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David R Vago

Department of Psychiatry, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts.

3 papers in the library · 135 citations · publishing 2019-2025

Papers

The (In)flexible self: Psychopathology, mindfulness, and neuroscience.

International journal of clinical and health psychology : IJCHP January 1, 2023 Fabio Giommi, Prisca R Bauer, Aviva Berkovich-Ohana et al. 70 citations

Rigidity, or inflexibility, is a core feature of transdiagnostic processes underlying many mental health disorders. The pattern theory of self (PTS) defines the self as a dynamic, nonlinear pattern of multiple interacting processes. Mindfulness-Based Interventions (MBIs) can reduce rigid, habitual self-patterns, thereby improving mental health. MBIs alter psychological and behavioral aspects of the self-pattern and can shift the entire self-pattern as a gestalt. Neuroscientific evidence shows that the phenomenology of the self is reflected in cortical networks, and meditation alters these networks. Combining PTS and neuroscientific findings may deepen understanding of psychopathology and improve diagnosis and treatment.

Mapping meditative states and stages with electrophysiology: concepts, classifications, and methods.

Current opinion in psychology August 1, 2019 Poppy la Schoenberg, David R Vago 59 citations

The exploration of human consciousness, specifically how brain structure and function produce the mind, remains a frontier in neuroscience. Mindfulness and contemplative practices involve systematic mental training that can develop the mind in quantifiable ways. While some electrophysiological markers of meditation have been identified, fundamental questions remain: how to classify discrete 'mind states' of consciousness in line with phenomenological experience for ontological quantification; what measures best represent such classification; and whether current electrophysiological approaches can map developmentally specified mind states to neurobiological substrates, given ongoing debates about EEG band functionality and underlying mechanisms.

ENIGMA-Meditation: Worldwide Consortium for Neuroscientific Investigations of Meditation Practices.

Biological psychiatry. Cognitive neuroscience and neuroimaging April 1, 2025 Saampras Ganesan, Fernando A Barrios, Ishaan Batta et al. 6 citations

Meditation practices, which have shown therapeutic benefits for conditions like depression, pain, addiction, and anxiety, have been studied with neuroimaging over the past decade. However, existing neuroscientific models are based on small, heterogeneous datasets, limiting generalizability and replicability. The ENIGMA-Meditation consortium is the first worldwide collaborative effort to conduct systematic meta- and mega-analyses of globally distributed neuroimaging data using standardized methods. This framework aims to improve statistical power and address multidomain heterogeneity in meditation practice types, experience, and experimental design. The consortium will generate rigorous neuroscientific insights into the mechanisms underlying meditation's therapeutic effects on psychological and cognitive attributes.