Differential effects of non-dual and focused attention meditations on the formation of automatic perceptual habits in expert practitioners
Neuropsychologia July 21, 2018 Enrico Fucci, Oussama Abdoun, Anne Caclin et al. 58 citations
Non-dual meditation, which aims to reduce maladaptive patterns by recognizing their transient nature, can downregulate automatic perceptual habits. EEG recordings from expert Buddhist practitioners and novices during Open Presence (OP) and Focused Attention (FA) meditation, plus a control state, showed increased gamma oscillatory power during both meditation states in experts. An interaction between states and groups emerged in the Mismatch Negativity (MMN) amplitude, with the MMN increasing during FA compared to OP in experts, while the opposite pattern occurred at the Late Frontal Negativity (LFN) latency. This suggests OP involves increased sensory monitoring and reduced perceptual inferences relative to FA.