Meditation has stronger relationships with mindfulness,kundalini, and mystical experiences than yoga or prayer

Contemplative practices can have profound effects on mindfulness and on physical and sensory and mystical experiences. Individuals who self-reported meditation, yoga, contemplative prayer, or a combination of practices and their patterns of practice were compared for mindfulness, kundalini effects, and mystical experiences. The results suggest that the amount of practice but not the pattern and social conditions of practice influences mindfulness and possibly mystical experiences. Meditation, yoga, contemplative prayer, or a combination of practices all were found to be associated with enhancements of mindfulness, kundalini effects, and mystical experiences, but meditation had particularly strong associations and may be the basis of the associations of yoga and prayer with these outcomes. The results further suggest that the primary association of contemplative practices is with the real time awareness and appreciation of sensory and perceptual experiences which may be the intermediary between disparate practices and mindfulness, kundalini effects, and mystical experiences.     

Meditation focused on self-observation of the body impairs metacognitive efficiency

In the last decade of research on metacognition, the literature has been focused on understanding its mechanism, function and scope; however, little is known about whether metacognitive capacity can be trained. The specificity of the potential training procedure is in particular still largely unknown. In this study, we evaluate whether metacognition is trainable through generic meditation training, and if so, which component of meditation would be instrumental in this improvement. To this end, we evaluated participants’ metacognitive efficiency before and after two types of meditation training protocols: the first focused on mental cues (Mental Monitoring [MM] training), whereas the second focused on body cues (Self-observation of the Body [SoB] training). Results indicated that while metacognitive efficiency was stable in MM training group, it was significantly reduced in the SoB group after training. This suggests that metacognition should not be conceived as a stable capacity but rather as a malleable skill.     

What Confucius practiced is good for your mind: Examining the effect of a contemplative practice in Confucian tradition on executive functions

The short-term training effects on various executive functions (EFs) by a movement-based contemplative practice (MBCP) are examined. Three aspects of EFs (working memory capacity, inhibition, switching) are assessed before and after a month-long 12-h training period using Body-Mind Axial Awareness (BMAA) principles that Confucius followers have practiced for more than 2000 years. A mindfulness-based practice (Chan-meditation) and a waiting-list control group served as contrast groups. Our results showed that the BMAA group performed better on the task that measured working memory capacity than did the Chan-meditation and the waiting-list groups after training. In addition, the Chan-meditation groups outperformed the control group on attentional switching, a novel finding for this kind of practice. Our findings not only show a new effect of short-term MBCPs on EFs, but also indicate movement-based and mindfulness-based contemplative practices might benefit development of various aspects of EFs in different ways.     

Aberrant neural mediation of verbal fluency in autism spectrum disorders

Objective

Contrasts of verbal fluency and automatic speech provide an opportunity to evaluate the neural underpinnings of generativity and flexibility in autism spectrum disorders (ASD).

Method

We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to contrast brain activity in high functioning ASD (n = 17, mean verbal IQ = 117) and neurotypical (NT; n = 20, mean verbal IQ = 112) adolescent and young adult males (12–23 years). Participants responded to three word generation conditions: automatic speech (reciting months), category fluency, and letter fluency.

Results

Our paradigm closely mirrored behavioral fluency tasks by requiring overt, free recall word generation while controlling for differences in verbal output between the groups and systematically increasing the task demand. The ASD group showed reduced neural response compared to the NT participants during fluency tasks in multiple regions of left anterior and posterior cortices, and sub-cortical structures. Six of these regions fell in cortico-striatal circuits previously linked to repetitive behaviors (Langen, Durston, Kas, van Engeland, & Staal, 2011), and activity in two of them (putamen and thalamus) was negatively correlated with autism repetitive behavior symptoms in the ASD group. In addition, response in left inferior frontal gyrus was differentially modulated in the ASD, relative to the NT, group as a function of task demand.

Conclusions

These data indicate a specific, atypical brain response in ASD to demanding generativity tasks that may have relevance to repetitive behavior symptoms in ASD as well as to difficulties generating original verbal responses.     

Duality and nonduality in meditation research

The great variety of meditation techniques found in different contemplative traditions presents a challenge when attempting to create taxonomies based on the constructs of contemporary cognitive sciences. In the current issue of Consciousness and Cognition, Travis and Shear add ‘automatic self-transcending’ to the previously proposed categories of ‘focused attention’ and ‘open monitoring’, and suggest characteristic EEG bands as the defining criteria for each of the three categories. Accuracy of current taxonomies and potential limitations of EEG measurements as classifying criteria are discussed.     

Traumatic stress,neural self and the spiritual mind

According to recent findings stressful experiences may influence various physiological disturbances and also neuroanatomical changes and some studies also show that psychotherapy and meditation may influence brain functions. Traumatic stress is frequently related to a dissociative response that disintegrates conscious experience. In this context, self-reflection is an essential principle in the process of posttraumatic growth related to spiritual experiences and meditation states that enable mental integration and create the novel integrated self. According to recent findings there is no widely accepted evidence about specific neural mechanisms of processes related to mental integration linked to the spiritual experiences and meditation. Nevertheless there is growing evidence that these integrative experiences are related to various alterations in the brain’s physiology and morphology. These findings provide a new paradigm for understanding of mental disorders and emphasize the fundamental role of mental integration and integrated self in the therapy of psychiatric disorders.     

Mindfulness meditation practice and executive functioning: Breaking down the benefit

This paper focuses on evidence for mindfulness meditation-related benefits to executive functioning, processes important for much of human volitional behaviour. Miyake et al. (2000) have shown that executive functions can be fractionated into three distinct domains including inhibition, working memory updating, and mental set shifting. Considering these separable domains, it is important to determine whether the effects of mindfulness can generalize to all three sub-functions or are specific to certain domains. To address this, the current review applied Miyake et al.’s (2000) fractionated model of executive functioning to the mindfulness literature. Empirical studies assessing the benefits of mindfulness to measures tapping the inhibition, updating, and shifting components of executive functioning were examined. Results suggest a relatively specific as opposed to general benefit resulting from mindfulness, with consistent inhibitory improvement, but more variable advantages to the updating and shifting domains. Recommendations surrounding application of mindfulness practice and future research are discussed.     

The neural basis of cognitive control: Response selection and inhibition

The functional neuroanatomy of tasks that recruit different forms of response selection and inhibition has to our knowledge, never been directly addressed in a single fMRI study using similar stimulus–response paradigms where differences between scanning time and sequence, stimuli, and experimenter instructions were minimized. Twelve right-handed participants were scanned on two standard cognitive control tasks, a stimulus–response incompatibility task, and a response inhibition task. A compound trial design allowed comparison of preparing to inhibit an upcoming automatic response to wholly inhibiting an automatic response. Furthermore, inhibiting an automatic response to perform an alternative task-relevant response was compared to wholly inhibiting an automatic response. No differences were found in prefrontal activity when preparing to inhibit an automatic response was compared to wholly inhibiting an automatic response, suggesting a mostly common network. The left inferior frontal gyrus was found to be commonly recruited during both tasks when controlled responses were required, likely due to its role in response selection. In contrast, the right inferior frontal gyrus was found to be more involved when task demands were stronger for response inhibition. Our results are largely consistent with models of cognitive control that postulate that separate psychological constructs, such as response selection and inhibition, are related processes largely served by a common prefrontal network. This prefrontal network is recruited to a greater or lesser extent depending on specific task demands.     

人类嗓音加工的神经机制——来自正常视力者和盲人的脑神经证据

人类嗓音作为听觉环境的重要组成部分, 包含了大量副语言信息以帮助识别个体身份, 尤其对于盲人而言, 视觉面孔经验的缺乏使得嗓音信息成为其感知对方个体特征的主要来源。通过结合正常视力者和盲人在嗓音选择性加工和嗓音身份加工方面的研究, 尝试揭示普遍的人类嗓音加工模式以及盲人特异的嗓音加工机制。此外, 与视觉面孔加工相关的梭状回脑区也参与并卷入了两类人群的嗓音加工任务, 以此为基础梳理的视听整合模型和基于去掩蔽效应的跨模态重组假说, 为这两类人群嗓音加工神经基础的差异性提供了相应的解释机制, 未来研究希望可以进一步探究盲人的嗓音加工策略, 以及考察左侧颞上沟/回脑区在嗓音加工中的作用。     

A longitudinal analysis of the attention networks in 6- to 11-year-old children

Attention is critical for everyday functioning. Posner and Petersen’s model of attention describes three neural networks involved in attention control—the alerting network for arousal, the orienting network for selecting sensory input and reorienting attention, and the executive network for the regulatory control of attention. No longitudinal research has examined relative change in these networks in children. A modified version of the attention network task (ANT) was used to examine changes in the three attention networks, three times over 12 months, in 114 6-, 8- and 10-year-olds. Findings showed that the alerting network continued to develop over this period, the orienting network had stabilized by 6 years, and the conflict network had largely stabilized by 7 years. The reorienting of attention was also assessed using invalid cues, which showed a similar developmental trajectory to the orienting attention network and had stabilized by 6 years. The results confirm that age 6 to 7 years is a critical period in the development of attention, in particular executive attention. The largest improvement over the evaluation period was between 6 and 7 years; however, subtle changes were found in attention beyond 8 years of age.     

An account of the relationship between fluid intelligence and complex learning in considering storage capacity and executive attention

Although fluid intelligence and complex learning are conceptualized differently and assessed by apparently different measures, both theoretical accounts and empirical evidence suggest a relationship between the two constructs. In this study, major working memory aspects including the storage capacity and executive attention were proposed to account for the relationship between fluid intelligence and complex learning. A sample of 184 participants completed fluid intelligence and complex learning scales, as well as working memory measures that each included two or three treatment levels differing in the demands on capacity or executive control. The differences among the treatment levels provided a favorable precondition for employing fixed-links models to separate the core processes of storage capacity or executive attention from the auxiliary processes. Results indicated that both storage capacity and executive attention contributed significantly to fluid intelligence and complex learning. A further analysis showed that the two working memory aspects, particularly the storage capacity, accounted for most of the shared variance between fluid intelligence and complex learning.     

Disentangling component learning and executive processes in hidden pathway maze learning in children: A process-based approach

Identification of cognitive processes that affect children’s ability to manage complex information is critical to understanding the development of executive functions. However, characterization of these processes is hampered by a lack of appropriate tasks and reliance on single outcome measures that are unsuitable for studying complex aspects of executive function. The current study aimed to circumvent these limitations by employing a hidden maze learning paradigm (Groton Maze Learning Test; independence of component cognitive GMLT) to evaluate the processes—spatial memory and rule use—that underlie hidden pathway maze learning in children. Specifically, we investigated the impact of withholding rule instructions (Study 1) and nonrepeating pathways on each trial (Study 2) on the ability to use rules and to locate pathways in 10 × 10 mazes in a sample of 8-year-old children. Results of these studies suggested that manipulations of task rules did not affect spatial memory and that manipulations of the maze pathway did not affect rule use. These findings demonstrate the independence of spatial memory and rule use on the GMLT and provide evidence of a “double dissociation” of cognitive processes that underlie hidden maze learning in children. Implications for understanding the coordination of component cognitive processes that underlie executive function in childhood are discussed.     

Reply to Josipovic: Duality and non-duality in meditation research

We agree with Josipovic that a fundamental differentiating feature of meditation techniques is whether they remain within the dualistic subject–object cognitive structure, or they transcend this structure to reveal an underlying level of non-dual awareness. Further discussion is needed to delineate the basic non-dual experience in meditation, where all phenomenal content is absent, from the more advanced experience of non-duality in daily life, where phenomenal content is obviously present as well. In this discussion, it is important to recognize that the experiencer–object relation makes the experience dual or non-dual, rather than the nature of the object experienced.     

急性疼痛与慢性疼痛对奖赏加工的影响及神经机制

疼痛和奖赏能够为个体提供不同的行为动机和主观价值体验,寻求奖赏和避免疼痛对于生存都很重要。疼痛可划分为急性疼痛和慢性疼痛,奖赏可区分为预期阶段的动机成分和体验阶段的享乐成分。奖赏对疼痛的抑制作用已经被广泛证实,但关于疼痛对奖赏的影响,目前的研究结果并不一致。因此需要进一步区分并探究急性疼痛与慢性疼痛对奖赏加工不同阶段的影响,分析两种疼痛对奖赏加工产生不一致影响的现象。这种现象出现的原因可能与急性疼痛向慢性疼痛转变过程中出现的奖赏加工能力缺陷有关。未来可以考虑从改善奖赏加工能力缺陷的角度进行检测和治疗,提前预防急性疼痛向慢性疼痛转变。     

数字加工与空间关系的研究进展

数学的产生和发展使数字和空间之问产生了紧密的联系,目前的实验已经表明了数字的大小与空间注意存在自动的联系。数字和空间的自动联系是由生物和文化因素共同作用的结果。通过总结数字和空间的脑成像研究,本文认为角回、顶内沟区域可能在数字和空间相互作用中发挥了重要的作用。     

Effects of the EXAT neuropsychological multilevel intervention on behavior problems in children with executive function deficits

This is a clinical intervention study of children with executive function (EF ) deficits. A neuropsychological multimodal group intervention called EXAT (rehabilitation of EX ecutive function and AT tention) was developed at the Psychology Clinic of the University of Tampere. Based on the principles of neuropsychological rehabilitation and behavioral modification, EXAT combines child group training, parent training, and teacher consultations. The aims of this study were to investigate behavior problems before and after the intervention in children attending EXAT and in controls, and to compare intervention effects in hyperactive, inattentive, and EF subgroups based on the primary deficit described in the referral. The participants were 86 children (6–12 years) with a mean IQ of 91.4 attending EXAT and 45 controls. The participants’ parents and teachers completed the Conners’ Rating Scales‐Revised. In addition, the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire was completed by the parents attending EXAT . The parents reported statistically significant decreases with medium effect sizes for the CPRS ‐R subscales for impulsivity, hyperactivity, and oppositional behavior. In the controls within the same time interval, there was increase in restless and impulsive behavior, and a decrease in total problems. The teachers reported positive changes after the intervention in ADHD symptoms and anxiousness/shyness, but the effects sizes were small. The intervention effects were larger in the hyperactive subgroup. Positive intervention effects were related to a younger age, lower IQ , and simultaneous learning support. In conclusion, EXAT – a structured multilevel group intervention – has positive effects on children's behavior regulation skills by decreasing impulsivity and restless behavior.     

The relationship between bilingualism and selective attention in young adults: Evidence from an ambiguous figures task

Previous research has shown that bilinguals outperform monolinguals on a variety of tasks that have been described as involving executive functioning, but the precise mechanism for those effects or a clear definition for “executive function” is unknown. This uncertainty has led to a number of studies for which no performance difference between monolingual and bilingual adults has been detected. One approach to clarifying these issues comes from research with children showing that bilinguals were more able than their monolingual peers to perceive both interpretations of an ambiguous figure, an ability that is more tied to a conception of selective attention than to specific components of executive function. The present study extends this notion to adults by assessing their ability to see the alternative image in an ambiguous figure. Bilinguals performed this task more efficiently than monolinguals by requiring fewer cues to identify the second image. This finding has implications for the role of selective attention in performance differences between monolinguals and bilinguals.     

Intelligence is differentially related to neural effort in the task-positive and the task-negative brain network

Previous studies on individual differences in intelligence and brain activation during cognitive processing focused on brain regions where activation increases with task demands (task-positive network, TPN). Our study additionally considers brain regions where activation decreases with task demands (task-negative network, TNN) and compares effects of intelligence on neural effort in the TPN and the TNN. In a sample of 52 healthy subjects, functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to determine changes in neural effort associated with the processing of a working memory task. The task comprised three conditions of increasing difficulty: (a) maintenance, (b) manipulation, and (c) updating of a four-letter memory set. Neural effort was defined as signal increase in the TPN and signal decrease in the TNN, respectively. In both functional networks, TPN and TNN, neural effort increased with task difficulty. However, intelligence, as assessed with Raven's Matrices, was differentially associated with neural effort in the TPN and TNN. In the TPN, we observed a positive association, while we observed a negative association in the TNN. In terms of neural efficiency (i.e., task performance in relation to neural effort expended on task processing), more intelligent subjects (as compared to less intelligent subjects) displayed lower neural efficiency in the TPN, while they displayed higher neural efficiency in the TNN. The results illustrate the importance of differentiating between TPN and TNN when interpreting correlations between intelligence and fMRI measures of brain activation. Importantly, this implies the risk of misinterpreting whole brain correlations when ignoring the functional differences between TPN and TNN.     

Mindfulness and negative affectivity in real time: a within-person process model

ABSTRACT

To extend our understanding of the proximal etiology of personality pathology, this study examined the dynamic, in-the-moment relations between mindfulness and negative affectivity (NA; emotional lability, anxiousness, separation insecurity) as defined by the alternative model for personality disorders. We tested predictions based upon the Monitor and Acceptance Theory that when people monitored their attention judgmentally, their state NA would be higher than usual; by contrast, when they monitored their attention nonjudgmentally, their state NA would be lower than usual. Sixty-five undergraduates participated in an experience sampling study wherein they completed five reports per day for eight days about their states of mindfulness and NA. Multi-level models revealed an interaction wherein participants exhibited more state NA when they monitored their attention judgmentally than when they monitored their attention nonjudgmentally. Analyses of simple slopes revealed that participants exhibited more state NA than usual when they monitored their attention judgmentally. These findings emerged for only one of two attention monitoring processes, however: monitoring relations between thoughts, emotions, and behaviours, but not monitoring sensory stimuli. Analyses including non-reactivity instead of nonjudgment replicated these findings. Implications for theory, research, and treatment are discussed.     

高绩效工作系统负面影响的潜在机制

高绩效工作系统是一系列以提升组织绩效为目标的人力资源管理实践的集合或捆绑。已有研究发现高绩效工作系统也可能对员工产生负面影响。针对此问题, 本文首先澄清了高绩效工作系统的概念, 从管理理念分析其可能产生负面影响的原因。厘清了高绩效工作系统对组织和员工带来的不同效果, 从多元论的视角分析其负面影响的来源。基于工作要求−资源模型、自我决定理论、归因理论和过犹不及效应, 阐释高绩效工作系统对员工负面影响的内在机制。并进一步从个人和组织层面分析高绩效工作系统产生负面影响的边界条件。最后, 提出未来的研究方向和建议。