Citation Context

...r, the above results indicate, as predicted based on the conception that OM meditation renders the system more ready to process information related to current experience (Lutz, Slagter, et al., 2008; =-=Lutz, Dunne, & Davidson, 2006-=-), that intensive training in this style of meditation reduced trialto-trial variability in the recruitment of processes related to the detection of T2. As Figure 3B shows, the observed mental trainin...

Citation Context

...s, tastes, or other sensations, let them be as they are, without engaging into them or rejecting them. Consider that they can’t affect the serene equanimity by your mind. 4 Previous literature (e.g., =-=Lutz et al., 2007-=-) has translated rig pa cog gzhag as “Open Presence,” and this name was used in our conversations with the LTMs and the instructions for the novices (see footnote 3).68 PERLMAN, SALOMONS, DAVIDSON, A...

Citation Context

...ears that can be conceptualized as a family of complex emotional and attentional regulatory training regimens developed for various ends, including the cultivation of wellbeing and emotional balance (=-=Lutz, Dunne, & Davidson, 2007-=-). Although typically practiced in the context of spiritual traditions, there has been a notable increase in the therapeutic application of meditation as a complement in alternative medicine. (Arias, ...

Citation Context

...n the control group. This finding suggests that the effects of meditation training on emotional processing might transfer to non-meditative states. This is consistent with the hypothesis that meditation training may induce learning that is not stimulus- or task-specific, but process-specific, and thereby may result in enduring changes in mental function. Keywords: meditation, mindfulness, attention, compassion, amygdala, emotion, fMRI INTRODUCTION Meditative practices have generated much interest in the scientific community, in particular with regards to how meditation affects brain function (Lutz et al., 2007; Austin, 2009; Slagter et al., 2011). While meditative states are interesting to study per se, perhaps more intriguing is the possibility that meditation training leads to enduring changes in brain function, even outside meditation sessions (Slagter et al., 2011). Contemplative practices purportedly lead to increased wellbeing (e.g., Dalai Lama and Cutler, 1998), a claim supported by subjective reports of participants in mindfulness-based interventions (reviewed in Grossman et al., 2004; Chambers et al., 2009; Rubia, 2009). It has been proposed that these beneficial effects of meditation trai...

Citation Context

...ed in the context of emotion regulation (Taylor et al. 2011). Alternatively, this discrepancy in modulation mechanisms might be explained by differences in meditation practices (Cahn and Polich 2006; =-=Lutz et al. 2007-=-; Lutz et al. 2008; Manna et al. 2010; Travis and Shear 2010; Hölzel et al. 2011). Like in any study involving self-report, a potential confound in the present study is self-report bias. However, the...

Citation Context

...ptoms in chronic pain patients (Grossman et al., 2007; Kabat-Zinn, 1982;Morone et al., 2008;Wetherell et al., 2011). In this study we used neuroimaging 539A. Lutz et al. / NeuroImage 64 (2013) 538–546to explore the effects of a state of acceptance and openness on pain anticipation and processing and also the effects of this state on avoidance and anxiety-related processes across time. States of acceptance and openness central to MBSR and ACT interventions are at the core of meditation practices labeled here Open Monitoring (Bishop et al., 2006; Chambers et al., 2009; Dunne, 2011; Hayes, 2004; Lutz et al., 2006, 2008). Open Monitoring practices aim to cultivate an effortless, open, and accepting awareness of whatever is occurring in the present moment, without reacting or being absorbed in the contents of the experience. Open Monitoring is said to increase pain acceptance and decrease unpleasantness by training one to recognize experientially that all components of the experience of pain are merely mental events, and thus do not necessarily need to be acted upon. Thus, the aim of this training is not to explicitly change the content of experience, but rather to change one's relationship to it. In th...

Citation Context

...al to Tibetan Buddhism (see Supporting Information S1), have been relatively limited in scope. Indeed, previous research focused primarily on Theravada meditation styles such as Shamatha or Vipassana =-=[6,9]-=-, both of which emphasize avoiding discursive thought by letting the practitioner concentrate on the object of meditation or his/her own mental activity, respectively [10]. In addition to Shamatha and...

Citation Context

...presents a subject. 756 SCAN (2015) U.Kirk et al. at V irginia C om m onw ealth U niverstiy on M ay 27, 2015 http://scan.oxfordjournals.org/ D ow nloaded from [28.4.2015–12:43pm] [752–759] Paper: OP-SCAN140131 traits (Downar et al., 2013). By contrast, we find that the meditation group and control group perform identical on the MID task in terms of performance in the MID including RT, suggesting that behavioral output is not impaired in the meditation group. Limitations and future research Meditation practice can take a variety of forms that differ both between and within practice traditions (Lutz et al., 2007). While all the meditators in the present study came from a single practice tradition, information on the specific practice forms of each individual was not gatheredfor example, whether their mindfulness-related meditation practice took a focused attention or open awareness form. Thus, the present results do not specifically indicate what form of meditation was responsible for the diminished brain activations observed. Future research should attend to differences in practice forms to better characterize the role of specific forms of meditation in altered reward processing. Also, this study ca...

Citation Context

...n, compassion, amygdala, emotion, fMRI INTRODUCTION Meditative practices have generated much interest in the scientific community, in particular with regards to how meditation affects brain function (=-=Lutz et al., 2007-=-; Austin, 2009; Slagter et al., 2011). While meditative states are interesting to study per se, perhaps more intriguing is the possibility that meditation training leads to enduring changes in brain f...