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INTRODUCTION: We tested and validated the German version of a new instrument for measuring "wakefulness," defined as "an expansive, higher-functioning, and stable state of being in which a person's vision of and relationship to the world are transformed, along with their subjective experience, their sense of identity and their conceptual outlook" (Taylor, 2017, p. 22). METHODS: In order to test the construct validity of the new instrument (Inventory of Secular/Spiritual Wakefulness; WAKE-16), we performed a parametric comparison between a group of expert meditators (n=36) with a history of predominantly meditating in silence and demographically matched non-meditators (n=36) for the WAKE-16 and two conceptually related questionnaires of mindfulness and emotion regulation. RESULTS: Significantly higher scores for the meditators on the WAKE-16 indicate construct validity of the new instrument. Meditators scored higher on the two mindfulness subscales "presence" and "acceptance," as well as on the SEE subscales of emotion regulation and body-related symbolization of emotions. Within the group of meditators, there were significant correlations between wakefulness and mindfulness, accepting one's own emotions, and experiencing overwhelming emotions. The only significant correlation in non-meditators was found between wakefulness and accepting one's own emotions. DISCUSSION: The new instrument shows construct validity by discriminating between the two groups. Correlations between wakefulness and related psychological constructs indicate convergent validity. Future studies could attempt to increase discriminatory accuracy of the definition of wakefulness, as well as finding objective methods of measuring.
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Mindfulness training aims to impact emotion regulation. Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) symptoms can be successfully addressed through mindfulness-based interventions. This preliminary study is the first to investigate neural mechanisms of symptom improvements in GAD following mindfulness training. Furthermore, we compared brain activation between GAD patients and healthy participants at baseline. 26 patients with a current DSM-IV GAD diagnosis were randomized to an 8-week Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR, N = 15) or a stress management education (SME, N = 11) active control program. 26 healthy participants were included for baseline comparisons. BOLD response was assessed with fMRI during affect labeling of angry and neutral facial expressions. At baseline, GAD patients showed higher amygdala activation than healthy participants in response to neutral, but not angry faces, suggesting that ambiguous stimuli reveal stronger reactivity in GAD patients. In patients, amygdala activation in response to neutral faces decreased following both interventions. BOLD response in ventrolateral prefrontal regions (VLPFC) showed greater increase in MBSR than SME participants. Functional connectivity between amygdala and PFC regions increased significantly pre- to post-intervention within the MBSR, but not SME group. Both, change in VLPFC activation and amygdala-prefrontal connectivity were correlated with change in Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) scores, suggesting clinical relevance of these changes. Amygdala-prefrontal connectivity turned from negative coupling (typically seen in down-regulation of emotions), to positive coupling; potentially suggesting a unique mechanism of mindfulness. Findings suggest that in GAD, mindfulness training leads to changes in fronto-limbic areas crucial for the regulation of emotion; these changes correspond with reported symptom improvements.
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This study investigated differences in brain activation during meditation between meditators and non-meditators. Fifteen Vipassana meditators (mean practice: 7.9 years, 2h daily) and fifteen non-meditators, matched for sex, age, education, and handedness, participated in a block-design fMRI study that included mindfulness of breathing and mental arithmetic conditions. For the meditation condition (contrasted to arithmetic), meditators showed stronger activations in the rostral anterior cingulate cortex and the dorsal medial prefrontal cortex bilaterally, compared to controls. Greater rostral anterior cingulate cortex activation in meditators may reflect stronger processing of distracting events. The increased activation in the medial prefrontal cortex may reflect that meditators are stronger engaged in emotional processing.
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Meditation experiences evolve along a spectrum, ranging from an effortful struggle with the technique to deep transpersonal states where all dualities dissolve. The present study investigated to what extent the depth of meditation is influenced by the amount of meditation practice and the personality trait of absorption, and whether deep experiences influence the mindfulness of meditators in everyday life. A set of questionnaires (Meditation Depth Questionnaire, Tellegen Absorption Scale, and Freiburg Mindfulness Inventory) was distributed to meditators (N = 251) practicing different techniques. A structural equation modeling analysis revealed that absorption exerted a stronger influence on meditation depth (path coefficient: .48) than the amount of meditation practice (path coefficient: .21). Mindfulness was strongly influenced by meditation depth (path coefficient: .42) and moderately by absorption (path coefficient: .21). These complex relations between practice, personality, meditation experiences, and everyday behavior should be considered in future research on transpersonal states induced by meditation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved)
Erkunden
Eintragsart
Sprache
- Englisch (2)
Thema
- Mindfulness
- Adult (1)
- Amygdala (1)
- Anterior cingulate cortex (1)
- Attention regulation (1)
- Awakening (1)
- Beck Anxiety Inventory (1)
- *Buddhism (1)
- Connectivity (1)
- Emotion regulation (2)
- *Emotional Regulation/physiology (1)
- Emotions/physiology (1)
- Female (1)
- Generalized anxiety disorder (1)
- Humans (1)
- Intervention (1)
- Latent Variables (1)
- Longitudinal (1)
- Male (1)
- Medial prefrontal cortex (1)
- *Meditation (1)
- Meditation (3)
- Middle Aged (1)
- *Mindfulness (1)
- Personality Traits (1)
- Prefrontal cortex (1)
- Reproducibility of Results (1)
- Self-regulation (1)
- Self-transcendence (1)
- Simulation (1)
- Stress (1)
- Surveys and Questionnaires (1)
- Transpersonal Psychology (1)
- Ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (1)
- Wakefulness (1)
- *Wakefulness/physiology (1)