From many to (n)one: Meditation and the plasticity of the predictive mind.
Ruben Laukkonen, Heleen A. Slagter
Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews September 1, 2021 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.06.021 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Interventions | open monitoring non-dual) |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Attention Consciousness Insight Non-dual awareness Plasticity Predictive brain Predictive processing Sense of self |
| Citations | 183 |
| Key points | Proposes that deconstructive meditation reduces counterfactual temporally deep cognition by disengaging anticipatory processes, placing three meditation styles on a continuum of relinquishing predictive habits, including the predicted self. |
Abstract
How profoundly can humans change their own minds? In this paper we offer a unifying account of deconstructive meditation under the predictive processing view. We start from simple axioms. First, the brain makes predictions based on past experience, both phylogenetic and ontogenetic. Second, deconstructive meditation brings one closer to the here and now by disengaging anticipatory processes. We propose that practicing meditation therefore gradually reduces counterfactual temporally deep cognition, until all conceptual processing falls away, unveiling a state of pure awareness. Our account also places three main styles of meditation (focused attention, open monitoring, and non-dual) on a single continuum, where each technique relinquishes increasingly engrained habits of prediction, including the predicted self. This deconstruction can also permit certain insights by making the above processes available to introspection. Our framework is consistent with the state of empirical and (neuro)phenomenological evidence and illuminates the top-down plasticity of the predictive mind. Experimental rigor, neurophenomenology, and no-report paradigms are needed to further understanding of how meditation affects predictive processing and the self.