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The neuroscience of mindfulness meditation
YiYuan Tang1,2*, Britta K.Hlzel3,4* and Michael I.Posner2
Abstract | Research over the past two decades broadly supports the claim that mindfulness meditation practiced widely for the reduction of stress and promotion of health exertsbeneficial effects on physical and mental health, and cognitive performance. Recent neuroimaging studies have begun to uncover the brain areas and networks that mediate these positive effects. However, the underlying neural mechanisms remain unclear, and it is apparent that more methodologically rigorous studies are required if we are to gain a full understanding of the neuronal and molecular bases of the changes in the brain that accompany mindfulness meditation.
Department of Psychological Sciences, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas 79409, USA.
Department of Psychology, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon 97403, USA.
Department of Neuroradiology, Technical University of Munich, 81675 Munich, Germany.
Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, Massachusetts 02129, USA. *These authors contributed equally to this work. Correspondence to Y.Y.T. email: mailto:yiyuan.tang%40ttu.edu%20?subject=Nature%20Reviews
Web End [email protected] doi:10.1038/nrn3916 Published online 18 March 2015
Meditation can be defined as a form of mental training that aims to improve an individuals core psychological capacities, such as attentional and emotional self-regulation. Meditation encompasses a family of complex practices that include mindfulness meditation, mantra meditation, yoga, tai chi and chi gong1. Of these practices, mindfulness meditation often described as nonjudgemental attention to present-moment experiences
(BOX1) has received most attention in neuroscience research over the past two decades28.
Although meditation research is in its infancy, a number of studies have investigated changes in brain activation (at rest and during specific tasks) that are associated with the practice of, or that follow, training in mindfulness meditation. These studies have reported changes in multiple aspects of mental function in beginner and advanced meditators, healthy individuals and patient populations914.
In this Review, we consider the current state of research on mindfulness meditation. We discuss the methodological challenges that the field faces and point to several shortcomings in existing studies. Taking into account some important theoretical considerations, we then discuss behavioural and neuroscientific findings in light of what we think are the core components of meditation practice: attention control, emotion regulation and self-awareness (BOX1). Within this framework, we describe research that has revealed changes in behaviour, brain activity and brain...