[The history of Mindfulness put to the test of current scientific data: unresolved questions].

Mindfulness is a universal human ability with roots in multiple religious and philosophical traditions, not only Buddhism and Hinduism but also Judaism, Islam, Christianity, and Western philosophy. It involves bringing complete, nonjudgmental attention to present-moment experience. The French language lacks a distinct term for mindfulness versus awareness, complicating its translation. The paper describes how mindfulness fosters concentration, attention, and acceptance, and reviews its positive effects on mental and physical health, particularly stress reduction from a physiological perspective. Neurobiological changes from mindfulness meditation, including modifications in cerebral networks and the default-mode network, are discussed, with evidence that practice decreases mind-wandering. Comparisons with relaxation techniques highlight technique-specific differences needing further study.

Study at a glance

Abstract

The first part of this paper describes the long history of the concept of Mindfulness. Contrary to the belief that Mindfulness only has Buddhist and Hindu origins, it is also rooted in Jewish, Islamic and Christian religions. Furthermore, western philosophers have described a mindful path to become more aware of thoughts, feelings, and bodily sensations. Mindfulness can be considered as a universal human ability embodied to foster clear thinking and open-heartedness. As such, this form of being requires no particular religious or cultural belief system. The current acceptance of what a mindful path is, refers to a psychological quality that involves bringing one's complete attention to present experience on a moment-to-moment basis, in a particular way: in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally. Although such a definition is well accepted in France, the French translation for Mindfulness is not easy to use: being conscious and being aware are translated with the same French word. The French language fails to clearly separate the dimensional attributes of a mindful subject from the ways for developing mindfulness through formal meditation practice. In line with this conception, stability and assessments of Mindfulness mainly were examined. How this disposition allows the development of concentration, attention and acceptance moment by moment in a nonjudgmental way is described in the second part. Particular attention is paid to its positive effects in several aspects of mental and physical health. In particular, positive effects on the ability to cope with stress are described from a physiological point of view. Third, this article intends to present neurobiological aspects currently proposed to explain the benefits of Mindfulness meditation. Modifications of cerebral networks and neurobiological functioning are described in relation to expertise in meditation practice. The hypothesis of the role of meditation on neuroplasticity is also discussed. Furthermore, the specific impact of Mindfulness meditation practice on these mechanisms will be considered in comparison with relaxation techniques. With the increasing growth of well-designed and well-controlled meditation research, however, future studies will be needed to compare between different meditation techniques. This will enable researchers to outline the effects of the technique-specific differences on behavior, cognitive function, underlying physiology and neurobiology and clinical effectiveness. Finally, the most recent data on the changes in functioning of a resting brain (Brain Default Mode) induced by a Mindfulness practice, demonstrate differences in the default-mode network that are consistent with decreased mind-wandering. That is a way to better understand possible neural mechanisms of meditation for health benefits of Mindfulness.