Does Meditation Alter Brain Responses to Negative Stimuli? A Systematic Review.

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psychology
• Cognitive Science

Background:

• The neural mechanisms underlying meditation's impact on emotion regulation are not fully understood.
• Clarifying shared neural pathways between meditation and emotion regulation strategies is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how meditation influences neural processing of negative emotional stimuli.
• To compare effects in naive meditators and long-term practitioners.

Main Methods:

• Systematic review of neuroimaging studies.
• Searches conducted in PsycInfo, PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science.
• Inclusion of studies on emotion, meditation, and neuroimaging.

Main Results:

• Eleven studies were included from 882 initial papers.
• Increased prefrontal/frontal activity observed in meditators, suggesting enhanced cognitive/attentional control.
• Potential increase in insular activity, indicating heightened bodily awareness.

Conclusions:

• Meditation activates regulatory mechanisms when encountering aversive stimuli, even without explicit instruction.
• Increased insular activity supports the link between meditation, interoception, and emotional awareness.