Category: Research related to Mindfulness

Mindfulness and the brain

Karl DuffyLeave a comment

A 2007 study by Norman Farb at the University of Toronto, along with six other scientists, called “Mindfulness meditation reveals distinct neural modes of self-reference” is extremely interesting in our understanding of mindfulness from a neuroscience perspective.

Farb writes that people have two distinct ways of interacting with the world, using two different sets of networks. One network for experiencing reality involves what is called the “default network”, the parts of the brain that we see involved normally in planning, daydreaming and ruminating.

However he writes that there is a whole other way of experiencing reality, which scientists call one of direct experience. When the direct experience network is active, several different other brain regions become more active.

In other words, you can experience the world through your narrative circuitry, which will be useful for planning, goal setting, and strategizing, and you can also experience the world more directly, which enables more sensory information to be perceived.

Farb’s study found that mindfulness meditation strengthens the capacity to experience the world through the second, direct experience network.

This is interesting bcause this second way – experiencing the world through the direct experience network – allows you to get closer to the reality of any event. You perceive more information about events occurring around you, as well as more accurate information about these events. Noticing more real-time information makes you more flexible in how you respond to the world. You also become less imprisoned by the past, your habits, expectations or assumptions, and more able to respond to events as they are actually unfolding.

Mindfulness and attention, of interest in the workplace

Karl DuffyLeave a comment

There is a lot of research on the effect of meditation on the brain and the results have implications in different areas of life. The following research was of particular interest to educators and to those involved in employment requiring an attention to detail:

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania found that practicing even small doses of daily meditation may improve focus and performance. Meditation, according to Penn neuroscientists Amishi Jha and Michael Baime, director of Penn’s Stress Management Program, is an active process that literally changes the way the brain works. Their study was the first to examine how meditation may modify the three subcomponents of attention, including the ability to prioritize and manage tasks and goals, the ability to voluntarily focus on specific information and the ability to stay alert to the environment.

Researchers found that even for those new to the practice, meditation enhanced performance and the ability to focus attention. Performance-based measures of cognitive function demonstrated improvements in a matter of weeks. The study, published in the journal Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience, suggests a new, non-medical means for improving focus and cognitive ability among disparate populations and has implications for workplace performance and learning.