Abstract
Despite a growing literature supporting the salutary effects of mindfulness meditation on emotion regulation, the underlying mechanisms linking neural and subjective changes occurring during the actual practice of meditation with emotion regulatory effects observed after meditation remains virtually unexplored. The current study sought to address this gap in knowledge by testing the hypothesis that adoption of internally-directed focused attention, indexed by increased alpha and theta spectral power, during brief open monitoring (OM) mindfulness meditation predicts reduced emotional reactivity, as measured by the late positive potential (LPP). Results revealed that the OM meditation did not produce demonstrable differences in alpha and theta power but did increase self-reported sleepiness relative to controls. Follow-up analyses showed that sleepiness uniquely moderated the effect of meditation on the LPP, such that less sleepiness during meditation, but not the control audio, corresponded to smaller LPPs to negative images. Change in theta, but not alpha power, between meditation and rest was positively correlated with the LPP even after controlling for sleepiness. Although the primary hypothesis was unsupported, the findings demonstrate that phenomenological and neural changes occurring during OM meditation may modulate its subsequent “off-the-cushion” effects on emotional reactivity.
Highlights
Despite a growing literature supporting the salutary effects of mindfulness meditation on emotion regulation, the underlying mechanisms linking neural and subjective changes occurring during the actual practice of meditation with emotion regulatory effects observed after meditation remains virtually unexplored
In analyzing the baseline and manipulation check measures prior to testing the predictions involving the effect of open monitoring (OM) meditation, we found an unexpected difference in sleepiness during the audio induction, such that participants reported more sleepiness during the guided meditation than the control audio
The predictions received mixed support with notable qualifications: (1) the guided meditation did not produce demonstrable differences in alpha and theta power relative to controls; (2) sleepiness during the guided meditation moderated the effect of meditation on the late late positive potential (LPP), such that less sleepiness corresponded to a smaller difference between negative and neutral LPP amplitudes; (3) negative affect subscale (NAS) ratings did not differ between groups; (4) meditative theta, but not meditative alpha, was positively correlated with the early LPP, but did not statistically differ relative to controls
Summary
Despite a growing literature supporting the salutary effects of mindfulness meditation on emotion regulation, the underlying mechanisms linking neural and subjective changes occurring during the actual practice of meditation with emotion regulatory effects observed after meditation remains virtually unexplored. Despite lay and scientific consensus that mindfulness promotes healthy emotion regulation, little is known about how mindfulness confers its emotion regulatory effects. Research into this question is complicated by three factors. Mindfulness as mind–body training is itself highly varied, ranging from traditional sitting meditations to a panoply of didactic exercises and integrative interventions[13,14] This construct heterogeneity complicates operationalization and challenges the ability to draw meaningful inferences from experimental designs (e.g., discriminating the effects of state mindfulness from meditation). The intersection between mindfulness meditation and emotion regulation has long been an area of considerable interest Both traditional Buddhist descriptions[15] and more recent theoretical accounts[7,16] suggest that mindfulness practice may confer emotional benefits. Given that emotion dysregulation is a prototypic transdiagnostic feature of psychopathology, systematic investigations evaluating the effects and underlying mechanisms of mindfulness meditation on emotional regulation hold significant clinical utility and public health relevance
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