Neurodharma Self-Help: Personalized Science Communication as Brain Management.

Jenny Eklöf

doi:10.1007/s10912-015-9352-6

Neurodharma Self-Help: Personalized Science Communication as Brain Management.

Jenny Eklöf

Journal of Medical Humanities September 2017 DOI: 10.1007/s10912-015-9352-6 (opens in new tab)

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Study at a glance

AI-extracted from the abstract

Characteristics	Qualitative study Peer reviewed
Population	Popular mindfulness communication materials: self-help books, websites, and online videos
Topics	Meditation
Keywords	Personalization Science communication Self-help
Key findings	Argues that experts in mindfulness neuroscience communicate the imperative of "brain fitness" for health, wellbeing, and happiness through personalized science communication in self-help books, websites, and online videos. Contends that this personalization bridges scientific findings and their supposed applications, infuses science with subjective meaning, and turns expert communication with the public into a moral vocation.

Abstract

Over the past ten to fifteen years, medical interventions, therapeutic approaches and scientific studies involving mindfulness meditation have gained traction in areas such as clinical psychology, psychotherapy, and neuroscience. Simultaneously, mindfulness has had a very strong public appeal. This article examines some of the ways in which the medical and scientific meaning of mindfulness is communicated in public and to the public. In particular, it shows how experts in the field of mindfulness neuroscience seek to communicate to the public at large the imperative of brain fitness for the promotion of health, wellbeing and happiness. The study identifies claims being made in popular outlets that, by and large, bypass traditional mass media, such as self-help books, websites and online videos. By treating this material as a form of personalized science communication, this article contributes to the body of literature that understands science communication as a continuum and the boundary between science and popularized science as the outcome of human negotiations. The study finds that processes of personalization help to build bridges between scientific findings and their supposed application, that they infuse science with subjective meaning, and turn expert communication with the public into a moral vocation.

Comparable studies

Other qualitative studies on meditation, most cited first.

Study	Year	Design	Participants
The varieties of contemplative experience: A mixed-methods study of meditation-related challenges in Western Buddhists Western Buddhist meditation practitioners and experts in Theravāda, Zen, and Tibetan...	2017	Qualitative study with mixed-methods
The Effects of Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction on Nurse Stress and Burnout Nurses in a hospital system	2004	Implementation study with mixed methods
An exploratory mixed methods study of the acceptability and effectiveness of mindfulness -based cognitive therapy for patients with active depression and anxiety in primary care Primary care patients with recurrent depression or recurrent depression and anxiety	2006	Exploratory mixed methods study	n = 13
A qualitative study of mindfulness‐based cognitive therapy for depression Participants in mindfulness-based cognitive therapy in a mental-health context	2001	Qualitative study	n = 7
Effortless awareness: using real time neurofeedback to investigate correlates of posterior cingulate cortex activity in meditators' self-report Meditators	2013	Qualitative study using grounded theory methodology

Citations in the library

Cited by 1

Meditation Experiences, Self, and Boundaries of Consciousness International Journal of Complementary & Alternative Medicine 2016

Cites 8

and 3 more in the library