"Thinking about not-thinking": neural correlates of conceptual processing during Zen meditation.
Recent neuroimaging studies have identified a set of brain regions that are metabolically active during wakeful rest and consistently deactivate in a variety the performance of demanding tasks. This "default network" has been functionally linked to the stream of thoughts occurring automati...
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| Language: | English |
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Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2008-09-01
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| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0003083&type=printable |
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| author | Giuseppe Pagnoni Milos Cekic Ying Guo |
| author_facet | Giuseppe Pagnoni Milos Cekic Ying Guo |
| author_sort | Giuseppe Pagnoni |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Recent neuroimaging studies have identified a set of brain regions that are metabolically active during wakeful rest and consistently deactivate in a variety the performance of demanding tasks. This "default network" has been functionally linked to the stream of thoughts occurring automatically in the absence of goal-directed activity and which constitutes an aspect of mental behavior specifically addressed by many meditative practices. Zen meditation, in particular, is traditionally associated with a mental state of full awareness but reduced conceptual content, to be attained via a disciplined regulation of attention and bodily posture. Using fMRI and a simplified meditative condition interspersed with a lexical decision task, we investigated the neural correlates of conceptual processing during meditation in regular Zen practitioners and matched control subjects. While behavioral performance did not differ between groups, Zen practitioners displayed a reduced duration of the neural response linked to conceptual processing in regions of the default network, suggesting that meditative training may foster the ability to control the automatic cascade of semantic associations triggered by a stimulus and, by extension, to voluntarily regulate the flow of spontaneous mentation. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-69707e41fb7f4a2d86fe2d7c2503405c |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2008-09-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj-art-69707e41fb7f4a2d86fe2d7c2503405c2025-08-20T02:17:28ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032008-09-0139e308310.1371/journal.pone.0003083"Thinking about not-thinking": neural correlates of conceptual processing during Zen meditation.Giuseppe PagnoniMilos CekicYing GuoRecent neuroimaging studies have identified a set of brain regions that are metabolically active during wakeful rest and consistently deactivate in a variety the performance of demanding tasks. This "default network" has been functionally linked to the stream of thoughts occurring automatically in the absence of goal-directed activity and which constitutes an aspect of mental behavior specifically addressed by many meditative practices. Zen meditation, in particular, is traditionally associated with a mental state of full awareness but reduced conceptual content, to be attained via a disciplined regulation of attention and bodily posture. Using fMRI and a simplified meditative condition interspersed with a lexical decision task, we investigated the neural correlates of conceptual processing during meditation in regular Zen practitioners and matched control subjects. While behavioral performance did not differ between groups, Zen practitioners displayed a reduced duration of the neural response linked to conceptual processing in regions of the default network, suggesting that meditative training may foster the ability to control the automatic cascade of semantic associations triggered by a stimulus and, by extension, to voluntarily regulate the flow of spontaneous mentation.https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0003083&type=printable |
| spellingShingle | Giuseppe Pagnoni Milos Cekic Ying Guo "Thinking about not-thinking": neural correlates of conceptual processing during Zen meditation. PLoS ONE |
| title | "Thinking about not-thinking": neural correlates of conceptual processing during Zen meditation. |
| title_full | "Thinking about not-thinking": neural correlates of conceptual processing during Zen meditation. |
| title_fullStr | "Thinking about not-thinking": neural correlates of conceptual processing during Zen meditation. |
| title_full_unstemmed | "Thinking about not-thinking": neural correlates of conceptual processing during Zen meditation. |
| title_short | "Thinking about not-thinking": neural correlates of conceptual processing during Zen meditation. |
| title_sort | thinking about not thinking neural correlates of conceptual processing during zen meditation |
| url | https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0003083&type=printable |
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