Skip to main navigation menu Skip to main content Skip to site footer
Cortica

Perspective

Vol. 1 No. 2 (2022): Cortica II : Brainstorming on mental health

From fear to trust: neuroscience as the basis of a meditative practice based on mindfulness and self-compassion

DOI
https://doi.org/10.26034/cortica.2022.3136
Submitted
August 29, 2022
Published
2022-09-20

Abstract

The main aim of this perspective is the understanding the brain phenomena involved in the meditative practices “mindfulness and selfcompassion”. Understanding what happens in the brain during meditation legitimizes training this practice with skeptical individuals who doubt their effect, especially in school/university settings with young people.  We have read it and probably also noted: during the last two years, young people have suffered the full brunt of politicohealth measures. In the age of radical transformation, existential projection, gap with the known universe of childhood and the indispensable openness to the world, they were suddenly confronted with closed doors, restrictions of all kinds and blocked horizons even in the first interpersonal circles. Their questioning is tangible when their suffering itself is not palpable. The target audience of the current perspective was born around the year 2000, and who in the space of twenty years found that they are confronted despite themselves with major anxietyprovoking events “virus, ecoanxiety, war, etc..”.  For this generation in particular, the perspective seeks to answer the following question: how to walk from fear to confidence through meditation, on a neuroscientific basis?

References

  1. Aru, J., Suzuki, M., Rutiku, R., Larkum, M. E., & Bachmann, T. (2019). Coupling the State and Contents of Consciousness. Front Syst Neurosci, 13, 43. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnsys.2019.00043 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fnsys.2019.00043
  2. Baxter, M. G., & Croxson, P. L. (2012). Facing the role of the amygdala in emotional information processing. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 109(52), 21180-21181. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1219167110 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1219167110
  3. Beaty, R. E., Benedek, M., Kaufman, S. B., & Silvia, P. J. (2015). Default and Executive Network Coupling Supports Creative Idea Production. Sci Rep, 5, 10964. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep10964 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/srep10964
  4. Bunjak, A., Cerne, M., & Scholly, E. L. (2022). Exploring the past, present, and future of the mindfulness field: A multitechnique bibliometric review. Front Psychol, 13, 792599. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.792599 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.792599
  5. Colibazzi, T. (2015). Journal Watch Review of The neuroscience of mindfulness meditation. J Am Psychoanal Assoc, 63(6), 1247-1248. https://doi.org/10.1177/0003065115620407 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0003065115620407
  6. Crane, R. S., Brewer, J., Feldman, C., Kabat-Zinn, J., Santorelli, S., Williams, J. M., & Kuyken, W. (2017). What defines mindfulness-based programs? The warp and the weft. Psychol Med, 47(6), 990-999. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291716003317 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291716003317
  7. Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2000). The "what" and "why" of goal pursuits: Human needs and the self-determination of behavior. Psychological Inquiry, 11(4), 227-268. https://doi.org/Doi 10.1207/S15327965pli1104_01 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327965PLI1104_01
  8. Dehaene, S., & Changeux, J. P. (2011). Experimental and theoretical approaches to conscious processing. Neuron, 70(2), 200-227. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2011.03.018 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2011.03.018
  9. Dehaene, S., & Naccache, L. (2001). Towards a cognitive neuroscience of consciousness: basic evidence and a workspace framework. Cognition, 79(1-2), 1-37. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0010-0277(00)00123-2 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0010-0277(00)00123-2
  10. DeSerisy, M., Ramphal, B., Pagliaccio, D., Raffanello, E., Tau, G., Marsh, R., Posner, J., & Margolis, A. E. (2021). Frontoparietal and default mode network connectivity varies with age and intelligence. Dev Cogn Neurosci, 48, 100928. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcn.2021.100928 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcn.2021.100928
  11. Ebner, M., & Hameroff, S. (2011). Lateral information processing by spiking neurons: a theoretical model of the neural correlate of consciousness. Comput Intell Neurosci, 2011, 247879. https://doi.org/10.1155/2011/247879 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1155/2011/247879
  12. Ehret, G., & Romand, R. (2022). Awareness and consciousness in humans and animals - neural and behavioral correlates in an evolutionary perspective. Front Syst Neurosci, 16, 941534. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnsys.2022.941534 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fnsys.2022.941534
  13. Eriksson, J. (2017). Activity in part of the neural correlates of consciousness reflects integration. Conscious Cogn, 55, 26-34. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.concog.2017.07.007 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.concog.2017.07.007
  14. Fahim, C. (2022). PRESENCE enracinée dans le cerveau par une prédisposition génétique et tissée par l’épigénétique [editorial]. Cortica, 1(1), 1-3. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.26034/cortica.2022.1779 DOI: https://doi.org/10.26034/cortica.2022.1779
  15. Favero, M., Cangiano, A., & Busetto, G. (2014). Hebb-based rules of neural plasticity: are they ubiquitously important for the refinement of synaptic connections in development? Neuroscientist, 20(1), 8-14. https://doi.org/10.1177/1073858413491148 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1073858413491148
  16. Frigato, G. (2021). The Neural Correlates of Access Consciousness and Phenomenal Consciousness Seem to Coincide and Would Correspond to a Memory Center, an Activation Center and Eight Parallel Convergence Centers. Front Psychol, 12, 749610. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.749610 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.749610
  17. Giugni, E., Vadala, R., De Vincentiis, C., Colica, C., & Bastianello, S. (2010). The brain's default mode network: a mind "sentinel" role? Funct Neurol, 25(4), 189-190. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21388577
  18. Gold, I., & Stoljar, D. (1999). A neuron doctrine in the philosophy of neuroscience. Behav Brain Sci, 22(5), 809-830; discussion 831-869. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0140525x99002198 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X99002198
  19. Hutchinson, B. T. (2019). Toward a theory of consciousness: A review of the neural correlates of inattentional blindness. Neurosci Biobehav Rev, 104, 87-99. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2019.06.003 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2019.06.003
  20. James, W. (1884). What is an emotion? . Mind, 9, 188-205. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/mind/os-IX.34.188
  21. Kabat-Zinn, J. (2005). Bringing mindfulness to medicine: an interview with Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD. Interview by Karolyn Gazella. Adv Mind Body Med, 21(2), 22-27. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16170903
  22. Koch, C., Massimini, M., Boly, M., & Tononi, G. (2016). Neural correlates of consciousness: progress and problems. Nat Rev Neurosci, 17(5), 307-321. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn.2016.22 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn.2016.22
  23. Koelsch, S., Andrews-Hanna, J. R., & Skouras, S. (2022). Tormenting thoughts: The posterior cingulate sulcus of the default mode network regulates valence of thoughts and activity in the brain's pain network during music listening. Hum Brain Mapp, 43(2), 773-786. https://doi.org/10.1002/hbm.25686 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/hbm.25686
  24. Kohler, E., Keysers, C., Umilta, M. A., Fogassi, L., Gallese, V., & Rizzolatti, G. (2002). Hearing sounds, understanding actions: action representation in mirror neurons. Science, 297(5582), 846-848. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1070311 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1070311
  25. Koole, S. L., Schlinkert, C., Maldei, T., & Baumann, N. (2019). Becoming who you are: An integrative review of self-determination theory and personality systems interactions theory. J Pers, 87(1), 15-36. https://doi.org/10.1111/jopy.12380 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/jopy.12380
  26. Lang, P. J., Greenwald, M. K., Bradley, M. M., & Hamm, A. O. (1993). Looking at Pictures - Affective, Facial, Visceral, and Behavioral Reactions. Psychophysiology, 30(3), 261-273. https://doi.org/DOI 10.1111/j.1469-8986.1993.tb03352.x DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8986.1993.tb03352.x
  27. Liu, K., Yao, S., Chen, K., Zhang, J., Yao, L., Li, K., Jin, Z., & Guo, X. (2017). Structural Brain Network Changes across the Adult Lifespan. Front Aging Neurosci, 9, 275. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnagi.2017.00275 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fnagi.2017.00275
  28. Luders, E., Kurth, F., Toga, A. W., Narr, K. L., & Gaser, C. (2013). Meditation effects within the hippocampal complex revealed by voxel-based morphometry and cytoarchitectonic probabilistic mapping. Frontiers in Psychology, 4. https://doi.org/ARTN 398 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00398
  29. 3389/fpsyg.2013.00398
  30. Ludwig, D. S., & Kabat-Zinn, J. (2008). Mindfulness in medicine. JAMA, 300(11), 1350-1352. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.300.11.1350 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.300.11.1350
  31. Melloni, L., Mudrik, L., Pitts, M., & Koch, C. (2021). Making the hard problem of consciousness easier. Science, 372(6545), 911-912. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abj3259 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abj3259
  32. Miller, J. J., Fletcher, K., & Kabat-Zinn, J. (1995). Three-year follow-up and clinical implications of a mindfulness meditation-based stress reduction intervention in the treatment of anxiety disorders. Gen Hosp Psychiatry, 17(3), 192-200. https://doi.org/10.1016/0163-8343(95)00025-m DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/0163-8343(95)00025-M
  33. Naccache, L. (2018). Reply: Response to 'Minimally conscious state or cortically mediated state?'. Brain, 141(4), e27. https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awy026 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awy026
  34. Neff, K. G., G. (2020). Mon cahier d’autocompassion en pleine conscience. deboeck.
  35. Neniskyte, U., & Gross, C. T. (2017). Errant gardeners: glial-cell-dependent synaptic pruning and neurodevelopmental disorders. Nat Rev Neurosci, 18(11), 658-670. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn.2017.110 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn.2017.110
  36. Paulson, S., Davidson, R., Jha, A., & Kabat-Zinn, J. (2013). Becoming conscious: the science of mindfulness. Ann N Y Acad Sci, 1303, 87-104. https://doi.org/10.1111/nyas.12203 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/nyas.12203
  37. Perry, A., Aviezer, H., Goldstein, P., Palgi, S., Klein, E., & Shamay-Tsoory, S. G. (2013). Face or body? Oxytocin improves perception of emotions from facial expressions in incongruent emotional body context. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 38(11), 2820-2825. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2013.07.001 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2013.07.001
  38. Polak, M., & Marvan, T. (2018). Neural Correlates of Consciousness Meet the Theory of Identity. Front Psychol, 9, 1269. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01269 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01269
  39. Posner, M. I. (2020). Rehabilitating the brain through meditation and electrical stimulation. Cortex, 122, 6-9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2018.07.022 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2018.07.022
  40. Raichle, M. E. (2015). The brain's default mode network. Annu Rev Neurosci, 38, 433-447. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-neuro-071013-014030 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-neuro-071013-014030
  41. Robertson, J. M. (2018). The Gliocentric Brain. Int J Mol Sci, 19(10). https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms19103033 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms19103033
  42. Seeley, W. W. (2019). The Salience Network: A Neural System for Perceiving and Responding to Homeostatic Demands. J Neurosci, 39(50), 9878-9882. https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1138-17.2019 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1138-17.2019
  43. Sharma, H. (2015). Meditation: Process and effects. Ayu, 36(3), 233-237. https://doi.org/10.4103/0974-8520.182756 DOI: https://doi.org/10.4103/0974-8520.182756
  44. Smallwood, J., Bernhardt, B. C., Leech, R., Bzdok, D., Jefferies, E., & Margulies, D. S. (2021). The default mode network in cognition: a topographical perspective. Nat Rev Neurosci, 22(8), 503-513. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41583-021-00474-4 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41583-021-00474-4
  45. Tang, Y. Y., Holzel, B. K., & Posner, M. I. (2015). The neuroscience of mindfulness meditation. Nat Rev Neurosci, 16(4), 213-225. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn3916 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn3916
  46. Tang, Y. Y., & Leve, L. D. (2016). A translational neuroscience perspective on mindfulness meditation as a prevention strategy. Transl Behav Med, 6(1), 63-72. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13142-015-0360-x DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13142-015-0360-x
  47. Tang, Y. Y., Lu, Q., Geng, X., Stein, E. A., Yang, Y., & Posner, M. I. (2010). Short-term meditation induces white matter changes in the anterior cingulate. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 107(35), 15649-15652. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1011043107 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1011043107
  48. Tononi, G., & Koch, C. (2008). The neural correlates of consciousness: an update. Ann N Y Acad Sci, 1124, 239-261. https://doi.org/10.1196/annals.1440.004 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1196/annals.1440.004
  49. van der Velden, A. M., & Roepstorff, A. (2015). Neural mechanisms of mindfulness meditation: bridging clinical and neuroscience investigations. Nat Rev Neurosci, 16(7), 439. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn3916-c1 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn3916-c1
  50. Viana Di Prisco, G. (1984). Hebb synaptic plasticity. Prog Neurobiol, 22(2), 89-102. https://doi.org/10.1016/0301-0082(84)90021-2 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/0301-0082(84)90021-2
  51. Xie, L., Kang, H., Xu, Q., Chen, M. J., Liao, Y., Thiyagarajan, M., O'Donnell, J., Christensen, D. J., Nicholson, C., Iliff, J. J., Takano, T., Deane, R., &
  52. Nedergaard, M. (2013). Sleep drives metabolite clearance from the adult brain. Science, 342(6156), 373-377. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1241224 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1241224
  53. Yaron, I., Melloni, L., Pitts, M., & Mudrik, L. (2022). The ConTraSt database for analysing and comparing empirical studies of consciousness DOI: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.06.10.447863
  54. theories. Nat Hum Behav, 6(4), 593-604. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-021-01284-5 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-021-01284-5
  55. Yela, J. R., Crego, A., Gomez-Martinez, M. A., & Jimenez, L. (2020). Self-compassion, meaning in life, and experiential avoidance explain the relationship between meditation and positive mental health outcomes. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 76(9), 1631-1652. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.22932 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.22932
  56. Yuste, R. (2015). From the neuron doctrine to neural networks. Nat Rev Neurosci, 16(8), 487-497. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn3962 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn3962