What’s wrong with “the mindful brain”? Moving past a neurocentric view of meditation
Michael Lifshitz, Evan Thompson
Casting Light on the Dark Side of Brain Imaging 2019 DOI: 10.1016/b978-0-12-816179-1.00021-9 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Meditation |
| Key points | Argues that meditation is a deeply social and embodied collection of cultural practices, not merely a brain-training technique. |
Abstract
Abstract Meditation is trending right now. From classrooms and hospitals to business meetings and phone apps, our culture is enthralled by meditation as a powerful tool to train our brains and shape our private mental lives—to make us happier, more productive, and more peaceful on the inside. But meditation is not just about training our brains. It’s a deeply social—and fundamentally embodied—collection of cultural practices. If we reduce meditative practices to just a set of brain patterns, we miss the richness of how these practices work and ignore much of what they have to teach us about our own subjective experience.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mindfulness: A proposed operational definition. | 2004 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Mechanisms of mindfulness | 2005 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| How Does Mindfulness Meditation Work? Proposing Mechanisms of Action From a Conceptual and Neural Perspective | 2011 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for depression | 2006 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Self-awareness, self-regulation, and self-transcendence (S-ART): a framework for understanding the neurobiological mechanisms of mindfulness | 2012 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
Citations in the library
Cited by 2
- Steps Toward a Neurophenomenology of Speaking in Tongues The Oxford Handbook of Psychedelic, Religious, Spiritual, and Mystical Experiences June 20, 2024
- The Understudied Side of Contemplation: Words, Images, and Intentions in a Syncretic Spiritual Practice. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis 2020