Mindfulness Meditation Experience Research Articles

The Relationship Between Mindfulness and Impulsivity: The Role of Meditation

ObjectivesMindfulness and impulsivity traits are considered to be important aspects of mental well-being and health. These traits are often seen as opposing concepts, yet the nature of the relationship between them is unclear, mainly because they are complex to define. The aim of this research was to investigate the relationship between impulsivity and mindfulness, taking into account the impact of mindfulness meditation experience on this connection.MethodA total of 174 mentally and physically healthy young adults were assigned to either a non-meditation group or a meditation group based on their experience in meditation practices. Participants completed self-report scales to evaluate their impulsivity and mindfulness traits.ResultsTrait impulsivity scales and dysfunctional impulsivity were negatively correlated with trait mindfulness, while functional impulsivity was positively correlated with trait mindfulness. While meditation practice significantly predicted trait mindfulness, its moderating effect on the relationship between impulsivity and mindfulness was limited.ConclusionsThe varying relationship between impulsivity subscales and trait mindfulness, together with the relatively limited association between meditation practice and these personality traits, emphasizes the importance of considering different aspects of impulsivity and acknowledging how individual differences affect the relationship between impulsivity and mindfulness.PreregistrationThis study is not preregistered.

Differences in attentional function between experienced mindfulness meditators and non-meditators.

Attentional enhancement has often been identified as the central cognitive mechanism underlying the benefits of mindfulness meditation. However, the extent to which this enhancement is observable in the neural processes underlying long-term meditation is unclear. This current study aimed to examine differences in attentional performance between meditators and controls (non-meditators) using a visual oddball task with concurrent electroencephalography (EEG) recordings. Thirty-four participants were recruited, including 16 meditators and 18 healthy controls, who were non-meditators. The participants completed a visual oddball task, using visual stimuli, and EEG recording. Self-reports revealed that meditators had higher mindful attention scores than did the control group. The behavioral results showed that the meditators demonstrated faster reaction times than the non-meditators did. Neural findings indicated a higher P2 amplitude in the meditators than in the controls. The meditators demonstrated a significantly higher P3 in the target trials than in the distractor trials, which was not observed in the controls. Additionally, the time-frequency analysis demonstrated that the delta and theta powers in the meditators were significantly higher than those in the controls. The study suggests the meditators exhibited greater attentional performance than the controls did, as revealed by EEG and behavioral measures. This study extends previous research on the effects of mindfulness meditation on attention and adds to our understanding of the effects of long-term mindfulness meditation.

지혜의 개념화와 지혜 교육의 방법

Objectives In this study, wisdom is conceptualized and a method of wisdom education is presented.
 Methods Defines knowledge, wisdom, and insight, and investigates insight and wisdom base on Eastern philosophical thoughts. Conceptualize wisdom by understanding insight and wisdom from the perspective of philosophy and science and explaining the image of wisdom. Based on conceptualization of wisdom, a method of wisdom education is presented.
 Results Knowledge and wisdom are the same in terms of knowledge, but the dimensions of knowledge are different. Only when you have insight can you see the phenomenon or object from a new perspective. By insighting that change is completely different without an immutable substance, it can be joined to the Eighteen Realms. Wisdom is the state of being involved in the Eighteen Realms. The founders of quantum physics were able to create quantum mechanics by gaining insight into the micro-world. The quantum mechanical paradigm is wisdom. Based on knowledge, insight move on to wisdom, and again, insight based on expanded knowledge move on to deeper wisdom. Mindfulness meditation was suggested as a method of educating this wisdom. Although the conceptualization of wisdom was attempted with different perspectives and recognition objects, the method of obtaining wisdom resulted in mindfulness meditation.
 Conclusions Wisdom was conceptualized, a method of wisdom education was presented based on mindfulness meditation experience, and the relationship between wisdom conceptualization and mindfulness meditation was explained. Wisdom education is now necessary and urgency.

Measuring Mindfulness in Black Americans: A Psychometric Validation of the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire

Black Americans disproportionately experience higher levels of chronic stress. Mindfulness is a promising, cost-effective option for reducing stress and related mental health outcomes, such as depression and anxiety. The Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) is one of the most widely used tools to measure mindfulness; however, Black American samples have been underrepresented in validation studies of the FFMQ. Consequently, the validity of the FFMQ within Black Americans has received minimal attention. The present study assessed the psychometric properties and nomological network of the original 39-item FFMQ (FFMQ-39) and the short form 15-item FFMQ (FFMQ-15) among a non-clinical, Black American sample in the United States. In a longitudinal study, 586 Black Americans completed either the FFMQ-39 or the FFMQ-15 at two time points one month apart, as well as measures of the constructs in mindfulness’ nomological network and demographic attributes. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses supported a 5-factor structure in both questionnaires. Both questionnaires had good fit indices (RMSEA < 0.06, SRMR < 0.08, CFI > 0.92, TFI > 0.92) and demonstrated strong test–retest reliability, expected associations with nomological network variables, and invariance across ethnic heritage, ethnic identity, everyday discrimination, lifetime discrimination, skin tone, depression level, gender, mindfulness meditation experience, and household income. The results indicate that both the FFMQ-39 and the FFMQ-15 can validly and reliably measure mindfulness in a non-clinical, Black American sample. These findings contribute to cultural generalizability and mindfulness assessment within underrepresented populations. The analytic plan was pre-registered on the Open Science Framework. Registration: https://osf.io/95v4m

Reducing Choice-Blindness? An Experimental Study Comparing Experienced Meditators to Non-Meditators.

The mindfulness trait is an intrinsic characteristic of one's disposition that facilitates awareness of the present moment. Meditation has proven to enhance situational awareness. In this study, we compared the performance of participants that were split into two groups depending on their experience in mindfulness meditation (a control group naive to mindfulness meditation and a group of experienced mindfulness meditators). Choice-blindness happens when people fail to notice mismatches between their intentions and the consequences of decisions. Our task consisted of decisions where participants chose one preferred female facial image from a pair of images for a total of 15 decisions. By reversing the decisions, unbeknownst to the participants, three discrepancies were introduced in an online experimental design. Our results indicate that the likelihood of detecting one or more manipulations was higher in the mindful group compared to the control group. The higher FMI scores of the mindful group did not contribute to this observation; only the practice of mindfulness meditation itself did. Thus, this could be explained by better introspective access and control of reasoning processes acquired during practice and not by the latent characteristics that are attributed to the mindfulness trait.

Frontolimbic alpha activity tracks intentional rest BCI control improvement through mindfulness meditation

Brain–computer interfaces (BCIs) are capable of translating human intentions into signals controlling an external device to assist patients with severe neuromuscular disorders. Prior work has demonstrated that participants with mindfulness meditation experience evince improved BCI performance, but the underlying neural mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we conducted a large-scale longitudinal intervention study by training participants in mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR; a standardized mind–body awareness training intervention), and investigated whether and how short-term MBSR affected sensorimotor rhythm (SMR)-based BCI performance. We hypothesize that MBSR training improves BCI performance by reducing mind wandering and enhancing self-awareness during the intentional rest BCI control, which would mainly be reflected by modulations of default-mode network and limbic network activity. We found that MBSR training significantly improved BCI performance compared to controls and these behavioral enhancements were accompanied by increased frontolimbic alpha activity (9–15 Hz) and decreased alpha connectivity among limbic network, frontoparietal network, and default-mode network. Furthermore, the modulations of frontolimbic alpha activity were positively correlated with the duration of meditation experience and the extent of BCI performance improvement. Overall, these data suggest that mindfulness allows participant to reach a state where they can modulate frontolimbic alpha power and improve BCI performance for SMR-based BCI control.

Theory-Based Predictors of Mindfulness Meditation Mobile App Usage: A Survey and Cohort Study.

BackgroundMindfulness meditation has become increasingly popular over the last few years, due in part to the increase in mobile apps incorporating the practice. Although studies have demonstrated the potential of mindfulness meditation to positively impact health, little has been uncovered about what predicts engagement in mindfulness meditation. Understanding the predictors of mindfulness meditation may help practitioners and phone app developers improve intervention strategies and app experience.ObjectiveThe purpose of this study was to use the Theory of Planned Behavior and Temporal Self-Regulation Theory to determine factors predicting mindfulness meditation mobile app use.MethodsThe sample consisted of 85 undergraduate students with no prior mindfulness meditation experience. During their first laboratory visit, participants completed tasks to measure their executive functioning and a survey to measure Theory of Planned Behavior constructs about mindfulness meditation. Over the following 2 weeks, participants logged the days and minutes that they practiced mindfulness meditation using a phone app. Hierarchical regression modeling was used to analyze the data.ResultsAfter controlling for demographic factors, participant subjective norms (beta=14.51, P=.001) and intentions (beta=36.12, P=.001) were predictive of the number of minutes practicing mindfulness. Participant executive functioning did not predict mindfulness meditation practice, nor did it moderate the link between intentions and mindfulness meditation practice. Participant attitudes (beta=0.44, P<.001) and perceived control (beta=0.42, P=.002) were positively associated with intentions to practice mindfulness.ConclusionsThese results suggest that among college student populations, the Theory of Planned Behavior may be useful in predicting the use of mindfulness meditation phone apps. However, participant executive functioning was not a predictor or moderator of mindfulness practice, and Temporal Self-Regulation Theory may be less useful for explaining mindfulness meditation behaviors using phone apps over a short period of time among college students. The results have implications for public health professionals, suggesting that a focus on subjective norms and intentions may promote mindfulness meditation practice using phone apps.

The Lived Experiences of Experienced Vipassana Mahasi Meditators: an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis

Research into the effects and mechanisms of mindfulness training draws predominantly on quantitative research. There is a lack of understanding about the subjective experiences of experienced mindfulness meditators, which may provide additional insights into the effects, processes and context of mindfulness training. This qualitative study explored the lived experiences of a novel group of experienced mindfulness meditators who practise Vipassana Mahasi (VM) meditation. The study aimed to understand how experienced VM practitioners make sense of the effects of practice and what processes they ascribe to it. Participants attended semistructured interviews, and their responses were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Results yielded overarching themes including (a) improvements in hedonic and eudaimonic well-being; (b) insights into self, others and perception of reality; (c) attaining equanimity; and (d) physical and interpersonal difficulties. Participants perceived VM as a ‘cleansing’ process whereby maladaptive responses were eliminated through mindfulness, other supportive mental qualities, decentering and nonattachment. The findings revealed a complex and dynamic set of interdependent outcomes and processes, which are reinforced by Buddhist teachings and ethical practices. This study highlights the need for additional interdisciplinary research into topics such as insight generation and supportive mental qualities cultivated during VM, novel states of well-being informed by Buddhist constructs and interpersonal difficulties related to long-term practice. Findings also suggest that incorporating Buddhist teachings and ethics into mindfulness-based interventions may enhance practitioner understanding and implementation of meditation techniques.

Exploring scale validity and measurement invariance of the Toronto Mindfulness Scale across levels of meditation experience and proficiency.

The Toronto Mindfulness Scale (TMS) is a widely used instrument of state mindfulness. Research suggests the interpretation and functioning of mindfulness scale items may differ as a function of meditation experience, and thus, establishing invariance across experience levels is essential. Five hundred and five meditation practitioners (32.7% male, 33.3% female, and 34.1% unspecified) with an average age of 42.37 years (SD = 12.70) completed the TMS online. Results supportat least partial invariance across subgroups based on years of mindfulness meditation experience and self-reported proficiency. Construct validity of the Decentering subscale was also supported; however, the Curiosity subscale did not meet validity expectations, as it required additional model modifications to yield good fit, and means were not sensitive to differences in group experience or proficiency. Our findings suggest further review of the TMS Curiosity items may be warranted to determine its suitability for use within mindfulness assessment.

When Traits Match States: Examining the Associations between Self-Report Trait and State Mindfulness following a State Mindfulness Induction.

Previous research has found inconsistent relationships between trait mindfulness and state mindfulness. To extend previous research, we sought to examine the unique associations between self-report trait mindfulness and state mindfulness by levels of meditation experience (meditation-naïve vs. meditation-experienced) and by mindfulness induction (experimentally induced mindful state vs. control group). We recruited 299 college students (93 with previous mindfulness meditation experience) to participate in an experiment that involved the assessment of five facets of trait mindfulness (among other constructs), followed by a mindfulness induction (vs. control), followed by the assessment of state mindfulness of body and mind. Correlational analyses revealed limited associations between trait mindfulness facets and facets of state mindfulness, and demonstrated that a brief mindfulness exercise focused on bodily sensations and the breath elicited higher state mindfulness of body but not state mindfulness of mind. We found significant interactions such that individuals with previous meditation experience and higher scores on the observing facet of trait mindfulness had the highest levels of state mindfulness of body and mind. Among individuals with meditation experience, the strengths of the associations between observing trait mindfulness and the state mindfulness facets increased with frequency of meditation practice. Some other interactions ran counter to expectations. Overall, the relatively weak associations between trait and state mindfulness demonstrates the need to improve our operationalizations of mindfulness, advance our understanding of how to best cultivate mindfulness, and reappraise the ways in which mindfulness can manifest as a state and as a trait.

Neural correlates of mindful self-awareness in mindfulness meditators and meditation-naïve subjects revisited

Mindful self-awareness is central to mindfulness meditation and plays a key role in its salutary effects. It has been related to decreased activation in cortical midline structures (CMS) and amygdala, and increased activation in somatosensory regions. However, findings in untrained individuals are contradictory, and scarce in experienced meditators.Using fMRI, we investigated experienced mindfulness meditators (LTM, n=21, average 4652 practice-hours) and matched meditation-naïve participants (MNP, n=19) during short periods of mindful self-awareness (FEEL) and self-referential thinking (THINK).We report somatosensory activations and decreases in CMS during FEEL for both groups, but significantly stronger decreases in prefrontal CMS in LTM. LTM further showed decreases in language-related and amygdala regions, but the latter was not significantly different between groups. Overall, higher activations in amygdala and mid-line regions during FEEL were related to levels of depressiveness.Neural patterns of mindful self-awareness emerge already in MNP but more pronounced in LTM. Specifically, meditation training might reduce self-reference and verbalization during mindful awareness. We further corroborate the suggested link between mindfulness and healthy self-related functions on the neural level. Longitudinal studies need to corroborate these findings.

Mindfulness Meditation Modulates Pain Through Endogenous Opioids

BackgroundRecent evidence supports the beneficial effects of mindfulness meditation on pain. However, the neural mechanisms underlying this effect remain poorly understood. We used an opioid blocker to examine whether mindfulness meditation-induced analgesia involves endogenous opioids. MethodsFifteen healthy experienced mindfulness meditation practitioners participated in a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, crossover study. Participants rated the pain and unpleasantness of a cold stimulus prior to and after a mindfulness meditation session. Participants were then randomized to receive either intravenous naloxone or saline, after which they meditated again, and rated the same stimulus. ResultsA (3) × (2) repeated-measurements analysis of variance revealed a significant time effect for pain and unpleasantness scores (both P <.001) as well as a significant condition effect for pain and unpleasantness (both P <.2). Post hoc comparisons revealed that pain and unpleasantness scores were significantly reduced after natural mindfulness meditation and after placebo, but not after naloxone. Furthermore, there was a positive correlation between the pain scores following naloxone vs placebo and participants' mindfulness meditation experience. ConclusionsThese findings show, for the first time, that meditation involves endogenous opioid pathways, mediating its analgesic effect and growing resilient with increasing practice to external suggestion. This finding could hold promising therapeutic implications and further elucidate the fine mechanisms involved in human pain modulation.

Access to autobiographical memory as an emotion regulation strategy and its relation to dispositional mindfulness

Mindfulness research has extensively focused on mechanisms that make it work. Emotional regulation (ER) has been proposed as one of the mechanisms to explain the effects of mindfulness on health. ER is composed of a broad set of strategies, such as the use of autobiographical memory (AM), which refers to the recollection of personally experienced past events to regulate the emotion (i.e., remembering a positive past event in order to calm anxiety). Authors suggest that mindfulness and AM are related. However, few studies exist to explore this relationship that could promote a more adaptive ER. The aim of this study is to explore the relationship between the mindfulness trait and the use of positive specific memories (as an ER strategy) after sadness induction. The sample was composed of 60 university students with no mindfulness meditation experience. Participants completed the Beck Depression Inventory Questionnaire (BDI-II), the Five Facets of Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ), and the Visual Analog Scale (VAS). A sad Mood Induction Task (MIT) was applied to the participants using Virtual Reality (VR) before the AM task. Results showed that the Non-reactivity mindfulness facet was significantly correlated with time needed to access personal positive specific memories in response to positive words (r=–.41; p<.05) and predicted this relationship (β=–.41; p<.05). This study provides data on the relationship between the mindfulness trait and ER, showing that mindfulness (specifically the Non-reactivity facet) is related to more adaptive ER.

Psychophysiology of duration estimation in experienced mindfulness meditators and matched controls.

Recent research suggests that bodily signals and interoception are strongly related to our sense of time. Mindfulness meditators train to be aware of their body states and therefore could be more accurate at interval timing. In this study, n = 22 experienced mindfulness meditators and n = 22 matched controls performed both, an acoustic and a visual duration reproduction task of 8, 14, and 20 s intervals, while heart rate and skin conductance were continuously assessed. In addition, participants accomplished a heart beat perception task and two selective attention tasks. Results revealed no differences between meditators and controls with respect to performance in duration reproduction or attentional capacities. Additionally no group difference in heart beat perception scores was found. Across all subjects, correlational analyses revealed several associations between performance in the duration reproduction tasks and psychophysiological changes, the latter being also related to heart beat perception scores. Furthermore, former findings of linearly increasing cardiac periods and decreasing skin conductance levels during the auditory duration estimation task (Meissner and Wittmann, 2011) could be replicated, and these changes could also be observed during a visual duration reproduction task. In contrast to our earlier findings, the heart beat perception test was not related with timing performance. Overall, although experienced meditators did not differ from matched controls with respect to duration reproduction and interoceptive awareness, this study adds significantly to the emerging view that time perception is related to autonomic regulation and awareness of body states.

Mindfulness meditation modulates reward prediction errors in a passive conditioning task.

Reinforcement learning models have demonstrated that phasic activity of dopamine neurons during reward expectation encodes information about the predictability of reward and cues that predict reward. Self-control strategies such as those practiced in mindfulness-based approaches is claimed to reduce negative and positive reactions to stimuli suggesting the hypothesis that such training may influence basic reward processing. Using a passive conditioning task and fMRI in a group of experienced mindfulness meditators and age-matched controls, we tested the hypothesis that mindfulness meditation influence reward and reward prediction error (PE) signals. We found diminished positive and negative PE-related blood-oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) responses in the putamen in meditators compared with controls. In the meditator group this decrease in striatal BOLD responses to reward PE was paralleled by increased activity in posterior insula, a primary interoceptive region. Critically, responses in the putamen during early trials of the conditioning procedure (run 1) were elevated in both meditators and controls. Overall, these results provide evidence that experienced mindfulness meditators are able to attenuate reward prediction signals to valenced stimuli, which may be related to interoceptive processes encoded in the posterior insula.

Experienced Mindfulness Meditators Exhibit Higher Parietal-Occipital EEG Gamma Activity during NREM Sleep

Over the past several years meditation practice has gained increasing attention as a non-pharmacological intervention to provide health related benefits, from promoting general wellness to alleviating the symptoms of a variety of medical conditions. However, the effects of meditation training on brain activity still need to be fully characterized. Sleep provides a unique approach to explore the meditation-related plastic changes in brain function. In this study we performed sleep high-density electroencephalographic (hdEEG) recordings in long-term meditators (LTM) of Buddhist meditation practices (approximately 8700 mean hours of life practice) and meditation naive individuals. We found that LTM had increased parietal-occipital EEG gamma power during NREM sleep. This increase was specific for the gamma range (25–40 Hz), was not related to the level of spontaneous arousal during NREM and was positively correlated with the length of lifetime daily meditation practice. Altogether, these findings indicate that meditation practice produces measurable changes in spontaneous brain activity, and suggest that EEG gamma activity during sleep represents a sensitive measure of the long-lasting, plastic effects of meditative training on brain function.

Is Mindfulness Meditation Associated with “Feeling Less?”

Following previous research which has suggested that mindfulness meditators are less affected by emotional stimuli, the current study examined the hypothesis that mindfulness meditation is associated with decreased emotional engagement, by inducing moods and asking participants to generate as many autobiographical memories opposite in valence as possible. Experienced mindfulness meditators took twice as long as non-meditators to generate the first opposite mood memory yet generated the same total number of memories as non-meditators. Contrary to the initial hypothesis, results indicate that mindfulness may be associated with increased emotional engagement, increased contact with emotions, and rapid recovery from the emotional experience. The effect of mindfulness on implicit and explicit aspects of emotion is discussed, as well as potential implications for treatment of related disorders.

The Differential Relationship Between Mindfulness and Attachment in Experienced and Inexperienced Meditators

Several recent studies have examined the association between mindfulness and attachment. However, close inspection of these studies suggests that the strength of this association may differ based on participants’ experience in mindfulness meditation. The aim of the present research was to examine a possible differential relationship between mindfulness and attachment in experienced and inexperienced mindfulness meditators. Results revealed that mindfulness and attachment were significantly related in both groups, but attachment anxiety and avoidance together accounted for more than twice the variance in mindfulness in experienced meditators compared with their inexperienced counterparts. The relationship between attachment anxiety and mindfulness was significantly stronger in the group of experienced meditators, such that this association was moderated by mindfulness meditation experience. This stronger association between attachment anxiety and mindfulness may reflect the beneficial effects of mindfulness training on both mindfulness and attachment anxiety and provides some evidence that mindfulness interventions may enhance secure attachment.

"Mind the trap": mindfulness practice reduces cognitive rigidity.

Two experiments examined the relation between mindfulness practice and cognitive rigidity by using a variation of the Einstellung water jar task. Participants were required to use three hypothetical jars to obtain a specific amount of water. Initial problems were solvable by the same complex formula, but in later problems (“critical” or “trap” problems) solving was possible by an additional much simpler formula. A rigidity score was compiled through perseverance of the complex formula. In Experiment 1, experienced mindfulness meditators received significantly lower rigidity scores than non-meditators who had registered for their first meditation retreat. Similar results were obtained in randomized controlled Experiment 2 comparing non-meditators who underwent an eight meeting mindfulness program with a waiting list group. The authors conclude that mindfulness meditation reduces cognitive rigidity via the tendency to be “blinded” by experience. Results are discussed in light of the benefits of mindfulness practice regarding a reduced tendency to overlook novel and adaptive ways of responding due to past experience, both in and out of the clinical setting.

The happy face of mindfulness: Mindfulness meditation is associated with perceptions of happiness as rated by outside observers

The last decade has witnessed an enormous increase in research examining the effects of mindfulness meditation. One of the basic assumptions guiding this research is that meditation ultimately makes people happier. In this article, in two studies we tested whether meditators actually look happier. To address this question, outside raters judged the happiness of meditators and non-meditators based on a 15-s video clip of their behaviour. Study 1 demonstrated that novice meditators looked happier after an intensive 9-day meditation retreat (as compared to before the retreat), while Study 2 demonstrated that experienced mindfulness meditators looked happier as compared to controls. The interpersonal implications of these findings are discussed.