Neural correlates of attentional expertise in long-term meditation practitioners
Julie A. Brefczynski‐Lewis, Antoine Lutz, Hillary S. Schaefer, Daniel B. Levinson, Richard J. Davidson
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences June 28, 2007 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0606552104 via OpenAlex
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractMeditation is a family of mental training practices that familiarize practitioners with specific mental processes. In age-matched participants, using functional MRI, activation in brain regions involved in sustained attention showed an inverted u-shaped curve: expert meditators with an average of 19,000 hours of practice had more activation than novices, but experts with an average of 44,000 hours had less activation. In response to distracter sounds, experts versus novices had less brain activation in regions related to discursive thoughts and emotions and more activation in regions related to response inhibition and attention. Correlation with hours of practice suggests possible plasticity in these mechanisms.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Observational cohort Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Age-matched participants including expert meditators and novices |
| Intervention | concentration meditation |
| Topics | Meditation Neuroplasticity |
| Keywords | Stimulus psychology Aversive stimulus Neuroscience |
| Citations | 988 |
| Key finding | Brain activation in sustained attention regions showed an inverted u-shaped curve with meditation expertise, and experts showed less activation in discursive thought regions and more in response inhibition regions during distracter sounds. |
Abstract
Meditation refers to a family of mental training practices that are designed to familiarize the practitioner with specific types of mental processes. One of the most basic forms of meditation is concentration meditation, in which sustained attention is focused on an object such as a small visual stimulus or the breath. In age-matched participants, using functional MRI, we found that activation in a network of brain regions typically involved in sustained attention showed an inverted u-shaped curve in which expert meditators (EMs) with an average of 19,000 h of practice had more activation than novices, but EMs with an average of 44,000 h had less activation. In response to distracter sounds used to probe the meditation, EMs vs. novices had less brain activation in regions related to discursive thoughts and emotions and more activation in regions related to response inhibition and attention. Correlation with hours of practice suggests possible plasticity in these mechanisms.