as a state, trait, process, type of meditation, and intervention has proven to be beneficial across a diverse group of psychological disorders as well as for general stress reduction. Yet, there remains a lack of clarity in the operationalization of this construct, and underlying mechanisms. Here, we provide an integrative theoretical framework and systems-based neurobiological...

How Does Mindfulness Meditation Work? Proposing Mechanisms of Action From a Conceptual and Neural Perspective

Perspectives on Psychological Science October 14, 2011 Britta K. Hölzel, Sara W. Lazar, Tim Gard et al. 2,997 citations

Cultivation of mindfulness, the nonjudgmental awareness of experiences in the present moment, produces beneficial effects on well-being and ameliorates psychiatric and stress-related symptoms. Mindfulness meditation has therefore increasingly been incorporated into psychotherapeutic interventions. Although the number of publications in the field has sharply increased over the last two decades,...