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Neural Bases of Meditation,
Emotion Regulation
and Self-ProcessingPhilippe Goldin, PhD
Clinically Applied Affective Neuroscience
Stanford University
Goal
Social Anxiety
Understand and Reduce Suffering
MeditationMethods
Brain-Behavioral
Mechanisms
Regulatory Cortical System
EmotionLimbic System
Mental States
Fly stuck on sundew leaves
Fluid mountain stream
Lutz et al. 2008
Attention-based
meditations:
-Focused Attention
- Open Monitoring
Lutz et al. 2008
Focused Attention
• Directing and sustaining attention on a selected object (e.g. breath sensation)
• Detecting mind wandering and distracters (e.g. thoughts, images, memories, emotions)
• Disengagement of attention from distracters and shifting of attention back to the selected object
• Cognitive reappraisal of distracter (e.g. ‘just a thought’, ‘it is okay to be distracted’)
Contemplation
• Focused attention on the breath
Open Monitoring
• No explicit focus on any object
• Non-reactive meta-cognitive monitoring
• Awareness of automatic cognitive and emotional interpretations of experience
Contemplation
• Open monitoring of any and all experience
Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)
• Formal meditation practice– Breath focused – Body scan– Attention shifting to different
sensory modalities– Compassion / Loving-kindness
• Informal meditation practice– Meaningful pauses
• Yoga / Stretching
Many Types of Meditation• Concentration
– Focused attention– Image (visualization)– Sound (mantra)– Open monitoring
• Analytic-linguistic-reasoning– Death meditation– Generating loving-kindness,
empathy, compassion
• Emptiness/Shunyata– Dissolving mistaken view of nature
of self
Definition of Mindfulness
“Paying attention
in a particular way,
on purpose,
in the present moment,
and non-judgmentally”
Kabat-Zinn, 1994, p. 4
AttentionAlerting re-orienting, executive control
Intention, motivation
Experiential approach
Attitude
Acceptance, Curiosity
In the Present
Process Model of Mindfulness Meditation
Follow Breath
Attention
Concentration
Focused
Open
Distraction
Attention
Ruminate / Worry
Mindless wandering
Fantasizing
Regain Attentional Focus
Attitude
Self-Judgment
Self-Criticism
Kindness
Curiosity
Intention
Stress / symptom reduction
Increase well-being
Self-exploration
Mechanisms of Mindfulness Training?
• Emotion Regulation
• Attention Regulation
• Self-Referential Processing
Regulatory Cortical System
Emotional ReactivityLimbic System
Neural Model of Emotion Regulation
+/-
Threat
Affective state
Fear, Anxiety
Regulatory
SystemsSelf
Language
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Levels of Brain Analyses
fMRI Brain Activation
Negative Self-Belief
Neural Firing Neural Circuit
Oxygenated hemoglobin
Amygdala
↑CBV, CBF, OxyHb, BOLD signal
People think
I am socially
incompetent
Tasks
• Emotion Regulation
of Negative Self-Beliefs
• Self-Referential Processing
of positive and negative social traits
Social Anxiety Disorder
Social Anxiety Disorder
• Lifetime prevalence: 12.1%
• 4th most common psychiatric condition
• Early onset– 80% before age 18 (Otto et al., 2001)– Usually precedes development of
depression, substance abuse, other anxiety disorders
– Highest high school dropout rate for all anxiety disorders
Autobiographical Social Situation
At a job I had about 6 years ago, I was supposed to introduce myself to a group of 5 or 6 new employees. The president of the company was speaking first, and then I was supposed to say a few words. My anxiety grew to such a heightened level right before I had to get up to speak, that I needed to leave the room and the building. I had to take a walk for about a half an hour before I even got up the courage to go back into the building to admit to my manager what I had done and how I had failed.
Client x
Negative Self-Beliefs
1. Something is wrong with me
2. I am inferior compared to others
3. People think I’m an idiot
4. I am going to blush and make a fool of myself
Contemplation
• Lean back
• Rest in your mind & body
• Source of suffering? Deep held distorted
self-belief
• What would freedom look like for you?
Study StructureBaseline Assessments
WellnessMBSR
Post-Assessments
CBT Waitlist
Follow-Up Assessments
Behavior Emotion
Cognition
Rate
Reactivity to
Negative
Self-Belief
12s
Implement
Regulation
Strategy
12s
Rate
3s60s
Emotion Regulation Task
Autobio
Social
Situation
Mindful Awareness
Attention Distraction
Cognitive Reappraisal
Meta-cognitive shift to observation
Count backwards from 168 by 1s
RateRate
3s
Re-interpret the meaning of the belief
Emotion Regulation Results
EmotionLimbic System
threat
Regulation
modulation
Improved Emotion RegulationPost-MBSR
-50
-45
-40
-35
-30
-25
-20
-15
-10
-5
0
** p<.01
****
**
% R
edu
ctio
n i
n N
egat
ive
Em
oti
on Cognitive
ReappraisalMindful Awareness
Attention Distraction
Clinical Symptom Results
Pre- to Post-Intervention Improvement
-40
-35
-30
-25
-20
-15
-10
-5
0
5
BFNE LSAS BDI
CBT MBSR Waitlist Wellness
* P<.05, ** P<.005, *** P<.001
***
** ****
***
* *
Pre
-to
-Po
st R
edu
ctio
n
Neural Results
Regulatory Cortical System
EmotionLimbic System
REACT Negative Self-Beliefs
• Wellness– No changes
• MBSR– Right DLPFC– Bilateral posterior Insula– Left Inferior Parietal Lobule
Cluster threshold:
Voxel p<.005 & vol>162 mm3
Cluster p<.01
RRR
REACT: AmygdalaB
OL
D %
Sig
na
l Ch
an
ge
Re
lati
ve
to N
eu
tral
1.5s 3s 6s4.5s 9s 12s7.5s 10.5s
Negative Self-Belief
0s
Emotion Rating
y=-4
L
35 SP Baseline
-0.8
-0.7
-0.6
-0.5
-0.4
-0.3
-0.2
-0.1
0.0
0.1
0.2
REACT: AmygdalaB
OL
D %
Sig
nal
Ch
ang
e R
elat
ive
to N
eutr
al
1.5s 3s 6s4.5s 9s 12s7.5s 10.5s
Negative Self-Belief
* p<.05
0s
Emotion Rating
y=-4
L
35 SP BASELINE 15 SP Post-WELLNESS
-0.8
-0.7
-0.6
-0.5
-0.4
-0.3
-0.2
-0.1
0.0
0.1
0.2
REACT: AmygdalaB
OL
D %
Sig
nal
Ch
ang
e R
elat
ive
to N
eutr
al
1.5s 3s 6s4.5s 9s 12s7.5s 10.5s
Negative Self-Belief
* p<.05
0s
Emotion Rating
y=-4
L
*
15 SP Post-MBSR
Neural Substrates of Attention
Alerting
Orienting
Executive Control
http://www.sacklerinstitute.org/~jinfan/
Michael Posner & Jin Fan
L
Z = 42 X= -2 Y = 27
R
MBSR Enhanced Attention Regulation
Post > Pre-MBSR during
Mindful Awareness vs. Attention Distraction
-1.6
-1.4
-1.2
-1.0
-0.8
-0.6
-0.4
-0.2
0.0
0.2
0.4
MINDFUL AWARENESSamygdalaB
OL
D %
Sig
nal
Ch
ang
e re
lati
ve t
o N
eutr
al
1.5s 3s 6s4.5s 9s 12s7.5s 10.5s
Negative Self-Belief
* p<.05
0s
Emotion Rating
y=-4
L
35 SP BASELINE 15 SP Post-WELLNESS
-1.6
-1.4
-1.2
-1.0
-0.8
-0.6
-0.4
-0.2
0.0
0.2
0.4
BO
LD
% S
ign
al C
han
ge
rela
tive
to
Neu
tral
1.5s 3s 6s4.5s 9s 12s7.5s 10.5s
Negative Self-Belief
* p<.05
0s
Emotion Rating
y=-4
L
*
15 SP Post-MBSR
MINDFUL AWARENESSamygdala
Summary of MBSR for Social Anxiety
Negative Self-Beliefs
Emotion Reactivity
Limbic System
Attention Regulation
Cognitive Regulation
Sensory/Visceral
Cognitive Reappraisal of Negative Self-Beliefs Post > Pre-CBT
Language
Self-regulation
Attention regulation
Contemplation
• SELF
Meta-Analysis of Self-Referential Processing
Cortical midline structures: ventromedial prefrontal, dorsomedial prefrontal, posterior cingulate/precuneus
Statistical analysis based on 27 PET and fMRI studies on self-related tasks published between 2000 and 2004; Northoff et al. 2006, NeuroImage
Forms of Self Processing• Analytic/Narrative Self
– Past-future oriented – Fixed self-concept– Rumination
• Experiential Self– Present moment focused– Continuously changing experience of self– Reduced problems with memory,
depression, and anxiety
Watkins & Teasdale, 2003; Farb et al 2008
loved terrific admired JOLLY BRAVE
3 s
*
UPPER case?
Describes ME?
POSITIVE valence?
1.5 s
3 s
15 s
19.5 s
REJECTED coward regretful AFRAID embarrassed
or
Self-Referential Processing Task
Self-Referential Processing
15 Healthy Controls 16 Social Phobics
Cluster threshold:
Voxel p<.001 & vol>162 mm3
Cluster p<.01
MBSR ModifiesSelf-Referential Endorsement
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Pre Post
Positive Negative
Time x Valence, F=5.60, p<.05, partial eta2 = .41
MBSR
% S
elf-
En
do
rsem
ent
Mindfulness Training and Self-ViewReduction in neural bases of analytic/narrative self
Linguistic processing
Self-referential processing
Cognitive appraisal
Summary of Mindfulness Training Effects
Threat
Emotion Reactivity
Limbic System
Attention Regulation
Cognitive Regulation
Self
Language
= Psychological
Flexibility
Regulatory Cortical System
EmotionLimbic System
Empathy/Compassion
Neuroscience is investigating:
- how we understand another person’s mind
- take their perspective and experience emotional resonance
- neural bases of training in empathy/compassion
"I feel the capacity to care is the thing which gives life its deepest significance." – Pablo Casals
Paul Ekman’s Model for Compassion
Emotion Recognition
Emotion Recognition
Emotion Resonance
Emotion Resonance
IdenticalIdentical ReactiveReactive
Familial Compassion
Familial Compassion
Heroic Compassion
Heroic Compassion
Sentient Compassion
Sentient Compassion
Global Compassion
Global Compassion
Motor Imitation in Infants
Meltzoff, AN, Moore MK. Imitation of facial and manual gestures by human neonates. Science, 1977;198.
Neural Bases of Understanding Others’ Pain
• Cognitive perspective taking - mental representation of other; social cognition
• Empathy - in responses to pain, disgust, taste, and touch - emotion, sensation
MPC, medial prefrontal cortex; ACC, anterior cingulate cortex; AI, anterior insula; SII, secondary somatosensory cortex; TP, temporal poles; STS, superior temporal sulcus; TPF, temporo-parietal junction.
Hein, Singer, Current Opinion in Neurobiology. 2008
Clinically Applied Affective Neuroscience Laboratory & Collaborators
Mentors
James Gross Gary Glover
Stanford University
UC San Diego
Murray Stein Greg Brown John McQuaid
Marsha Bates
Rutgers University
Brenna Bry
Funding
Thank you for your attention
Resources
• For social anxiety disorder
contact the CAAN lab:
– Call 650-723-5977
– Email: caan.cbt@gmail.com
– Visit: www-psych.stanford.edu/~caan
Meditation
• Spirit rock: http://www.spiritrock.org
– Check out: Sitting Groups Led by Spirit Rock
Teachers throughout the Bay Area
• SF Zen Center
– http://www.sfzc.org/
• SF Buddhist Center
– http://sfbuddhistcenter.org/
Study StructureBaseline Assessments
WellnessMBSR
Post-Assessments
CBT Waitlist
Follow-Up Assessments
Behavior Emotion
Cognition
Clinically Applied Affective NeurosciencePsychology Department
Stanford University650-723-5977
caan.cbt@gmail.comwww-psych.stanford.edu/~caan
YouTube talks:Neuroscience of Mindfulness Meditation
Neuroscience of Emotion
Study StructureBaselineAssessments
WellnessMBSR
Assessments
Home Practice
020406080
100120140160180200
Formal Body Scan Informal Yoga Total
020406080
100120140160180200
Group Individual Total
Min
ute
s p
er W
eek
Min
ute
s p
er W
eek
Mindfulness
Aerobic Exercise
Autobiographical Social Situations
* p<.05
Error bars = SD
*
1. How vividly can you re-imagine or re-experience that situation NOW?
2. How much humiliation, embarrassment or shame did you feel when you experienced this situation when it happened?
3. How much humiliation, embarrassment or shame do you feel NOW when you recall this situation?
4. How much do you actively avoid situations similar to this event?
Very Much
Not At All
1
2
3
4
5
React Observe
Negative Emotion Ratings forNegative Self-Beliefs
Neg
ati
ve E
moti
on
p2=.58
p2=.41
Mindful
p2 = partial eta2 effect size measure
35 SPBaseline
15 SPPost-MBSR
15 SPPost-WELLNESS
50
55
60
65
70
75
80
85
90
MBSR Wellness
LS
AS
Time1 Time2
Social Anxiety SymptomsLiebowitz Social Anxiety Scale Total
*** P<.001
***p
2 =.50
Pre Post
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
MBSR Wellness
BD
I
Time1 Time2
Depression SymptomsBeck Depression Inventory-II
* P<.05
*p
2=.31
Pre Post
If you are distressed by anything external [or internal],
the pain is not due to the thing itself,
but to your estimate of it;
and this you have the power to revoke at any moment.
Marcus Aurelius (Meditations)167 A.C.E.
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy
Self
Cognitions
EmotionsBehaviors
Regulatory Cortical System
Emotional ReactivityLimbic System
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