A meditation training protocol helped novices accurately describe their mental states during two types of meditation: focused attention and open monitoring. After several weeks of daily practice, participants' self-reported ratings of their experience (i) differed between the two meditation states, (ii) reflected how much they had practiced and how tired they felt, and (iii) matched changes in their reaction times during a task. These patterns were better explained by features of daily practice than by a tendency to give socially desirable answers. The results suggest that novice practitioners can reliably report their inner experience, supporting further study of this training approach.
A non-dual meditation style increases sensory vigilance and reduces perceptual learning compared to focused-attention practice. Auditory perceptual learning is not influenced by unpredictable threat except in naturally more anxious individuals, an effect that may be diminished by mindfulness meditation. Components of the auditory evoked response were identified as potential neural correlates of vigilance processes during mindfulness states. Among expert practitioners, a direct link was found between emotional regulation and changes in subjective experience. The work enriches the dialogue between cognitive neuroscience and phenomenological models of meditation by providing evidence on possible neurocognitive mechanisms underlying meditative practices and expertise.