Taking time to feel our body: Steady increases in heartbeat perception accuracy and decreases in alexithymia over 9 months of contemplative mental training.
Psychophysiology March 1, 2017 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.12790 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational cohort Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 318 |
| Population | Adults participating in the ReSource Project |
| Interventions | Affect module Perspective module) |
| Duration | 9-month training, with 3-month modules |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Alexithymia Body awareness Contemplative training Emotional awareness Interoception |
| Key findings | Heartbeat perception accuracy increased steadily over 9 months of contemplative mental training, with significant effects emerging after 6 and 9 months, and changes in accuracy were predictive of improvements in emotional awareness. |
Abstract
The ability to accurately perceive signals from the body has been shown to be important for physical and psychological health as well as understanding one's emotions. Despite the importance of this skill, often indexed by heartbeat perception accuracy (HBPa), little is known about its malleability. Here, we investigated whether contemplative mental practice can increase HBPa. In the context of a 9-month mental training study, the ReSource Project, two matched cohorts (n = 77 and n = 79) underwent three training modules of 3 months' duration that targeted attentional and interoceptive abilities (Presence module), socio-affective (Affect module), and socio-cognitive (Perspective module) abilities. A third cohort (n = 78) underwent 3 months of practice (Affect module) and a retest control group (n = 84) did not undergo any training. HBPa was measured with a heartbeat tracking task before and after each training module. Emotional awareness was measured by the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS). Participants with TAS scores > 60 at screening were excluded. HBPa was found to increase steadily over the training, with significant and small- to medium-sized effects emerging after 6 months (Cohen's d = .173) and 9 months (d = .273) of mental training. Changes in HBPa were concomitant with and predictive of changes in emotional awareness. Our results suggest that HBPa can indeed be trained through intensive contemplative practice. The effect takes longer than the 8 weeks of typical mindfulness courses to reach meaningful magnitude. These increments in interoceptive accuracy and the related improvements in emotional awareness point to opportunities for improving physical and psychological health through contemplative mental training.
Comparable studies
Other observational and cohort studies on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Using Self-Report Assessment Methods to Explore Facets of Mindfulness Undergraduate students | 2006 | Observational cohort | |
| Effectiveness of a meditation-based stress reduction program in the treatment of anxiety disorders Patients with generalized anxiety disorder or panic disorder with or without agoraphobia | 1992 | Observational cohort | n = 22 |
| Meditation experience is associated with increased cortical thickness Participants with extensive Insight meditation experience and matched controls | 2005 | Observational cohort | n = 20 |
| Meditation experience is associated with differences in default mode network activity and connectivity Experienced meditators and matched meditation-naive controls | 2011 | Observational cohort | |
| Long-term meditators self-induce high-amplitude gamma synchrony during mental practice Long-term Buddhist practitioners and controls | 2004 | Observational cohort |
Citations in the library
Cited by 45
- Effects of mindfulness-based interventions on alexithymia: a systematic review Evidence-Based Mental Health August 4, 2018
- The relationship between mindfulness and objective measures of body awareness: A meta-analysis Scientific Reports November 22, 2019
- From Self-Esteem to Selflessness: An Evidence (Gap) Map of Self-Related Processes as Mechanisms of Mindfulness-Based Interventions Frontiers in Psychology November 22, 2021
- Training novice practitioners to reliably report their meditation experience using shared phenomenological dimensions. Consciousness and Cognition February 1, 2019
- Interoceptive Ability and Emotion Regulation in Mind-Body Interventions: An Integrative Review. Behavioral Sciences November 18, 2024
and 40 more in the library
Cites 28
- Interoceptive inference, emotion, and the embodied self Trends in Cognitive Sciences October 12, 2013
- Meditation experience is associated with increased cortical thickness Neuroreport November 7, 2005
- Attending to the present: mindfulness meditation reveals distinct neural modes of self-reference Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience August 13, 2007
- Regulation of the Neural Circuitry of Emotion by Compassion Meditation: Effects of Meditative Expertise PLoS One March 25, 2008
- Cultivating mindfulness: effects on well‐being Journal of Clinical Psychology May 16, 2008
and 23 more in the library