Mindful awareness of feelings increases neural performance monitoring

Mindfulness has been associated with enhanced performance monitoring; however, little is known about the processes driving this apparent neurocognitive benefit. Here, we tested whether focusing present-moment awareness toward the nonjudgmental experience of emotion facilitates rapid neural responses to negative performance outcomes (i.e., mistakes). In particular, we compared whether directing present-moment awareness toward emotions or thoughts would enhance the neurophysiological correlates of performance monitoring: the error-related negativity (ERN) and the error positivity (Pe). Participants were randomly assigned to either a thought-focused or an emotion-focused group, and first they completed a preinduction go/no-go task. Subsequently, the groups followed inductions that promoted mindful attention toward either thoughts or emotions, before completing a final postinduction go/no-go session. The results indicated that emotion-focused participants demonstrated higher neural sensitivity to errors in the time course of the ERN, whereas focusing on thoughts had no effect on performance monitoring. In contrast, neither induction procedure altered the amplitude of the later Pe component. Although our manipulations also induced changes in behavior, the ERN effects remained significant after controlling for performance. Thus, our results suggest that mindfulness meditation boosts early neural performance monitoring (ERN amplitude), specifically through meditation’s influence on affective processing.     

Evaluation of a novel translational task for assessing emotional biases in different species

Changes in the processing of emotional information are key features of affective disorders. Neuropsychological tests based on emotional faces or words are used to detect emotional/affective biases in humans, but these tests are not applicable to animal species. In the present study, we investigated whether a novel affective tone discrimination task (ATDT), developed to study emotion-related behaviour in rats, could also be used to quantify changes in affective states in humans. To date, the methods used in human neuropsychology have not been applicable to animal experiments. Participants completed a training session in which they learnt to discriminate specific tone frequencies and to correctly respond in order to gain emotionally valenced outcomes, to obtain rewards (money), or to avoid punishment (an aversive sound clip). During a subsequent test session, additional ambiguous probe tones were presented at frequencies intermediate between the reward and avoidance paired tones. At the end of the task, participants completed self-report questionnaires. All participants made more avoidance responses to the most ambiguous tone cues, suggesting a bias towards avoidance of punishment. Individual differences in the degrees of bias observed were correlated with anxiety measures, suggesting the task’s sensitivity to differences in state anxiety within a healthy population. Further studies in clinical populations will be necessary to assess the task’s sensitivity to pathological anxiety states. These data suggest that this affective tone discrimination task provides a novel method to study cognitive affective biases in different species, including humans, and offers a novel assessment to study anxiety.     

Control over experience? Magnitude of the attentional blink depends on meditative state

The information processing capacity of the human mind is limited, as is evidenced by the so-called ‘attentional-blink’ deficit. This deficit is believed to result from competition between stimuli for limited attentional resources. We examined to what extent advanced meditators can manipulate their attentional state and control performance on an attentional blink task. We compared the magnitude of the attentional blink between states of focused attention meditation (in which one focuses tightly on an object) and states of open monitoring meditation (in which one is simply aware of whatever comes into experience) in a sample of experienced meditators. We found a smaller attentional blink during open monitoring compared to focused attention meditation due to reduced T1 capture. Of note, this effect was only found for very experienced meditators (on average 10,704 h of experience). These data may suggest that very advanced practitioners can exert some control over their conscious experience.     

Transcendence and psychological health: studies with long-term participants of the transcendental meditation and TM-Sidhi program

We investigated the nature of the relationship between experiences of transcendental consciousness and psychological health. In Study 1, three groups with different levels of experience in transcendental meditation (TM) and in the TM-Sidhi program (techniques that have been shown to produce experiences of transcendental consciousness) were studied, using the self-investigation method of Hermans (1976). We employed blind interviewers and raters with various attitudes toward TM to minimize the possible impact of a variety of artifacts. Cross-sectionally, experience with TM and the TM-Sidhi program was positively related to a general measure of psychological health (p = .002); longitudinally, the meditating groups improved more than the control group on the psychological health measure (p less than .03). In Study 2, two contrast groups of long-term participants were similar on several confounding variables but differed on physiological indicators of experiences of transcendental consciousness. The groups with the positive physiological indicators showed a trend toward higher scores on the psychological health factor (p = .092), indicating that psychological health may be developed through the systematic cultivation of transcendental meditation and the TM-Sidhi program.     

Breath Versus Emotions: The Impact of Different Foci of Attention During Mindfulness Meditation on the Experience of Negative and Positive Emotions

Mindfulness meditation yields beneficial effects on the processing of emotions. However, it is still unclear whether the focus of attention during meditation influences these effects. In the present study we aimed at comparing the effects of breathing meditation and emotion-focused meditation on the immediate and delayed processing of negative and positive emotions. The study included 65 adult novice meditators who were exposed to positively and negatively valenced film clips. Participants were randomly assigned to three conditions. While watching the films at t1, they were asked to mindfully focus on their breath (condition 1), on emotions (condition 2), or on nothing in particular (condition 3). Ten minutes later at t2, comparable film clips were shown but all participants watched them without taking up a mindful attitude. Dependent measures were emotional states at t1 and t2. Participants of both meditation conditions particularly showed a more preferable delayed emotional reaction to negative stimuli than participants of the control condition. Breathing meditation and emotion-focused meditation may constitute effective emotion regulation strategies to deal with negatively valenced emotional states.     

Meditation and Health: The Search for Mechanisms of Action

Psychological interest in the impact of mental states on biological functioning is growing rapidly, driving a need for new methods for inducing mental states that last long enough, and are sufficiently impactful, to have significant effects on physical health. The many traditions of meditative practice are one potential pathway for studying mind‐body interactions. The purpose of this review is to introduce personality and social psychologists to the field of meditation research. Beginning with a brief introduction to meditation and the heterogeneity of meditative practices, we showcase research linking meditative practice to changes in immune and cardiovascular functioning and pain perception. We then discuss theoretical and empirical evidence that meditation works by inducing changes in psychological capacities such as emotion regulation and self‐regulation or through repeated induction of specific mental states such as love or meta‐cognitive awareness. At the frontier of the science of meditation is the need to empirically test whether meditation‐driven changes in cognitive and affective processes are the cause of improvements in physical health. Emerging challenges in meditation research include a need for large studies using randomized controlled and dual‐blind designs with active control groups and an increased focus on measuring mechanisms of action as well as outcomes. Meditation represents a potentially powerful tool for generating new knowledge of mind‐body interactions.     

The exploration of meditation in the neuroscience of attention and consciousness

Many recent behavioral and neuroscientific studies have revealed the importance of investigating meditation states and traits to achieve an increased understanding of cognitive and affective neuroplasticity, attention and self-awareness, as well as for their increasingly recognized clinical relevance. The investigation of states and traits related to meditation has especially pronounced implications for the neuroscience of attention, consciousness, self-awareness, empathy and theory of mind. In this article we present the main features of meditation-based mental training and characterize the current scientific approach to meditation states and traits with special reference to attention and consciousness, in light of the articles contributed to this issue.     

不同冥想类型对创造性思维的影响及作用机制

冥想与创造性的关系正逐渐被关注,澄清冥想练习对创造性思维的影响效果和作用机制对个体创新潜能的培养与提升具有重要意义。不同冥想类型对创造性思维的影响具有特异性,专注冥想主要通过注意聚焦和提升自上而下的执行控制能力来对聚合思维产生积极影响;正念冥想引起的离焦的注意状态,以及对认知灵活性和积极情绪的促进,有助于发散思维。未来应加强不同冥想类型与创造性思维的整合研究,探讨冥想影响创造性思维的脑机制,以及冥想与其他干预训练对创造性思维的不同作用机制等。     

Understanding Public Attitudes Toward Tobacco Harm Reduction: The Role of Attitude Structure1

The present research examines whether and to what extent the underlying structure of attitudes toward harm reduction and specific reduced‐exposure products contributes to an understanding of public attitudes toward harm reduction. Past research has focused on the extent to which some attitude objects are primarily affective or cognitive. Using survey data from a 5‐state Upper Midwest sample, we tested the relevance of 4 pertinent properties of attitudes for predicting overall attitudes toward tobacco harm reduction: affective and cognitive bases of attitudes; knowledge; experience with smoking and reduced‐harm products; and affective/cognitive consistency. We found that feelings about harm reduction are most predictive of overall attitudes toward harm reduction and specific reduced‐harm products. Theoretical and policy implications are discussed.     

The affective interval: An investigation of the peaks and valleys during high- and moderate-intensity interval exercise in regular exercisers

Evidence supports the notion that people generally feel worse during high(er) intensity exercise but experience an affective rebound immediately following cessation that often exceeds pre-exercise feeling states. Considering rest/recovery is an integral part of interval exercise, it is of interest to determine the degree of affective reactivity and recovery that may occur during interval exercise of different intensities. The purpose of the present study was to examine affective reactivity to and recovery from an acute bout of moderate-intensity (MIIE) and high-intensity interval exercise (HIIE). Participants (N = 25, 13 females, 23.3 ± 4.0 yrs, BMI = 25.7 ± 4.1 kg m⁻²) completed 4 sessions at the same time of day with at least 24-h between each session: a baseline session to record resting affect, a graded exercise test on a stationary bike (cycle ramp protocol 25 W·min-1) to volitional exhaustion, and then completed a high- (HIIE) and moderate-intensity interval exercise (MIIE) session where affect was recorded prior to, during, and up to 30-min post exercise. Participants reported more negative feeling states during the HIIE session compared to the MIIE session, but these states recovered similarly as early as 5-min post-exercise. In addition, while affective change (reactivity and rebounds) were relatively equal during the MIIE, declines in affect during the HIIE outweighed the affective rebounds associated with rest, resulting in a large decline in affective state from pre-exercise.     

The Impact of the Testing Environment on Affective Changes Following Acute Resistance Exercise

Research has demonstrated the anxiolytic and affective changes following resistance exercise. However, several studies have allowed the participants to leave the testing facility and return at a later time to complete psychological assessments. This weakens internal validity, making it impossible to interpret findings as due to exercise per se. To address this issue, 23 male participants were randomly assigned to either a “stay” or “go” group. Within each group, all participants completed a non-exercise control session and a weight-training session based on 50% of their one repetition maximum for each of five exercises. All participants remained in the laboratory for 60 minutes following each session, at which time only those in the “go” group left the laboratory and returned at 90 and 120 minutes for their remaining affective assessments. The results indicate that despite transient disruptions in mood, an acute bout of resistance exercise results in positive psychological changes that occur within 60 minutes after completion of the exercise session and which persist up to 120 minutes post-exercise. Allowing participants to leave the laboratory or requiring them to remain in the testing environment was found to lead to different patterns of affective responses during the post-exercise assessment period. Future researchers must take into account such methodological issues when designing acute exercise studies requiring extended periods of post-exercise assessment.     

Emotions while writing about emotional and non-emotional topics

Research on the effects of expressive writing about emotional experiences and traumatic events has a long history in the affective and social sciences. However, very little is known about the incidence and impact of affective states when the writing activities are not explicitly emotional or are less emotionally charged. By integrating goal-appraisal and network theories of affect within cognitive process models of writing, we hypothesize that writing triggers a host of affective states, some of which are tied to the topic of the essays (topic affective states), while others are more closely related to the cognitive processes involved in writing (process affective states). We tested this hypothesis with two experiments involving fine-grained tracking of affect while participants wrote short essays on topics that varied in emotional intensity including topics used in standardized tests, to socially charged issues, and personal emotional experiences. The results indicated that (a) affect collectively accounted for a majority of the observations compared to neutral, (b) boredom, engagement/flow, anxiety, frustration, and happiness were most frequent affective states, (c) there was evidence for a proposed, but not mutually exclusive, distinction between process and topic affective states, (d) certain topic affective states were predictive of the quality of the essays, irrespective of the valence of these states, and (e) individual differences in scholastic aptitude, writing apprehension, and exposure to print correlated with affect frequency in expected directions. Implications of our findings for research focused on monitoring affect during everyday writing activities are discussed.     

Occipital gamma activation during Vipassana meditation

Long-term Vipassana meditators sat in meditation vs. a control rest (mind-wandering) state for 21 min in a counterbalanced design with spontaneous EEG recorded. Meditation state dynamics were measured with spectral decomposition of the last 6 min of the eyes-closed silent meditation compared to control state. Meditation was associated with a decrease in frontal delta (1–4 Hz) power, especially pronounced in those participants not reporting drowsiness during meditation. Relative increase in frontal theta (4–8 Hz) power was observed during meditation, as well as significantly increased parieto-occipital gamma (35–45 Hz) power, but no other state effects were found for the theta (4–8 Hz), alpha (8–12 Hz), or beta (12–25 Hz) bands. Alpha power was sensitive to condition order, and more experienced meditators exhibited no tendency toward enhanced alpha during meditation relative to the control task. All participants tended to exhibit decreased alpha in association with reported drowsiness. Cross-experimental session occipital gamma power was the greatest in meditators with a daily practice of 10+ years, and the meditation-related gamma power increase was similarly the strongest in such advanced practitioners. The findings suggest that long-term Vipassana meditation contributes to increased occipital gamma power related to long-term meditational expertise and enhanced sensory awareness.     

Velocity explains the links between personality states and affect

The present research examined whether perceived rate of progress toward a goal (velocity) mediated the relationships between personality states and affective states. Drawing from control theories of self-regulation, we hypothesized (i) that increased velocity would mediate the association between state extraversion and state positive affect, and (ii) that decreased velocity would mediate the association between state neuroticism and state negative affect. We tested these hypotheses in 2 experience sampling methodology studies that each spanned 2 weeks. Multilevel modeling analyses showed support for each of the bivariate links in our model, and multilevel path analyses supported our mediation hypotheses. We discuss implications for understanding the relations between personality states and affective states, control theories of self-regulation, and goal striving.     

Making the Most of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction: Participant Feedback Reveals Strengths and Challenges

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) offers comprehensive instruction to clients in three forms of meditation: the body scan, sitting meditation, and gentle hatha yoga. Clinical experience suggests that participants may express a preference for one mode of practice over others. However, little research has addressed this question or explored participants’ experience of nonspecific factors such as group discussion and teacher personality. In this paper, we aimed to shed light on these open questions in two ways. First, we present quantitative and qualitative post-test data from a nonclinical sample of 181 participants who completed course evaluation forms at the end of an 8-week MBSR program. Second, we share clinical insights and lessons learned over several years teaching MBSR in a community-based program. On evaluation forms, participants reported meaningful improvements in well-being following MBSR and evaluated the nonspecific elements of the course as highly useful. Although they rated all three forms of meditation as beneficial, there was a preference for the body scan and sitting meditation over yoga, and for audio-guided over self-guided practice. Qualitative feedback reflected themes related to learning different forms of meditation, developing an independent practice, meditating with a group, adding additional sessions, and appreciation for the course. Survey findings, taken together with existing research and clinical impressions, support recommendations to address participant preconceptions about the different forms of meditation, encourage meditation practice without audio guides, pay attention to the level of individual participation, discuss how to carve out time to meditate, and promote participants’ development of an ongoing meditation practice. We illustrate these points with case examples and clinical vignettes.     

Self-affirmation and affective forecasting: Affirmation reduces the anticipated impact of negative events

When forecasting how they will feel in the future, people overestimate the impact that imagined negative events will have on their affective states, partly because they underestimate their own psychological resiliency. Because self-affirmation enhances resiliency, two studies examined whether self-affirmation prior to forecasting reduces the extremity of affective forecasts. Participants in self-affirmation conditions completed a values scale or wrote an essay asserting their most important value, whereas participants in the no-affirmation condition asserted a relatively unimportant value. Participants then predicted their affective reactions to a negative or positive imagined event. In both studies, self-affirmation reduced the unpleasant affect expected to result from a negative event, but had no impact on affective forecasts for a positive event. This pattern was mediated by participants’ cognitive appraisals of the imagined event, but not by differential focus on that event. Results are consistent with self-affirmation activating or enhancing psychological resiliency to counteract immune neglect during affective forecasting of a negative event.     

情绪一致性对有意遗忘的影响

有意遗忘是强调遗忘的有意性和指向性。对负性情绪的有意遗忘有利于个体的身心健康。本研究采用单字范式,实验一以正性、负性和中性情绪词为材料,探讨了情绪材料对有意遗忘的影响。结果发现,三类词语均表现出了显著的有意遗忘效应;实验二在实验一的基础上加入了情绪状态,探讨了情绪状态和情绪材料对有意遗忘的影响,结果发现,在积极情绪状态下,被试更多地遗忘负性情绪词;在消极情绪状态下,被试更多地遗忘中性词。表明个体对情绪信息的有意遗忘既受信息的情绪性影响,又受个体情绪状态的影响。     

Affect and Affect Regulation Strategies Reciprocally Influence Each Other in Daily Life: The Case of Positive Reappraisal,Problem-Focused Coping,Appreciation and Rumination

Feelings of positive or negative affect are not restricted to temporary states. They can also determine future affective experiences, by influencing the building of an individual’s personal resources. The present study was designed to understand the daily fluctuations in positive and negative affect more fully. To this end, we examined the involvement of a variety of affect regulation strategies in these fluctuations. The affect regulation strategies we explored included positive reappraisal, problem-focused coping, appreciation and rumination. We adopted an experience sampling method, consisting of five daily assessments over a 2-week period. As expected, within a few hours of experiencing more positive affect, participants engaged in greater positive reappraisal, problem-focused coping and appreciation. In turn, greater use of each of these three strategies was followed by more intense experiences of positive affect. We observed analogous reciprocal influences between rumination and the experience of negative affect, within the same time interval. Changes in affective experience over several hours were also directly influenced by concurrent use of these strategies. More specifically, greater positive reappraisal, problem-focused coping and appreciation accelerated the rise in positive affect that follows low feelings of positive affect, and slowed the decline in positive affect that follows high feelings. Rumination had an analogous influence on change in negative affect. The clinical implications of these findings are discussed.     

Continuing education in humanistic psychology

This article explores the importance of the relationship between a teacher of meditation and his or her student. Mindfulness meditation is receiving a lot of attention in the psychotherapy literature currently. It is generally viewed as a technique that is taught in groups and then practiced individually by clients or participants. What does not appear to be generally understood is that the teaching and learning of meditation is understood in Eastern traditions as intimately related to the relationship that develops between the teacher and student. This, in fact, is very similar to what we are coming to understand about the importance of the therapeutic relationship to the outcome of therapy, regardless of technique or orientation of the therapist. Personal experiences of the author in a relationship with a meditation teacher are compared with those from a psychoanalytic therapy experience. Meditation is construed from this perspective not only as a technique that is learned and practiced but also as an innate human capability that is activated in the context of a very special kind of relationship with a person who has fully unfolded this capacity in his or her own experience.