Distinct Neural Activity Associated with Focused-Attention Meditation and Loving-Kindness Meditation
Tatia M C Lee, Mei-Kei Leung, Wai-Kai Hou, Joey C. Y. Tang, Jing Yin, Kwok-Fai So, Chack-Fan Lee, Chetwyn C H Chan
PLoS One August 15, 2012 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0040054 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational study with cross-sectional expertise comparison Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 44 |
| Population | Male Chinese expert and novice meditators (FAM and LKM practitioners) |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Citations | 163 |
| Key findings | FAM and LKM produce distinct patterns of neural activity during cognitive and emotional processing, with FAM linked to attention-related improvements and LKM affecting emotional regulation responses. |
Abstract
This study examined the dissociable neural effects of ānāpānasati (focused-attention meditation, FAM) and mettā (loving-kindness meditation, LKM) on BOLD signals during cognitive (continuous performance test, CPT) and affective (emotion-processing task, EPT, in which participants viewed affective pictures) processing. Twenty-two male Chinese expert meditators (11 FAM experts, 11 LKM experts) and 22 male Chinese novice meditators (11 FAM novices, 11 LKM novices) had their brain activity monitored by a 3T MRI scanner while performing the cognitive and affective tasks in both meditation and baseline states. We examined the interaction between state (meditation vs. baseline) and expertise (expert vs. novice) separately during LKM and FAM, using a conjunction approach to reveal common regions sensitive to the expert meditative state. Additionally, exclusive masking techniques revealed distinct interactions between state and group during LKM and FAM. Specifically, we demonstrated that the practice of FAM was associated with expertise-related behavioral improvements and neural activation differences in attention task performance. However, the effect of state LKM meditation did not carry over to attention task performance. On the other hand, both FAM and LKM practice appeared to affect the neural responses to affective pictures. For viewing sad faces, the regions activated for FAM practitioners were consistent with attention-related processing; whereas responses of LKM experts to sad pictures were more in line with differentiating emotional contagion from compassion/emotional regulation processes. Our findings provide the first report of distinct neural activity associated with forms of meditation during sustained attention and emotion processing.
Comparable studies
Other cross-sectional and survey studies on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Construct Validity of the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire in Meditating and Nonmeditating Samples Experienced meditators and nonmeditating comparison groups | 2008 | Cross-sectional study | |
| Neural Correlates of Dispositional Mindfulness During Affect Labeling Adult participants | 2007 | Observational cross-sectional | n = 27 |
| Assessing mindfulness in children and adolescents: Development and validation of the Child and Adolescent Mindfulness Measure (CAMM). School-aged children and adolescents | 2011 | Cross-sectional validation study | n = 1,413 |
| Mindfulness and self-compassion as predictors of psychological wellbeing in long-term meditators and matched nonmeditators Experienced meditators and demographically matched nonmeditators | 2012 | Cross-sectional study | n = 152 |
| Mechanisms of Action in the Inverse Relationship Between Mindfulness and Psychological Distress Undergraduates | 2008 | Cross-sectional, correlational |
Citations in the library
Cited by 63
- Effect of kindness-based meditation on health and well-being: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology June 30, 2014
- The effect of loving-kindness meditation on positive emotions: a meta-analytic review Frontiers in Psychology November 3, 2015
- The Meditative Mind: A Comprehensive Meta-Analysis of MRI Studies BioMed Research International 2015
- Mindfulness in cultural context Transcultural Psychiatry August 1, 2015
- Dispositional Mindfulness Co-Varies with Smaller Amygdala and Caudate Volumes in Community Adults PLoS One May 22, 2013
and 58 more in the library
Cites 13
- The toronto mindfulness scale: Development and validation Journal of Clinical Psychology 2006
- Neural correlates of attentional expertise in long-term meditation practitioners Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences June 28, 2007
- Regulation of the Neural Circuitry of Emotion by Compassion Meditation: Effects of Meditative Expertise PLoS One March 25, 2008
- A systematic review of neurobiological and clinical features of mindfulness meditations Psychological Medicine November 27, 2009
- Investigation of mindfulness meditation practitioners with voxel-based morphometry Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience December 3, 2007
and 8 more in the library