Visualizing compassion: Episodic simulation as contemplative practice

Compassion-based contemplative practices may increase everyday prosocial behavior by using mental simulation. When people vividly imagine a situation, the brain activates sensorimotor patterns similar to those during real experience. This simulation during imagery-based compassion practices could prime individuals to act compassionately. Evidence from psychology and neuroscience supports this hypothesis, and the paper reviews how specific compassion interventions construct such simulations. The authors conclude with future research directions on how these practices shape prosocial perception and action in daily life.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Contemplative interventions designed to cultivate compassion are receiving increasing empirical attention. Accumulating evidence suggests that these interventions bolster prosocial motivation and warmth towards others. Less is known about how these practices impact compassion in everyday life. Here we consider one mechanistic pathway through which compassion practices may impact perception and action in the world: simulation. Evidence suggests that vividly imagining a situation simulates that experience in the brain as if it were, to a degree, actually happening. Thus, we hypothesize that simulation during imagery-based contemplative practices can construct sensorimotor patterns in the brain that prime an individual to act compassionately in the world. We first present evidence across multiple literatures in Psychology that motivates this hypothesis, including the neuroscience of mental imagery and the emerging literature on prosocial episodic simulation. Then, we examine the specific contemplative practices in compassion-based interventions that may construct such simulations. We conclude with future directions for investigating how compassion-based interventions may shape prosocial perception and action in everyday life.