Differential effects of non-dual and focused attention meditations on the formation of automatic perceptual habits in expert practitioners
Enrico Fucci, Oussama Abdoun, Anne Caclin, Andrew D Francis, John D. Dunne, Matthieu Ricard, Richard J. Davidson, Antoine Lutz
Neuropsychologia July 21, 2018 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2018.07.025 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Experimental study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Expert Buddhist meditation practitioners and matched novices |
| Intervention | Focused Attention meditation |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Mismatch negativity Perception Electroencephalography Context archaeology Cognitive psychology Oddball paradigm Cognition Sensory processing Audiology Event-related potential Developmental psychology Sensory system |
| Citations | 58 |
| Key findings | In experts, the MMN increased during Focused Attention compared to Open Presence, with the opposite pattern at the LFN latency, suggesting Open Presence involves increased sensory monitoring and reduced perceptual inferences. |
Abstract
Non-dual meditation aims to undo maladaptive cognitive and affective patterns by recognizing their constructed and transient nature. We previously found high-amplitude spontaneous gamma (25-40 Hz) oscillatory activity during such practice. Nonetheless, it is unclear how this meditation state differs from other practices, in terms of perceptual information processing. Here, we hypothesized that non-dual meditation can downregulate the automatic formation of perceptual habits. To investigate this hypothesis, we recorded EEG from expert Buddhist meditation practitioners and matched novices to measure two components of the auditory evoked response: the Mismatch Negativity (MMN) and the Late Frontal Negativity (LFN), a potential observed at a latency sensitive to attentional engagement to the auditory environment, during the practices of Open Presence (OP) and Focused Attention (FA), as well as during a control state, in the context of a passive oddball paradigm. We found an increase in gamma oscillatory power during both meditation states in expert practitioners and an interaction between states and groups in the amplitude of the MMN. A further investigation identified the specific interplay between the MMN and the LFN as a possible marker to differentiate the two meditation states as a function of expertise. In experts, the MMN increased during FA, compared to OP, while the opposite pattern was observed at the LFN latency. We propose that the state of OP in experts is characterized by increased sensory monitoring and reduced perceptual inferences compared to FA. This study represents a first attempt to describe the impact of non-dual meditation states on the regulation of automatic brain predictive processes.
Comparable studies
Other experimental studies on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| The benefits of being present: Mindfulness and its role in psychological well-being. Cancer patients (clinical intervention study) | 2003 | Mixed methods: scale development, correlational, quasi-experimental, laboratory, experience-sampling, and clinical intervention study | |
| Loving-kindness meditation increases social connectedness. | 2008 | Controlled laboratory experiment | |
| Mindfulness and mind-wandering: Finding convergence through opposing constructs. | 2012 | Two studies: correlational study and experimental study | |
| Mental Training Enhances Attentional Stability: Neural and Behavioral Evidence | 2009 | Experimental study | |
| Mindfulness meditation and substance use in an incarcerated population. Incarcerated population | 2006 | Quasi-experimental with treatment-as-usual control condition |
Citations in the library
Cited by 36
- From many to (n)one: Meditation and the plasticity of the predictive mind. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews September 1, 2021
- Studying the experience of meditation through Micro-phenomenology Current Opinion in Psychology October 25, 2018
- Mapping meditative states and stages with electrophysiology: concepts, classifications, and methods. Current Opinion in Psychology August 1, 2019
- The contemplative exercise through the lenses of predictive processing: A promising approach. Progress in Brain Research 2019
- Implicit-explicit gradient of nondual awareness or consciousness as such. Neuroscience of Consciousness October 8, 2021
and 31 more in the library
Cites 11
- Long-term meditators self-induce high-amplitude gamma synchrony during mental practice Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences November 8, 2004
- Investigating the phenomenological matrix of mindfulness-related practices from a neurocognitive perspective. American Psychologist October 1, 2015
- Neural correlates of nondual awareness in meditation. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 2014
- More Meditation, Less Habituation? The Effect of Mindfulness Practice on the Acoustic Startle Reflex PLoS One May 6, 2015
- Increased Gamma Brainwave Amplitude Compared to Control in Three Different Meditation Traditions. PLoS One 2017
and 6 more in the library