Open Monitoring

Question 1

How is Stage 2 conceptualised?

Answer 1

We now focus on the subject not the object, paying attention to what comes up and accepting them.
Buddhist -Samatha without an object

Secular- Open monitoring

MBSR/MBCT- mindfulness feeling and thoughts

Question 2

What did Farb and colleagues look at?

Answer 2

Neural correlates of dis-identification of self referencing after MBSR intervention

Participants were divided into Narrative and Experiential groups and waitlist when presented with personality adjectives.

Question 3

What are the two “selfs’ that Farb refers to?

Answer 3

Narrative self- discursive thinking, self over time

Experiential Self: In the moment

Question 4

What did Farb find?

Answer 4

When 8 week MBSR narrative self is active we see DMN activated.

When Experiential self is activated we see lateral parts of brain- DLPFC (working memory) and inferior parietal lobe -1st to 3rd person and Insult

Question 5

What did Taylor et al look at in regards to Mindfulness and DMN?

Answer 5

They looked at beginner meditators and experienced meditators.

Question 6

What did Taylor find to be the difference between experienced and novice meditators?

Answer 6

Experienced meditators showed:

weaker self referencing (vmPFC and dmPFC) and emotional apprasial (vmPFC and parahippocampus)

Stronger perspective taking (dmpfc and IPL)

Question 7

Where else do we find reduced DMN connection?

Answer 7

Healthy ageing populations,

Healthy individuals that have high amyloid burden

Those with Alzheimers disease-sense of self and autobiographic memory

Question 8

Is the goal to deactivate the DMN?

Answer 8

No, we are instead just attenuating when we use it to allow us to save cognitive energy and avoid suffering?

Question 9

What should future research of the stage 2 focus on?

Answer 9

Is should focus on the variability and interplay of both the meditators experience and the neural networks