at t nemo t meditate talk

7/28/2019 At t Nemo t Meditate Talk

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The Neuroscience of Attention,

Emotion, & Meditation: Implicationsfor Education

Alfred W. Kaszniak

Department of Psychology

University of Arizona


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Goal-Directed vs. Stimulus-Driven Attention

& The Brain One system (bilateral intraparietal &

superior frontal cortices) - preparing &

applying goal-directed (top-down)selection for stimuli & responses

Other (temporoparietal & inferior frontal

cortices, right lateralized) - detection ofbehaviorally-relevant stimuli(particularly salient or unexpected)

Anterior cingulate cortex (& adjacentVMPFC)- conflict detection, errormonitoring & attention switching

Corbetta, M., & Shulman, G.L. (2002). Control of goal-directed and stimulus-

driven attention in the brain.Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 3, 201-215.

Wager, T.D., Jonides, J., Smith, E.E., & Nichols, T.E. (2005). Toward a

taxonomy of attention shifting: Individual differences in fMRI during multiple

shift types. Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience, 5, 122-143.

ACC


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Stress Disrupts Attention Control andPrefrontal Cortical Processing

In young adults, 1mo. ofthe stress of preparation for

a major exam reversibly

disrupted prefrontal cortexfunctional connectivity and

performance while

performing an attention-

shifting task.Liston, C., McEwen, B.S., & Casey, B.J. (2009).

Psychosocial stress reversibly disrupts prefrontalprocessing and attentional control. Proceedings of

the National Academy of Science, 106, 912-917.


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Childrens Stress

National Kids Poll surveyed 875 children, ages 9 13:

Top 3 sources of stress: School & homework

(36%); Family (32%); Friends, peers, gossip, &

teasing (21%)

Top 3 coping strategies: Play or do somethingactive (52%); Listen to music (44%); Watch TV

or play video game (42%)Cited in Lantieri, L. (2008).Building emotional intelligence. Boulder, CO: Sounds True, p.12.


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Kaiser Family Foundation Study (2005)On average, a sample of 700 young persons, age 8

- 18, stated that 26 % of the time while using onemedium they were also doing something elsemedia-related at the same time.

30% either talk on the phone, instant message,watch TV, listen to music, or surf the web for funmost of the time they are doing homework;Another 31% say they do so some of the time.

Rideout, V., Roberts, D.F., & Foehr, V.G. (2005). Generation M: Media in the

Lives of 8-18 Year-olds. Kaiser Family Foundation.


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Attention in a Multitasking World Our attention capacity is limited, and multitasking

demands rapid task switching.

The rapid switching between multiple tasks is costly in

time and accuracy.

Switch cost increases with task complexity andunfamiliarity.

In switching from one task to another, the two

complementary executive control stages of goal

shifting and rule activation each take time.

Rubinstein, J. S., Meyer, D. E., & Evans, J. E. (2001). Executive control ofcognitive processes in task switching.Journal of Experimental Psychology:

Human Perception and Performance, 27, 763-797.


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Cognitive Control in Task SwitchingHas a long Developmental Curve

Davidson, M.C., Amso, D., Anderson, L.., & Diamond, A.(2006). Development of cognitivecontrol and executive funtions from 4 to 13 years: Evidence from manipulations of memory,

inhibition, and task switching.Neuropsychologia, 44, 2037-2078.


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The Myth of Multitasking Expertise Examined differences in information processing

styles between heavy and light media multitaskers Results from standard cognitive control tasks

showed that heavy media multitaskers are more

susceptible to interference from irrelevantenvironmental stimuli and irrelevant

representations in memory, and also performed

worse on a test of task-switching (likely due toreduced ability to filter interference from the

irrelevant task set)

Ophir, E., Nass, C, & Wagner, A.D. (2009). Cognitive control in media multitaskers. Proceedings of

the National Academy of Science, www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.0903620106.


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Cognitive-Affective Nature of Executive Control Executive control circuit contains

traditional control areas, such as the

anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) andthe lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC),

in addition to other areas commonly

linked to affect (amygdala) and

motivation (nucleus accumbens).

Diffuse, modulatory effects are

shown in green and originate from

dopamine-rich neurons from the

ventral tegmental area (VTA).

Pessoa, L. (2008). On the relationship between emotion and cognition.Nature ReviewsNeuroscience, 9, 148-158.


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Emotion Regulation Reappraising the meaning &

personal relevance of emotionalimages reduces facial expressiveautonomic physiological, & brain(amygdala) responses

Such emotion regulation has beenshown to be dependent upon regionsin the medial frontal cortex.0

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1s 2s 3s 4s 5s 6s

Time

CorrugatorEMG(z

scores)

Reapprai se Suppres s Watch Gross, J.J. (1998). Antecedent- and response-focused emotion regulation:

Divergent consequences for experience, expression, and physiology.Journal

of Personality and Social Psychology, 74, 224-237.

Menchola, M., Kaszniak, A.W., & Burton, K.W. (2008).Interaction between

habitual and voluntary emotion regulation and the chronometry of affectiveresponses. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Society for

Psychophysiological Research.


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Adolescence, Limbic & PFCDevelopment, and Risky Behavior

Casey, B.J., Jones, R.M., & Hare, T.A. (2008). The adolescent brain.Annals of the New York Academy

of Sciences, 1124, 111-126


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The Voluntary Control of Attention The faculty of voluntarily bringing back a

wandering attention, over and over again, is thevery root of judgment, character, and will. No one

is compos sui if he have it not. An education whichshould improve this faculty would be the education

par excellence. But it is easier to define this ideal

than to give practical directions for bringing itabout.

James, W. (1890/1981). The principles of psychology.Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, p. 401.


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Does Meditation Provide SuchEducation?


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What is Meditation?

Two modes of attention:Focused Attention Meditation

Open Monitoring Meditation

Lutz, A., Dunne, J . & Davidson, R. (2007). Meditation and the neuroscience ofconsciousness. In P. Zelazo, M. Moscovitch & E. Thompson, eds., The C am b rid g eHa nd b oo k o f C o nsc io usne ss, Cambridge University Press.

Lutz, A., Slagter, H.A., Dunne, J .D., & Davidson, R.J . (2008). Attention regulation andmonitoring in meditation. Tre nd s in Co g nitive Sc ie nc e s, 12, 163-169.


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Attention & Meditation Practice Jha, et al. (2007) studied

17 participants in 8-week

MBSR training, 17 FA-meditation-experiencedparticipants on month-

long retreat, & 17nonmeditating controls.

Administered Attention

Network Test (ANT) pre-& post training/retreat.

Jha, A., Krimpinger, J., & Baime, M.J. (2007). Mindfulness training modifies subsystems of attention.

Cognitive, Affective, and Behavioral Neuroscience 7, 109-119,

Fan, J., McCandliss, B., Sommer, T., Raz, A., & Posner, M. (2002).

Testing the efficiency and independence of attentional networks.

Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 143, 340-347.


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Attention & Meditation Practice Participants inMBSR course

improved ability toendogenouslyorient attention

Retreatparticipationfacilitated receptive

attention skills,which improvedexogenous alerting-related process.

Jha, A., Krimpinger, J., & Baime, M.J. (2007). Mindfulness training modifies subsystems of

attention. Cognitive, Affective, and Behavioral Neuroscience 7, 109-119.


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Intensive Meditation Training &Attentional Blink Studied 17 participants at

beginning & end of 3-mo.Vipassana (FA & OM)meditation retreat, & 23

novices who meditated 20min. daily for 1 wk priorto each experimental

session Administered the

attentional blink task

Slagter, H.A., Lutz, A.,, Greischar, L.L., Francis, A. Nieuwenhuis,, S., Davis, J.M., &Davidson, R.J. (2007). Mental training affects distribution of limited brain resources. PLoS

Biology, 5 (6), e138. Doi:10.1317/journal.pbio.0050138.


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Attentional Blink & ERP Results Intensive retreat practitioners

showed smaller attentional blink

for T2 (2nd session, afterretreat)

This was associated with ERP

evidence for reduction in brain-

resource allocation to T1

Consistent with reduceddistracter (T1) interference in

meditation practitioners

Slagter, H.A., Lutz, A.,, Greischar, L.L., Francis, A. Nieuwenhuis,, S., Davis, J.M., & Davidson, R.J.

(2007). Mental training affects distribution of limited brain resources. PLoS Biology, 5 (6), e138.

Doi:10.1317/journal.pbio.005013


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Zen & Concept Proliferation

Compared participants with 3+yrs daily Zazen practice to

meditation nave persons All did simple breath attention

meditation while words &

nonwords were flashed Zen meditators showed faster

return to baseline in brain

default network activityassociated with conceptualthought & sense of self

Pagnoni, G., Cekic, M., & Guo, Y. (2008). Thinking about not-thinking: Neural correlates of conceptual

processing during Zen meditation. PLoS ONE 3 (9): e3083. Doc10.1371/journal_pone.00-3083


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EEG Phase Synchrony More widespread gamma frequency (20-80 Hz) EEG synchrony is found for

upright than inverted or scrambledMooney (ambiguous) faces.

Interpreted as reflecting integration of the

computations of different, spatially

distributed feature processing regions in

the brain (conscious perceptual binding).

Rodriguez E, George N, Lachaux JP, Martinerie J, Renault B, Varela FJ. (1999).

Perceptions shadow: long-distance synchronization of human brain activity.Nature,

397,430433.

Trujillo, L.T., Peterson, M.A., Kaszniak, A.W., & Allen, J.A. (2005). EEG phase synchrony

differences across visual perception conditions may depend on recording and analysis


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Phenomenal Clarity & GammaOscillations During Meditation High-amplitude gamma

oscillations emerge over a

time-course of several dozens

of seconds and correlate with

the clarity (phenomenalintensity and vividness) of

meditative experience as

verbally reportedLutz, A. et al. (2006). Changes in the tonic

high-amplitude gamma oscillations during

meditation correlate with long-term

practitioners verbal reports. Posterpresented at theAssociation for the Scientific

Study of Consciousness Annual Meeting,.

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250

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150

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50

0

Example: Adept 1V2

Self-report (rating 1-9); Gamma activity

clarity of the mind =phenomenal intensity and

vividness during meditation

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9


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Emotion in Long-Term Zen & Vipassana Meditators Long-term Meditators (>10

years)

Report higher emotionalclarity

Those reporting higherclarity show lower

physiological &experienced arousal, &greater subtle positive

facial expression inresponse to maskedemotional pictures,consistent with regulation

of emotion early in theemotion process.

Clarity

-2

-1

0

1

2

3

4

Nielsen, L., & Kaszniak, A.W. (2006).

Awareness of subtle emotional feelings: A

comparison of long-term meditators and non-

meditators.Emotion, 6, 392-405.

Controls StMeds LtMeds


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Brief Meditation Training, Emotion, &

Immune Response Studied 25 work environment

participants in 8-week MBSRtraining & 16 wait-list controls

Following training, meditatorsshowed decreased traitanxiety, left anterior brainactivation (associated with

positive affect), & increases inantibody titers to influenzavaccine (correlated with left

brain activation)Davidson, R. et al. (2003). Alterations in brain and immune function produced by mindfulnessmeditation. Psychosomatic Medicine, 65, 564-570.


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Empathy for Pain

Observing facial expression

of another in pain activatesareas involved in ones ownaffective response to pain(anterior insula, anteriormedial cingulate)

Lamm, C., Batson, C.D., & Decety, J. (2007). The neural substrate of humanempathy: Effects of perspective-taking and cognitive appraisal.Journal of Cognitive

Neuroscience, 19, 42-58.

Brain Areas Activated by both Experiencing & Observing Pain


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Compassion Meditation in Expert Meditators AltersActivity in Empathy-Related Brain Areas

Expert Vajrayana Buddhist

meditators, compared tonovices, showed greateractivation to emotional distress

vocalizations in insula cortexduring nonrerentialcompassion meditation.

Strength of insula activation

was correlated with self-reported intensity of themeditation

Lutz, A., Brefczynski-Lewis, J., Johnstone, T., & Davidson, R.J. (2008). Regulation of theneural circuitry of emotion by compassion meditation: Effects of meditative expertise.

PLoS ONE, 3(3), e1897. Doi:10.1371/journal.pone.00011897.


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Contemplative EducationAlthough feasibility studies and initial

evaluative data have been reported,empirical studies on contemplative

practice with children in educational

settings are few in number and oftenhave methodological limitations.

Many questions remain, and claims ofeffectiveness are presently premature.

Roeser, R.W., & Peck, S.C. (2009). An education in awareness: Self, motivation, and self-regulated

learning in contemplative perspective.Educational Psychologist, 44, 119-136.


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Thank You

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