Focused attention, open monitoring and automatic self-transcending: Categories to organize meditations from Vedic, Buddhist and Chinese traditions.
Consciousness and Cognition December 2010 DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2010.01.007 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Buddhism Meditation |
| Key points | Argues that meditation practices fall into three categories rather than two: focused attention (beta/gamma activity), open monitoring (theta activity), and a proposed third category, "automatic self-transcending" (alpha1 activity). The author contends that because these categories differ in focus, subject/object relation, and procedures, averaging meditations together can lead to mistaken conclusions about mechanisms or clinical effects. |
Abstract
This paper proposes a third meditation-category--automatic self-transcending--to extend the dichotomy of focused attention and open monitoring proposed by Lutz. Automatic self-transcending includes techniques designed to transcend their own activity. This contrasts with focused attention, which keeps attention focused on an object; and open monitoring, which keeps attention involved in the monitoring process. Each category was assigned EEG bands, based on reported brain patterns during mental tasks, and meditations were categorized based on their reported EEG. Focused attention, characterized by beta/gamma activity, included meditations from Tibetan Buddhist, Buddhist, and Chinese traditions. Open monitoring, characterized by theta activity, included meditations from Buddhist, Chinese, and Vedic traditions. Automatic self-transcending, characterized by alpha1 activity, included meditations from Vedic and Chinese traditions. Between categories, the included meditations differed in focus, subject/object relation, and procedures. These findings shed light on the common mistake of averaging meditations together to determine mechanisms or clinical effects.
Comparable studies
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|---|---|---|---|
| Mental balance and well-being: Building bridges between Buddhism and Western psychology. | 2006 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Buddhist Modernism and the Rhetoric of Meditative Experience | 1995 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Buddhist and Psychological Perspectives on Emotions and Well-Being | 2005 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Too Early to Tell: The Potential Impact and Challenges—Ethical and Otherwise—Inherent in the Mainstreaming of Dharma in an Increasingly Dystopian World | 2017 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| From self to nonself: The Nonself Theory | 2016 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
Citations in the library
Cited by 263
- Meditation Programs for Psychological Stress and Well-being JAMA Internal Medicine January 6, 2014
- The psychological effects of meditation: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin May 14, 2012
- Psychedelics, Meditation, and Self-Consciousness Frontiers in Psychology September 4, 2018
- Regular, brief mindfulness meditation practice improves electrophysiological markers of attentional control Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 2012
- Focused attention, open monitoring and loving kindness meditation: effects on attention, conflict monitoring, and creativity – A review Frontiers in Psychology September 23, 2014
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Cites 26
- Meditation experience is associated with increased cortical thickness Neuroreport November 7, 2005
- Meditation experience is associated with differences in default mode network activity and connectivity Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences November 23, 2011
- Long-term meditators self-induce high-amplitude gamma synchrony during mental practice Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences November 8, 2004
- Neural correlates of attentional expertise in long-term meditation practitioners Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences June 28, 2007
- Brain sources of EEG gamma frequency during volitionally meditation-induced, altered states of consciousness, and experience of the self Psychiatry Research Neuroimaging November 1, 2001
and 21 more in the library