The Science of Zen

Lauren Dougherty

Griff T. Foulk

Independent Intersession Study

31 March 2014

Dougherty 1

I. Introduction & Integration

While the concept of mediation is considered to be a private devotion

or mental exercise, it encompasses various techniques of concentration,

contemplation, and abstraction--similarly to distraction. Most interestingly, it

is often regarded as conducive to heightened spiritual awareness or somatic

calm. This is particularly relevant for this work on the basis that this is a very

limited summation of the capacity mindful mediation and mindfulness posses.

Moreover, from an empirical perspective, it is important to clarify the

differences between mindfulness as a principle, mindful mediation as a

practice, the idea of Zen, and Buddhism in psychology.

The principle of mindfulness is most present in the usage of Dialectical

Behavioral Therapy (which will be elaborated on later) to treat complex

personality disorders, mood disorders, and addictions. Particularly within the

structure of DBT, mindfulness is interpreted as the gateway and entry point

to all other mechanisms and skills for leading a balanced and healthy life. As

is also the case with Buddhist doctrines regarding Right Mindfulness, which

will also be further addressed later in this work. Mindfulness is rooted in

several assumptions about the exterior world; for example, that in any given

moment, one must try to take a non-judgmental stance towards all things to

avoid taking short cuts in one’s emotional paradigm [De Silva 2000].

Secondly, the practice of mindful mediation can be exercised in a

variety of ways. To name a few, mindfulness exercises include grounding

work, which consists of focusing intently on detail and visual concentration to

take away from consuming or inappropriate thoughts. Another mindfulness

exercise being abstraction, usually played in the form of a game where the

goal is to fully engage one’s self in the task at hand. That being said, the

thematic purpose of all mindfulness exercises is bring oneself into the present

moment, enhance the mind-body connection through sincere self-awareness,

and is conceptualized as an act of self-care.

Transitionally, the idea of Zen is an ancient and important school of

East Asian Buddhism that constitutes the mainstream monastic form of

Mahayana Buddhism, and the word derives from the Sanskrit “dhyana”,

meaning mediation [De Silva 2000]. While the overlap between mindful

mediation and Zen make exist within semantics, Zen is more closely identified

with the “spontaneous expression of artistic or spiritual vitality regardless of

context” (Britannica Encyclopedia 2013), which does fit within the frame of

DBT, an act of self-care and creative expression, that has a balancing benefit

for the participating individual.

Lastly, Buddhism in psychology is a fascinating combination of classical

Buddhist doctrines and their modern psychology counterparts, paradigms,

and theories. Within the psychoanalytic community, mindful meditation is

comprised of three dimensions that are particularly relevant to the affective,

interpersonal, and intrapersonal empirically supported benefits of

mindfulness. Moreover, affective states are those brought on by an external

stimulus, the interpersonal dimension is comprised of one’s consequential

interactions with the external, and the intrapersonal dimension consists of

the internal dialogue and narrative. That being said, while it may be assumed

that all forms of mediation practice evoke equal benefit to the practitioner,

research suggests otherwise. In fact, different styles of meditation elicit

different patterns of brain activity. For example, mindfulness meditation, (e.g.

focusing on a mantra), has been shown to stimulate the middle pre-frontal

brain associated with both self-observation and metacognition, and foster

specific attentional mechanisms more than concentrative forms of meditation

[Davis et al. 2011].

Furthermore, while a number of other mediation practices including

Tibetan and Zen Buddhist styles also cultivate mindfulness, mindfulness

meditation is typically used synonymously with “Vipassana, a form of

mediation that derives from Theraveda Buddhism” (Gunaratana, 2002).

Vipassana is a Pāli word for insight or clear awareness and is a practice

design to gradually develop mindfulness or awareness. Lastly, (Siegel, 2009)

has proposed a neurological basis for the connection between mindfulness

and insight, and research discussed later in this work has begun to support

this proposition. As we progress into the 21st century, the field of psychology

finds itself more and more engaged in dialogue with Buddhism, an obviously

much more ancient text. Regardless, the current trend towards research and

clinical work in mindfulness meditation has been validated for the treatment

of depression, anxiety/mood disorders, and personality disorders.

Structurally, Buddhist texts are traditionally written in the form of suttas

(sutra, in Sanskrit), which are “usually told in the form of a story about

Buddha teaching a concept or giving a lesson” (Kumar, 2006). Additionally,

they are written in a very repetitive fashion, likely to facilitate memorization.

Interestingly, clinicians can use these repetitive metaphors very practically in

clinical work to convey relevant concepts to patients, especially in teaching

concepts related to mindfulness through mantra repetition, for example.

Historically, Buddhist psychology encompassed “an intricate branch of

discourse that required rigorous training and specialization” (Kumar, 2006).

Thoughts, feelings, motivations, and behaviors were painstakingly

categorized. Even still, the many concepts that parallel contemporary

psychology thinking, but emerged thousands of years ago from a

predominantly monastic setting, are fascinating [De Silva 2000]. Arguably, the

greatest recent dialogue between Buddhist and contemporary psychology

seems to be within a cognitive-behavioral context; managing both conscious

and unconscious actions, behaviors, and cognitive distortions.

“While the discourse between Buddhism and psychology is still

in its early stages, the analysis of psychological phenomena in

Buddhist literature offers significant insights into the nature of

consciousness and the psychology of human behavior” says De

Silva in his 2000 work, Introduction to Buddhist Psychology.

And so, in the literature that has shaped Buddhist Psychology and its very

thorough framework, we see relationships between Buddhist psychology and

Freudian psychoanalysis, the humanistic model, behavior therapies, and

existential therapy. That being said, Buddhism is said to offer “significant

points of convergence with psychoanalysis, humanistic psychology, and

existential therapy, whereas the model of behaviorism offers some significant

points of difference” (De Silva, 2000).

Most interestingly, the concept of unconscious motivation is also

existent in Buddhism. In both Buddhist thought and Freudian psychoanalysis,

unconscious motivation is considered a production of an ego-state derived in

attachment and anxiety. Moreover, Buddhist literature articulates that the

craving for pleasurable excitement is fed ‘by deeper undercurrents’—

pleasurable feeling that induces an attachment to pleasant objects, which

then rouse latent conceit, greed, anxiety, and desperation [De Silva, 2000]. In

Buddhist thought as well as in contemporary psychology, we acknowledge

the relevance of our deepest natures playing a role in our existence and

guiding our choices. “The mind is not an unchanging soul, but a dynamic

continuum in which is stored the residue of emotionally charged memories

going back to childhood” (De Silva, 2000). While Buddhism considers the

concept of the ego to be the seat of anxiety, the ego-anxiety linkage truly does

offer a particularly interesting point of intersection with Freudian

psychoanalysis.

Conversely, there is a subtle difference between the two ideologies, and

is in regards to the perspective with which they are mutually put into

practice. Freud once said his only aim was to “transform hysterical misery

into common unhappiness” (De Silva, 2000). Buddhism, on the other hand,

offers a more positive path for growth by being based in a spiritual and

ethical dimension, and rooted in a healthy relationship with one’s self [De

Silva 2000].

II. Practice & Process

What are the psychotherapeutic benefits and primary targets of

mindfulness? In recent years, mindfulness has moved from a largely obscure

Buddhist concept to a mainstream psychotherapy concept, enjoying

tremendous success in the past decade. Owing most of its notoriety to

mindfulness-based stress reduction therapies and the “central role” of

mindfulness in Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, the consensus amongst these

communities is that everyone would benefit from being mindful. Among its

theorized benefits are self-control, increased objectivity, enhanced

psychological flexibility, equanimity, improved concentration and mental

clarity, emotional intelligence, the ability to relate to others and one’s self

with kindness, acceptance, and compassion. For semantic purposes, the word

mindfulness originally comes from the Pali word sati, which means having

awareness, attention, and remembering (Bodhi, 2000). It can also be

conceptualized as “moment-by-moment awareness” (Germer et al. , 2005, pg.

6) or as a state of “psychological freedom that occurs when attention remains

quiet and limber, without attachment to any particular point of view” (Martin,

2007, pg. 291). Mindfulness does possess commonalities with other existing

psychotherapeutic approaches such as mentalization, the “developmental

process of understanding one’s own thoughts, feelings, and desires” Davis,

Hayes, 2011). However, mindfulness differs from mentalization in that

mindfulness is both being aware of the “reflective self”, and the practice of

fully experience the rising and falling of mental states with acceptance and

without attachment and judgment [Hayes, 2011].

In a study conducting an examination of trait mindfulness, otherwise

known as a natural affinity for mindfulness and balance in one’s life, the

practice of mindfulness as “a form of neurobiologically-proven awareness”

has indicated that those who meditate more frequently have less neural

reactivity to emotional stimulation (Farb et al. 2010). Additionally, this

investigation included the relationships among mindfulness, depressive

symptoms, and neural activity in a non-clinical sample of adults. Trait

mindfulness was found to be inversely related to amygdala activity when

participants were in a resting state; whereas amygdala activity indicates

activity deep in the brain as the primary processing center of guilt, shame, self

loathing, along with other depressive and ego-based emotions. The study also

revealed decreases in rumination scores were significantly predicted by

participants’ amount of meditation practice, as well as demonstrating that

mindful meditation enables people to become less reactive and have greater

psychological flexibility (Siegel, 2009). Research suggests that states

experienced during mindful meditation eventually become effortless traits

over time, with less and less dysfunctional emotional interference over time

(Farb et al., 2007; Siegel, 2007).

The relevance of mindfulness and the psychological process is

exhibited in a study conducted by (Cahn & Polich 2009) which displayed

other benefits of mindfulness included increased processing speed, decreased

task effort, quicker return to emotional baseline, (otherwise known as a

neutral emotional state), and having fewer thoughts unrelated to the task at

hand. In addition, (Lutz et al., 2009) conducted research that implies that due

to increased attentional skills and increased ability to manage distractions,

one who practices mindfulness meditation may have a subsequent increased

ability to be present.

In addition to affective and interpersonal benefits, mindfulness has

been shown to enhance functions associated with the middle pre-frontal lobe

area of the brain, which processes self-insight, morality, intuition, and fear

modulation (Siegel, 2009). Consequently, mindfulness has been shown to

reduce psychological distress and then increase neuroplasticity—the

rewiring that occurs in the brain as a result of experience, which now explains

how regular mindful mediation practice alters the brain’s physical structure

and functioning (Davidson et al., 2003). Changes in the structure of the brain

include thicker brain regions associated with attention, sensory processing,

and sensitivity to internal stimuli, as well as distinct gray matter

concentrations, and thicker brain stems, which many account for the positive

cognitive and emotional benefits (Vestergaard-Poulsen et al., 2009). These

brain morphometry will also be elaborated on further.

Lastly, in a study that investigated self-compassion in relation to

mindfulness, it was discovered that two components of mindfulness:

nonjudging and nonreacting; were strongly correlated with self-compassion

and two dimensions of empathy: taking on others’ perspectives, and reacting

to others’ affective emotional experiences. It was concluded that self-

compassion fully mediated the relationship between perspective-taking and

mindfulness. Most importantly, across all of these studies, after an average of

nine weeks of training in mindful meditation, trainees who meditated

experienced greater reductions in overall depressive symptoms, faster rates

of emotional change and return to emotional neutrality, scored higher on

measures of well-being, and perceived their treatment to be more effective.

III. The Collective Roots

Understanding the classical roots of Zen Buddhism, mediation, the

directions clinical psychology has taken since its convergence, and where the

two have coincided since, is a very important facet of understanding this

interdisciplinary connection. Excluding the contemporary dialogue between

Buddhism and psychology, a truly thorough grasp of Buddhist doctrine(s) is

not feasible without an understanding of concepts of the mind, cognition and

motivation, and of the nature of emotion and personality [De Silva 2000]. In

1940, pioneering work conducted by a western psychologist studied the

psychology of nirvana said:

“Anybody with a good knowledge of psychology and its history

who reads the Pāli nikayas must be struck by the fact that the

psychological terminology is richer in this than any other ancient

literature and that more space is devoted to psychological

analysis and explanations in this that in any other religious

literature” (De Silva, 2000).

From a classical perspective, mindfulness occurs in the Buddhist

scriptures in many contexts and is a member of several groups of doctrinal

terms. In the words of Thera, mindfulness is, “the unfailing master key for

knowing the mind, and is thus the starting point; the perfect tool for shaping

the mind, and is thus the focal point; the lofty manifestation of the achieved

freedom of the mind, and is thus the culminating point” (Thera, 1996). More

specifically, the Buddha-Message, as a Doctrine of the Mind, aims to teach

three things: to know the mind, that is so near to us and yet so unknown; the

shape the mind, that is so unwieldy and obstinate, and yet may turn so pliant;

and to free the mind, that is in bondage all over, and yet may win freedom

here and now [Thera 1996].

Furthermore, ‘Right Mindfulness’ is the seventh factor of the ‘Noble

Eightfold Path leading to the Extinction of Suffering’ that constitutes the fourth

of the Four Noble Truths. In a threefold division of the eightfold path—into

Virtue, Concentration, and Wisdom—Right Mindfulness belongs to the second

group, Concentration (samādhi), together with Right Effort and Right

Concentration [Thera 2006]. Mindfulness is the first of seven Factors of

Enlightenment; Thera explains that mindfulness is not only first in the order

of enumeration, “but because it is basic for the full development of the other

six qualities” (Thera 2006). Moreover, “direct experiential insight into reality

can be accomplished only with the help of the enlightenment factor

Mindfulness.

The place of mindfulness in Buddhist doctrine can also be observed among

the five Faculties; where as the other four are confidence, energy,

concentration, and wisdom. Mindfulness as a principle, apart from being a

faculty in its own right, has the important function of watching over the even

development and balance of the other four, in particular of confidence, or

faith in relation to wisdom and intellectualism, and of energy in relation to

concentration, or inner calm [Thera 2006]. Again, similarly to Dialectical

Behavior Therapy, mindfulness is the entry point into all other skills.

In the practice of awareness (a facet of mindfulness) as a form of

psychotherapy, it may be as simple as repeating words like, “rising, falling” in

connection with a breathing exercise. This type of systematic exercise was

used in India and China several centuries before the birth of Christ. Such

practices, often associated with religious belief, were empirically not common

in Europe until near the end of the Middle Ages (Meyer, 1971). During the

later sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, they become almost fashionable,

but after the Quietist controversy, fell into being considered to encourage

laziness. Within the past decades, particularly in western psychoanalytic

communities, mindful meditation exercises are resurfacing with immense

success. Almost identical to these very ancient Chinese and Indian practices,

mindful mediation exercised today using a mantra, are successfully treating

addiction, personality disorders, etc.

Semantically, the scientific community embraces mindful meditation as a

practice of awareness and it is arguably the least emotionally loaded name for

this exercise. While it is an effort in the practice of thinking, it is clear that it is

an attempt to learn to control thought, what Jung called the thinking function

(Meyer, 1971). It is also necessary to note that if this thinking

function/practice of awareness is overdeveloped, it can interfere with other

functions like feeling and intuition, especially the spontaneity essential to

sexual, artistic, and athletic achievement [Meyer, 1971]. Moreover, thinking

includes thoughts about the past, present, and future. Remembering the past

and looking into the future, if indulged in to excess, can result in depression

and anxiety, in addition to a warped self-perception. “Watts writes: One of our

greatest assets for survival is our sense of time, our marvelously sensitive

memory, which enables us to predict the future from the patterns of the past”

(Meyer, 1971). Over the past few decades the scientific community has really

abandoned this Cartesian concept of all-powerful man and the superiority of

humans to all other species on Earth. One could argue that in the modern day,

even the Neurobiology community would renounce this assumption. The

reality is that the brain’s mechanisms and affinities for recording and process

experiences, information, and stimulation are complex, fragile, and even

flawed.

IV. Mindfulness on Mental Disorders

A foundational understanding of reward/control and pleasure/pain

appraisal pathways in the brain is now being used as neurochemical markers

of substance abuse and addiction in the greater understanding of

mindfulness. Primarily, the lateral thalamus and primary somatosensory

cortex (SI) are associated with sensory experience of noxious processing, and

the anterior cingulate and insular cortices have been repeatedly associated

with the emotional response to pain. Furthermore, the hippocampus has been

proposed to mediate emotional and avoidance responses to noxious stimuli, a

suggestion supported by functional MRI (fMRI) studies, which have also

shown differential hippocampal activation dependent on the anticipated level

of pain intensity (Grant et al., 2010).

Over the past few years, it has also become evident that a substantial

amount of plasticity can occur within the nociceptive pathways (neurons that

generate action potentials and responses to pain). For example, many chronic

pain conditions have now been associated with more or less gray matter in

pain-related regions (May, 2008). This is consistent with the notion that long-

term changes in experiencing pain are associated with specific modifications

in gray matter, reflecting altered neural processing of nociceptive signals, and

essentially, a changed brain structure.

Humans suffer heavily from substance use disorders and other

addictions. Despite much effort that has been put into understanding the

mechanisms of the addictive process, treatment strategies have remained

suboptimal over the past several decades. As we now know, mindfulness

training is thoroughly based in ancient Buddhist models of human suffering,

and has recently shown success in treating addictions. What’s more, these

ancient models show remarkable similarity to current models of the addictive

process, especially in their overlap with operant conditioning (positive and

negative reinforcement). Most importantly, these ancient models provide

explanatory power for the mechanisms of mindfulness training; including its

effects on core addictive elements, such as craving, and the underlying

neurobiological processes that occur.

In looking at the ‘birth’ of an addiction (Brewer et al., 2013) studied the

acquisition of nicotine dependence. Though a complex process, it is developed

in part from the formation of associative memories between smoking and

both positive (i.e. after a good meal) and negative (i.e. when stressed)

affective states. Subsequently, cues that are judged to be positive or negative,

a process that usually happens immediately, subconsciously, and without

awareness, can induce positive or negative affective states, which then trigger

the craving to smoke. Additionally, neutral cues that have been classically

conditioned may directly trigger craving (Brewer et al., 2013). Though the

centrality of craving remains controversial, this process sets up both positive

and negative reinforcement loops, by reinforcing the associative memories

between these affective states and smoking. Consequently, this results in

what has been labeled “the addictive loop”. Through repeated smoking, this

addictive loop may become automated or habitual, leading to cue-induced

behavior that is largely outside of consciousness, let alone conscious control

[Brewer et al., 2013].

Alternatively, the therapeutic model offered in early Buddhist texts

aims at explicating suffering, its cause, the possibility of a cure, and the

interventions required to achieve that cure. Suffering is caused by many

varieties of craving, or more literally translated “thirst”; of particular

relevance here is “craving for sense pleasure” (Brewer et al., 2013). It is

through the “relinquishment, release, and letting go” of craving that suffering

is cured (Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta: Setting in Motion the Wheel of

Truth [SN 56.11], 2010), Brewer et al. 2013). It appears that through a

relatively simple psychological intervention, this relinquishment of craving

may be achieved. Buddhist psychological models distinguish bodily, affective,

cognitive, volitional, and conscious components of emotional reactions to

triggers and offer a detailed analysis of the causal relationships between

these differentiated processes, termed “dependent co-origination” (Brewer

et al., 2013). In this process, craving is said to result from a process based in

automated affective reactions to perceptual stimuli. Meaning, when

environmental cues are registered through the senses (and here thoughts are

included within the five senses), an “affective tone” automatically arises that

is typically felt as pleasant or unpleasant, and the valence of this affective tone

is conditioned by associative memories that were formed from previous

experiences. Therefore, a desire or craving arises as a psychological urge to

act or perform a behavior and the craving is for the continuation of pleasant

or the cessation of unpleasant feeling tones. This craving not only motivates

action, but also fuels the “birth” of a self-identity around the sense object

(Brewer et al., 2013). By creating a link between action and outcome that gets

laid down in memory and repeatedly self-validated, the individual learns that

smoking (the action) decreases unpleasant feelings such as negative affect

and craving, and starts forming a behavior pattern related to these affective

reactions. (ADD HOW MEDITATION BREAKS CYCLE)

Additionally, Zen meditation has been associated with low sensitivity

on both the affective and sensory dimensions of pain. Given reports of gray

matter differences in brains of meditators, chronic pain patients, and a

control group, one study in particular, Grant et al., 2010, investigated whether

differences in brain morphometry (change in bran structure) are associated

with the low pain sensitivity observed in Zen practitioners. Structural MRI

scans were scans were performed; revealing meditators had significantly

lower pain sensitivity than members of the control group. Assessed across all

subjects, lower pain sensitivity was associated with thicker cortices in

affective and pain-related brain regions. These activated and notably thicker

regions of the brain include the anterior cingulate cortex, bilateral Para

hippocampal gyrus, and anterior insula. These parts of the brain mutually

process the salience of emotion and motivational information including

perception, motor-control, self-awareness, cognitive functioning, and

interpersonal experience. Comparing groups, meditators were also found to

have thicker cortex in the dorsal anterior cingulate and bilaterally in the

secondary somatosensory cortex—meaning the reward anticipation, decision-

making, empathy and impulse-control pathways of the brain were also

activated and structurally altered. Additionally, more years of mediation

experience was associated with thicker gray matter in the anterior cingulate,

and hours or experience predicted more gray matter bilaterally in the

somatosensory cortex. In summary, results suggested that pain sensitivity is

related to cortical thickness in pain-related regions, and that the lower

sensitivity observed in meditators is the product of alterations to brain

morphometry from long-term practice (Grant et al., 2010).

The cultivation of a state of equanimity toward one’s experience—the

goal of many meditative practices—is now traditionally viewed as vitally

important to a healthy mind. Consistent with an influence on affective

processing, meditation has been found to have a positive impact on chronic

pain patients. Over the course of five years, Kabat-Zinn reported on a group of

225 chronic pain patients who had completed the Mindfulness-Based Stress

Reduction (MBSR) program (Kabat-Zinn, 1987). Follow-up evaluation at four

years showed stable improvement on most measures, with the exception of

pain intensity. This led the authors to conclude that MBSR teaches an effective

coping strategy for pain; whereby the physical sensation itself remains

unchanged, but the patients’ emotional reaction toward or even acceptance of

the pain is positively altered. Improvements, specifically in pain acceptance,

have been reported following as little as eight-week MBSR programs.

In a study examining whether an empirically and theoretically derived

treatment combining mindfulness- and acceptance-based strategies with

behavioral approaches would improve outcomes in generalized anxiety

disorder (GAD), these newly implemented were more successful than

empirically supported treatment [Hayes et al. 2013]. Generalized Anxiety

Disorder (GAD) is a chronic anxiety disorder associated with high

comorbidity (a propensity for multiple disorders), reduced quality of life, and

significant health care utilization (Hoffman et al., 2008). Meta-analyses

revealed that cognitive behavioral therapies are effective for GAD, however,

GAD remains one of the least successfully treated of the anxiety disorders. In

fact, most studies are finding that less than 65% of patients meet criteria for

high end-state functioning (successfully managing one’s life) at post

treatment, and few studies even addressing the impact of treatment on

quality of life. Several researchers have aimed to refine and expand existing

models of GAD in an effort to more clearly identify casual and maintaining

factors to target in therapy (Behar, DiMarco, Hekler, Mohlman, & Staples,

2009).

That being said, recent randomized controlled trials (RCTs) informed

by these models indicate that targeting the intolerance of uncertainty and the

interpersonal and emotion-focused aspects of GAD (Newman et al., 2011) yield

effects comparable to existing cognitive behavioral therapies for GAD.

Supported by research comparing individuals with and without GAD, these

models suggest that those with GAD have a problematic relationship with

their internalized experiences characterized by a narrowed attention towards

threat, and a critical judgmental reactivity toward their emotional responses

and thoughts (Wells & Carter 1999). This reaction to internal experiences

motivates individuals with GAD to engage in experiential avoidance and that

in turn affects behavior. As a result, individuals with GAD are less likely to

consistently engage in behaviors that are important to them (i.e. valued

actions and choices), and hence experience a diminished quality of life (Hayes

et al., 2013).

These models then led to the development of an acceptance-based

behavior therapy for GAD, a flexible treatment adapted from traditional

cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) as well as from other acceptance-based

therapies (ABBT), which include Acceptance and Commitment Therapy,

mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, and dialectical behavior therapy; all of

which explicitly target the aforementioned neuro- and behavioral

mechanisms of GAD. In particular, this ABBT aims to help people to cultivate

an expanded (as opposed to narrowed, threat-focused) awareness along with

a compassionate (as opposed to judgmental) and decentered (as opposed to

seeing thoughts and feelings as all-encompassing indicators of truth) stance

toward internal experiences. These new skills reduce rigid experiential

avoidance, as does the explicit promotion of accepting and willing stance

toward internal experiences; behavioral avoidance and construction are

targeted by encouraging patients to identify and mindfully engage in

personally meaningful actions [Hayes et al., 2013].

We can now see that stimuli with strong affective valence capture and can

even consume our attention. In the case of treating addictions, this can

impede the self-regulation of impulses, because preoccupation with a

tempting stimulus such as alcohol may lead to continued activation of

automatic affective responses to that stimulus, increasing the likelihood of

approach and consumption. The influence of attentional biases on self-

regulation failure can be understood from dual-process models of the mind.

For example, one model proposes that an impulsive system in which

information elements are related through associative links such that the

presence of a stimulus automatically (subconsciously) activates an associated

element (i.e. alcohol = good). Subsequently, a reflective system in which

information elements are related through volitional (conscious) assigning of

truth-value to propositions allows one to process whether or not consuming

the stimuli is a compulsion or desire that can be managed. That being said,

self-regulation may benefit from variables that weaken the relationship

between salient stimuli (like alcohol) and cognitive perception with those

stimuli (the belief that it is good). Recent research shows that mindfulness

and executive control reduce the link between automatic affective responses

to alcohol and alcohol consumption. Furthermore, as can be seen from this

example, the impulsive system can influence the content on which the

reflective system operates, and this influence can occur through multiple

pathways. Primarily, the impulsive system can affect the process through

which content enters the reflective system: Dual-process models propose that

stronger associative links increase the accessibility of the content in the

impulsive system, making it more likely to enter the reflective system (Ostafin

et al., 2013). Once the associations have been transformed into propositions,

processing in the reflective system can lead to either endorsement on

consuming the stimuli, or rejection. In the case of rejection, the strength of the

associations in the in the impulsive system is proposed to influence the ability

to inhibit and disengage from alcohol-related thoughts. In both emotion and

addiction, researchers suggest that a stronger association between a stimulus

and valence (the salience of the stimuli) will increase the likelihood of

cognitive preoccupation with that stimulus (Ostafin et al., 2013)

In a study conducted by (Ostafin et al., 2013), the authors examined

whether mindfulness and executive control may similarly decouple the

relation between automatic affective responses and difficulty in disengaging

attention from alcohol-related thoughts. While their main hypothesis

regarded the moderators of a relation between automatic affective responses

to alcohol and cognitive preoccupation with alcohol, they also hypothesized

that the relation between automatic alcohol-valence associations and

preoccupations would be moderated by both mindfulness and executive

control. Mindfulness and executive control have been proposed to be

overlapping processes in that mindfulness training involves the control of

attention and should, thus, improve attentional skills. Recent studies support

this idea with findings that mindfulness training improves performance on

measures of executive control (Ostafin et al., 2013). Results in this study

showed that firstly, both trait mindfulness and executive control are inversely

related with alcohol preoccupation, and secondly, both mindfulness and

executive control weaken a positive relation between automatic alcohol-

valence associations and alcohol preoccupation. Additionally, the results of tis

study demonstrate that the relation between automatic alcohol-valence

associations and preoccupations with alcohol-related thoughts can be

reduced by mindfulness and executive control. This study further contributes

to a growing body of research on the ability of mindfulness and executive

control to moderate the influence of the automatic alcohol-affect associations

on behavior by showing that these variables also weaken the relation

between the impulsive system and preoccupation with alcohol-related

thoughts.

Mindful acceptance has also been shown to dampen neuroaffective

reactions to external and rewards performance feedback, including a study

conducted in 2013 by Inzlicht and Teper, which tested how trait mindfulness

related to reactivity in response to a difference type of external stimulus,

namely, performance feedback (external validation and appraisal). Using

electroencephalography, (EEG: measures voltage fluctuations resulting from

ionic current flows within the neurons of the brain), they recorded

participants’ responses to neuroaffective reactions to rewarding, aversive,

and neutral feedback. Their findings suggested that trait mindfulness predicts

less differentiation of rewarding from neutral feedback, but does not predict

brain differentiation of aversive from neutral feedback. Meaning, the results

of the current research suggest that trait mindfulness promotes acceptance

and lessens the intensity of response to external stimuli across all variants of

emotional response.

In conclusion, a meta-analysis conducted in 2012 compared studies of

the neurobiological effects of meditation from around the world, and very

simply asked the question; does mediation work in principle? “The evidence

accumulated in the present meta-analysis yields a clear answer: yes”

(Sedlmeier et al., 2012). From this collection of research alone, we see a quite

global hypothesis that positive effects should be expected on almost all

psychological variables used the current studies, which ranged from

addiction, mood, personality, and behavior disorders. The reality of the

success of these ancient texts is no secret, and the introduction of technology

capable of understanding the benefits of mediation is very exciting. It was the

intention of this work to pull mediation out of its classical definition,

heightened spiritual awareness or somatic calm, and embrace the capacity of

mindfulness as the gateway to a quality existence, with application in all

dimensions of life, most recently, the psychological and neurobiological.