Differential effects of non-dual and focused attention meditations on the formation of automatic perceptual habits in expert practitioners

Abstract

Non-dual meditation aims to undo maladaptive cognitive and affective patterns by recognizing their constructed and transient nature. We previously found high-amplitude spontaneous gamma (25-40 Hz) oscillatory activity during such practice. Nonetheless, it is unclear how this meditation state differs from other practices, in terms of perceptual information processing. Here, we hypothesized that non-dual meditation can downregulate the automatic formation of perceptual habits. To investigate this hypothesis, we recorded EEG from expert Buddhist meditation practitioners and matched novices to measure two components of the auditory evoked response: the Mismatch Negativity (MMN) and the Late Frontal Negativity (LFN), a potential observed at a latency sensitive to attentional engagement to the auditory environment, during the practices of Open Presence (OP) and Focused Attention (FA), as well as during a control state, in the context of a passive oddball paradigm. We found an increase in gamma oscillatory power during both meditation states in expert practitioners and an interaction between states and groups in the amplitude of the MMN. A further investigation identified the specific interplay between the MMN and the LFN as a possible marker to differentiate the two meditation states as a function of expertise. In experts, the MMN increased during FA, compared to OP, while the opposite pattern was observed at the LFN latency. We propose that the state of OP in experts is characterized by increased sensory monitoring and reduced perceptual inferences compared to FA. This study represents a first attempt to describe the impact of non-dual meditation states on the regulation of automatic brain predictive processes.

Inter-brain Synchronization in the Practice of Tibetan Monastic Debate

“…For example, Lutz et al (2004) observed increased gamma oscillatory power and synchrony compared with baseline during non-referential compassion, an open monitoring practice, and this increase was unique to highly experienced practitioners. Recent work has replicated this gamma increase, extending it by showing that gamma power was also higher in open monitoring meditation compared with focused attention meditation (Fucci et al 2018). Increased gamma synchrony may be associated more with a sense of openness, broad awareness, and breaking down of the barriers between self and others (Dahl et al 2015;Josipovic 2014;Lutz et al 2015).…”

The epistemic and pragmatic value of non-action: a predictive coding perspective on meditation

“…In fact, it ties together in a coherent theoretical scaffold the core meditative notions of attention (top-down deployment of precision weighting), the conditioning power of habitual Self-related patterns of thought and behavior (priors), and the embodied nature of cognition and emotion (interoceptive inference). While this theoretical approach has already been endorsed in a few opinion pieces [9][10][11][12], and is gaining momentum in the community, its application to meditation-related experimental measures is still in its infancy [13]. The present article aims to provide not a detailed FEP-based manifesto for contemplative research ---a task which would require a more formal and extensive effort ---but rather an illustrative example of framing a previously proposed phenomenological model of focused attention (FA) meditation [14] in terms of active inference.…”

Residential meditation retreats: their role in contemplative practice and significance for psychological research

“…However, these approaches can lack ecological validity with regard to the values, principles, and practices of experienced meditators out in the world. Likewise, cross-sectional studies of meditation adepts can offer valuable knowledge about highly experienced RESIDENTIAL MEDITATION RETREATS 4 practitioners [e.g., 18,19], but provide limited information about how this expertise develops or is acquired over time.…”