Practice Of Focused Attention Meditation Research Articles

Bidirectional Alpha Power EEG Neurofeedback During a Focused Attention Meditation Practice in Novices

Bidirectional Alpha Power EEG Neurofeedback During a Focused Attention Meditation Practice in Novices

The Longitudinal Effect of Meditation on Resting-State Functional Connectivity Using Dynamic Arterial Spin Labeling: A Feasibility Study.

We aimed to assess whether dynamic arterial spin labeling (dASL), a novel quantitative MRI technique with minimal contamination of subject motion and physiological noises, could detect the longitudinal effect of focused attention meditation (FAM) on resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC). A total of 10 novice meditators who recorded their FAM practice time were scanned at baseline and at the 2-month follow-up. Two-month meditation practice caused significantly increased rsFC between the left medial temporal (LMT) seed and precuneus area and between the right frontal eye (RFE) seed and medial prefrontal cortex. Meditation practice time was found to be positively associated with longitudinal changes of rsFC between the default mode network (DMN) and dorsal attention network (DAN), between DMN and insula, and between DAN and the frontoparietal control network (FPN) but negatively associated with changes of rsFC between DMN and FPN, and between DAN and visual regions. These findings demonstrate the capability of dASL in identifying the FAM-induced rsFC changes and suggest that the practice of FAM can strengthen the efficient control of FPN on fast switching between DMN and DAN and enhance the utilization of attentional resources with reduced focus on visual processing.

Meditation experience predicts negative reinforcement learning and is associated with attenuated FRN amplitude

Focused attention meditation (FAM) practices are cognitive control exercises where meditators learn to maintain focus and attention in the face of distracting stimuli. Previous studies have shown that FAM is both activating and causing plastic changes to the mesolimbic dopamine system and some of its target structures, particularly the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and striatum. Feedback-based learning also depends on these systems and is known to be modulated by tonic dopamine levels. Capitalizing on previous findings that FAM practices seem to cause dopamine release, the present study shows that FAM experience predicts learning from negative feedback on a probabilistic selection task. Furthermore, meditators exhibited attenuated feedback-related negativity (FRN) as compared with nonmeditators and this effect scales with meditation experience. Given that reinforcement learning and FRN are modulated by dopamine levels, a possible explanation for our findings is that FAM practice causes persistent increases in tonic dopamine levels which scale with amount of practice, thus altering feedback processing.