Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci
May 1, 2020
Eight weeks of focused attention meditation training in people with no prior meditation experience alters brain activity and attention. EEG recordings showed changes in neural oscillations and improved attentional performance after the training period compared to before. The findings suggest that even short-term meditation practice can modify brain function related to attention.
Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci
October 18, 2012
This theoretical paper examines the methodological and theoretical tools used in mindfulness neuroscience, arguing that the field's reliance on certain experimental designs and neuroimaging techniques shapes how mindfulness is conceptualized and studied. It critiques the assumption that mindfulness can be reduced to discrete brain states and calls for greater integration of first-person subjective experience with third-person neural measures. The authors advocate for more nuanced approaches that account for the complexity and context-dependence of mindfulness practices.
Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci
May 29, 2012
During Vipassana meditation, event-related brain oscillations in the delta, theta, alpha, and gamma frequency bands are correlated with auditory oddball processing. The meditation state alters how the brain responds to unexpected sounds, with specific changes in these frequency ranges indicating shifts in attentional and cognitive processing.
Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci
May 13, 2012
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and aerobic exercise both reduce social anxiety, but MBSR produces greater improvements in emotion regulation when processing negative self-beliefs, as shown by fMRI. MBSR participants showed increased prefrontal cortex activation and decreased amygdala reactivity during negative self-belief challenges, while aerobic exercise led to more modest neural changes. The findings suggest that mindfulness training specifically enhances top-down emotion regulation circuitry, offering a distinct neural mechanism for alleviating social anxiety beyond general fitness benefits.
Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci
May 7, 2012
Meditation is associated with differences in brain structure, specifically increased cortical thickness in regions related to attention and sensory processing, as shown by cortical thickness mapping and diffusion tensor imaging. The findings suggest that regular meditation practice may induce structural plasticity in the brain, though the causal direction and magnitude of effects are not established by this work.
Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci
April 15, 2012
Meditation and mindfulness practices may enhance executive control, particularly through emotional acceptance and improved brain-based performance monitoring. The work suggests that accepting emotional experiences, rather than suppressing them, supports cognitive functions like attention and self-regulation. Brain monitoring mechanisms, such as error-related negativity, appear to play a key role in this process. The argument emphasizes that emotional acceptance is a crucial component linking mindfulness to executive control, offering a framework for understanding how these practices influence cognitive performance.
Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci
March 1, 2012
Focused attention meditation is associated with distinct patterns of brain activity. During a brief mindfulness induction, practitioners showed increased activation in brain regions linked to attention control and reduced activity in areas linked to mind-wandering, compared to a control condition. These findings suggest that even short periods of mindfulness practice can engage neural networks involved in sustaining attention.