Changes in Bodily Sensation Maps following different mindfulness interventions

Abstract

Theories on sensation of emotions in the body The existence of physical sensation that comes with experiencing an emotion is well investigated (Pace-Schott et al., 2019). James and Lange already postulated physical sensation as a central element in the emergence of an emotion (James, 1884). It has been suggested that somatosensory feedback can even trigger conscious emotional experiences (Damasio & Carvalho, 2013) and that different emotions correlate with statistically clearly separable bodily sensations which can be represented in bodily sensation maps (BSMs) (Nummenmaa et al., 2014). Development of Bodily Sensation Maps These maps were developed using a topographical self-report method called emBODY. The participants were shown two body silhouettes that should represent their own bodily sensations when presented with emotional words, stories, movies, or facial expressions. They were then asked to color-code the body regions whose activity they perceived as stronger or weaker when viewing the respective stimulus. The emotions studied were happiness, love, pride, anger, fear, anxiety, shame, sadness, depression, disgust, contempt, envy, surprise and a neutral condition. In all experiments, different emotions were consistently associated with clearly distinguishable maps of bodily sensations. As the independence of these topographies between emotions was shown, it was concluded that emotions are represented in the somatosensory system as culturally universal categorical somatotopic maps (Nummenmaa et al., 2014). It has been shown that body maps can be used as generative tools for soma-based design, ranging from sampling bodily experience, heightening bodily self-awareness, understanding changing bodily experience over time, identifying patterns of bodily experience, and transferring somatic experiential qualities into physical designs (Cochrane et al., 2022). Mindfulness Mindfulness is associated with more significant emotional differentiation and improved emotion regulation (Erisman & Roemer, 2010; Hölzel et al., 2011). According to Kabat-Zinn, mindfulness is “paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally” (Kabat-Zinn, 1994). It does not have one uniform definition and can be understood in various ways: as a state attainable through meditation, as a dispositional trait, as a form of meditation practice, or as a type of intervention (Vago & Silbersweig, 2012). Mindfulness consists of two main aspects (Creswell, 2017). First, mindfulness focuses attention and awareness in the present moment. This has different components, namely “body sensations, emotional reactions, mental images, mental talk, and perceptual experiences”. Second, mindfulness also comes with an open and accepting attitude toward one’s own experiences which includes an inviting, open-minded and curious element but also a non-reactive, detached, and passive orientation (Creswell, 2017). According to a classification framework, various forms of meditation, including attentional and constructive practices, can be used as mindfulness interventions (Dahl et al., 2015). Multiple different meditations focus on different bodily regions. Two approaches that have proven effective in emotion regulation in the past are the metta meditation (Graser et al., 2016) as well as mindfulness based stress reduction (MBSR), specifically the breath focused attention meditation (Chiesa et al., 2013; Goldin & Gross, 2010). Whereas MBSR is centered around altering emotional responding by modifying cognitive–affective processes (Goldin & Gross, 2010) and has been shown to influence the central nervous system (Hemond et al., 2024), metta meditation explicitly aims to promote positive emotional states and a positive attitude towards oneself and others (Hofmann et al., 2011). It has previously been associated with the heart region (Gunaratana, 2017). Effects of mindfulness on emotions Over the past decades, clinicians have demonstrated that mindfulness training can improve emotional disorders (Ortner et al., 2007) and minimize negative mood (Jha et al., 2010). It was shown to decrease physiological responses, including skin conductance (Goleman & Schwartz, 1976) and amygdala activity (Creswell et al., 2007). Mediational models revealed that the link between trait mindfulness and emotional lability was mediated by emotion differentiation. Additionally, emotion regulation served as a mediator in the relationship between mindfulness and both negative emotional lability and positive emotion differentiation. Findings from this experience sampling study suggest that self-reported mindfulness is associated with greater differentiation of discrete emotional experiences, reflecting effective emotion regulation (Hill & Updegraff, 2012). Self-reported trait mindfulness levels were associated with reduced emotional reactivity, reflected in lower emotional lability for both negative and positive emotions. Additionally, mindfulness ratings were either negatively correlated with or showed a trend toward significance for reduced lability in specific emotions, such as anger, sadness, fear, shame, rage, guilt, misery, nervousness, calm, comfort, satisfaction, curiosity, interest, happiness, peace, and pride. Trait mindfulness was also linked to fewer instances of general emotion dysregulation. Furthermore, mindfulness demonstrated a connection to enhanced emotional awareness, as evidenced by a greater ability to identify subtle distinctions between discrete emotions. Higher mindfulness levels were correlated with greater emotion differentiation for both negative and positive emotions (Hill & Updegraff, 2012). In a meta-analysis including 72 studies, mindfulness meditation was shown to significantly improve symptoms of depression, anxiety, combined mental health, and stress compared to inactive controls (Hoge et al., 2021). To understand how mindfulness can influence emotion regulation, the Dual-Mode Model of Mindful Emotion Regulation (D-MER) integrates the Extended Process Model of Emotion Regulation and Monitoring and Acceptance Theory (Raugh & Strauss, 2024). The model outlines two mindfulness modes: implementation, where mindfulness skills act as emotion regulation strategies through attentional deployment and cognitive reappraisal, and facilitation, where mindfulness as a state or trait influences emotion generation and regulation by shaping cognitive processes and valence systems. Over time, mindfulness practice enhances the efficiency of these strategies (implementation) and promotes more automatic, trait-like regulation effects (facilitation) (Raugh & Strauss, 2024). Bodily Sensation Maps and Mindfulness As mindfulness has been proven to help regulate emotion, it is essential to also focus on how it can influence the bodily sensations that come with these emotions. Meditation and mindfulness-based therapies are promising for affecting interoception and bodily awareness (Khalsa et al., 2008). They also seem to change the function of the neural network associated with interoceptive awareness (Blain et al., 2023; Farb et al., 2013; Hölzel et al., 2011). In a study comprised of a group of mindfulness practitioners and a group of non-practitioners, it was analyzed if there was any difference in their perceptions of emotion. Participants were instructed to evoke five basic emotions (fear, disgust, anger, sadness, joy). As soon as they became aware of where they felt the emotions start to emerge, they were instructed to interrupt the observation and to mark the region in a diagram of a human figure. Regarding interoceptive awareness, the mindfulness group scored significantly higher in a Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness questionnaire than the non-mindfulness group (De Carvalho et al., 2022). Another study introduces the Emotion Mapping Activity (EMA) (Edwards et al., 2018), a mindfulness-based exercise aimed at improving the ability of alexithymic individuals to label emotions by focusing on culturally universal patterns of somatic experience. Preliminary findings suggest that the EMA may help participants more accurately interpret and label emotions that are typically misidentified without disrupting existing emotion-labeling abilities, highlighting the potential of mindfulness for better understanding and differentiating emotions (Edwards et al., 2018). To further investigate the mechanisms behind how mindfulness improves emotion regulation, emotion processing, and the bodily sensations that come with emotions, the following study will connect the BSM to different mindfulness meditations that have proven effective in affecting emotion. These BSM where rebuild in OpenSesame (Mathôt et al., 2012). Different emotions have topographically different embodiments (Rinne et al., 2023), suggesting a strong connection between emotional states and interoceptive awareness. Subsequently, we first investigate the bodily activation of the 13 most relevant emotions: happiness, love, pride, fear, anxiety, shame, sadness, depression, disgust, contempt, envy, surprise and a neutral activation state (Hill & Updegraff, 2012; Nummenmaa et al., 2014). The subjects will be confronted with these emotions and will indicate the corresponding bodily sensations using the BSM. The nature and perception of the targeted emotion will be confirmed by the usage of the German version of the Affect Grid. It was designed to assess affect along the dimensions of pleasure–displeasure and arousal–sleepiness. The Affect Grid measures judgments about affect of either a descriptive or a subjective kind (Schroter et al., 2023). Mindfulness-based interventions have been shown to influence both emotional processing and it’s corresponding bodily awareness. However, it remains unclear how various mindfulness techniques differentially shape the perception of bodily sensations linked to emotions. To examine this, we