Robert J. Goodman

Dispositional mindfulness and the attenuation of neural responses to emotional stimuli

Considerable research has disclosed how cognitive reappraisals and the modulation of emotional responses promote successful emotion regulation. Less research has examined how the early processing of emotion-relevant stimuli may create divergent emotional response consequences. Mindfulness--a receptive, non-evaluative form of attention--is theorized to foster emotion regulation, and the present study examined whether individual differences in mindfulness would modulate neural responses associated with the early processing of affective stimuli. Focus was on the late positive potential (LPP) of the event-related brain potential to visual stimuli varying in emotional valence and arousal. This study first found, replicating past research, that high arousal images, particularly of an unpleasant type, elicited larger LPP responses. Second, the study found that more mindful individuals showed lower LPP responses to high arousal unpleasant images, even after controlling for trait attentional control. Conversely, two traits contrasting with mindfulness--neuroticism and negative affectivity--were associated with higher LPP responses to high arousal unpleasant images. Finally, mindfulness was also associated with lower LPP responses to motivationally salient pleasant images (erotica). These findings suggest that mindfulness modulates neural responses in an early phase of affective processing, and contribute to understanding how this quality of attention may promote healthy emotional functioning.

Enjoying food without caloric cost: The impact of brief mindfulness on laboratory eating outcomes.

OBJECTIVE Mindfulness-based interventions have been increasingly applied to treat eating-related problems ranging from obesity to eating disorders. Yet few studies have empirically examined the mechanisms of a mindful approach to eating. The current studies examine the potential of brief mindfulness instructions to enhance the psychological and behavioral dimensions of eating. METHODS In three experiments (total N = 319 undergraduates), we examined whether brief mindfulness instructions would enhance the positive sensory experience involved in tasting food as well as healthy eating behaviors. RESULTS Relative to distraction control instructions, the first two studies demonstrated that brief mindfulness instructions increased the enjoyment of a commonly pleasurable food (chocolate; Study 1), and a food with generally more mixed associations (raisins; Study 2). The third study replicated and extended these findings to show that brief mindfulness instructions also led to lower calorie consumption of unhealthy food relative to distracted or no-instruction control conditions, an effect mediated by greater eating enjoyment. CONCLUSIONS Findings demonstrated the power of brief mindfulness instructions to positively impact both health-relevant behavior and sensory experience associated with eating food. Implications for both theory and clinical applications of mindfulness are discussed.

An Observational Study of Group Waterpipe Use in a Natural Environment

INTRODUCTION To date research on tobacco smoking with a waterpipe (hookah, narghile, and shisha) has focused primarily on the individual user in a laboratory setting. Yet, waterpipe tobacco smoking is often a social practice that occurs in cafés, homes, and other natural settings. This observational study examined the behavior of waterpipe tobacco smokers and the social and contextual features of waterpipe use among groups in their natural environment. METHODS Trained observers visited urban waterpipe cafés on multiple occasions during an 8-month period. Observations of 241 individual users in naturally formed groups were made on smoking topography (puff frequency, duration, and interpuff interval [IPI]) and engagement in other activities (e.g., food and drink consumption, other tobacco use, and media viewing). RESULTS Most users were male in group sizes of 3-4 persons, on average, and each table had 1 waterpipe, on average. The predominant social features during observational periods were conversation and nonalcoholic drinking. Greater puff number was associated with smaller group sizes and more waterpipes per group, while longer IPIs were associated with larger group sizes and fewer waterpipes per group. Additionally, greater puff frequency was observed during media viewing and in the absence of other tobacco use. CONCLUSIONS Overall, the results suggest that waterpipe smoking behavior is affected by group size and by certain social activities. Discussion focuses on how these findings enhance our understanding of factors that may influence exposure to waterpipe tobacco smoke toxicants in naturalistic environments.

Mindfulness Enhances Episodic Memory Performance: Evidence from a Multimethod Investigation.

Training in mindfulness, classically described as a receptive attentiveness to present events and experiences, has been shown to improve attention and working memory. Both are key to long-term memory formation, and the present three-study series used multiple methods to examine whether mindfulness would enhance episodic memory, a key form of long-term memory. In Study 1 (N = 143), a self-reported state of mindful attention predicted better recognition performance in the Remember-Know (R-K) paradigm. In Study 2 (N = 93), very brief training in a focused attention form of mindfulness also produced better recognition memory performance on the R-K task relative to a randomized, well-matched active control condition. Study 3 (N = 57) extended these findings by showing that relative to randomized active and inactive control conditions the effect of very brief mindfulness training generalized to free-recall memory performance. This study also found evidence for mediation of the mindfulness training—episodic memory relation by intrinsic motivation. These findings indicate that mindful attention can beneficially impact motivation and episodic memory, with potential implications for educational and occupational performance.

From mindful attention to social connection: The key role of emotion regulation

Effective emotion regulation is important for high-quality social functioning. Recent laboratory-based evidence suggests that mindfulness may enhance emotion regulation in socioemotional contexts; however, little is known about mindful emotion regulation during in vivo social interactions. In a study of romantic couples, we assessed each partners mindfulness and top-down attentional efficiency (with an Emotional Go/No-Go task) prior to sampling emotions and perceived connection with others during day-to-day social interactions. Analyses revealed that mindfulness-related differences in top-down attentional efficiency on the Emotional Go/No-Go predicted positive emotion during daily social interactions. In turn, positive emotion and two additional indices of social emotion regulation each mediated the relation between actor mindfulness and perceived social connection. In corresponding analyses, neither trait reappraisal nor suppression use predicted the outcomes, and all mindfulness relations held controlling for these strategies. Findings support a framework for investigating mindfulness and higher-quality social functioning, for which mindful emotion regulation may be key.

Mindfulness increases prosocial responses toward ostracized strangers through empathic concern.

Four studies tested the proposition that mindfulness and its training fostered prosociality toward ostracized strangers. In discovery Study 1, dispositional mindfulness predicted greater empathic concern for, and more helping behavior toward, an ostracized stranger. Using an experimental design, Study 2 revealed that very briefly instructed mindfulness, relative to active control instructions, also promoted prosocial responsiveness to an ostracized stranger. Study 3 ruled out alternative explanations for this effect of mindfulness, showing that it did not promote empathic anger or perpetrator punishment, nor that the control training reduced prosocial responsiveness toward an ostracized stranger rather than mindfulness increasing it. Study 4 further ruled out the alternative explanation of relaxation in the experimental effects of mindfulness. In all studies, empathic concern mediated the relation between mindfulness and one or both of the helping behavior outcomes. Meta-analyses of the four studies revealed stable, medium sized effects of mindfulness instruction on prosocial emotions and prosocial behavior. Together these findings inform about circumstances in which mindfulness may increase prosocial responsiveness, and deepen our understanding of the motivational bases of prosociality.

Burning Issues in Dispositional Mindfulness Research

The recent development of dispositional mindfulness measures has sparked several contentious issues regarding our understanding of mindfulness, its measurement, and its development. In this chapter, we consider theory and review empirical research to address four burning issues in dispositional mindfulness research. We review both scholarly and empirical research bearing on the meaning of mindfulness, and discuss distinctions between mindfulness and other attention constructs. We review the validity of dispositional mindfulness measures and highlight their convergence with mindfulness inductions and interventions on key outcomes of interest, namely psychological well-being and emotion regulation. We also attempt to show how the widespread deployment of psychometric instruments to measure individual differences in mindfulness has contributed to understanding how mindfulness itself—apart from the methods designed to enhance it—is related to adaptive emotion-relevant outcomes at neural, psychophysiological, and psychological levels of analysis. Finally, we discuss how qualities of mindful attention may develop through developmental and contextual influences, in addition to formal training. Investigating mindfulness as an individual difference has contributed to a developing theory of mindfulness, and has opened the field to topics of inquiry not easily permissible by other means.

Sometimes I Get So Mad I Could …: The Neuroscience of Cruelty

Abstract The following chapter gives an overview of the cruel acts that humans commit. Though extreme forms of cruelty such as murder and pedophilia are touched on, the bulk of this chapter is devoted to everyday cruelty. In the chapter, cruelty is viewed on a spectrum, illustrating how everyone is capable of being cruel. This spectrum begins with empathy and extends to cruel acts enabled by a lack of empathy. To begin, the chapter covers beliefs and attitudes that can lead to cruelty, such as dehumanization, otherization, intergroup bias, and morality. From there, everyday acts of cruelty are discussed in detail, regarding both the circumstances under which such acts arise and particularly the underlying patterns of brain activity and structure involved. For example, emotions such as anger and jealousy are described as driving forces that lead to aggression and violence, and their neural correlates are described. Lastly, pathological disorders that can result in cruelty are discussed, including antisocial personality disorder, conduct disorder, and psychopathy. The amygdala (AMG), prefrontal cortex, and orbitofrontal cortex are highlighted as the most commonly noted neural structures related to cruelty.

Compassion Training from an Early Buddhist Perspective: The Neurological Concomitants of the Brahmavihāras

Abstract Compassion has been directly trained for over 2500 years alongside loving-kindness, sympathetic joy, and equanimity, which together represent the four brahmavihāras, also known as the divine or immeasurable abodes. The present chapter describes the four brahmavihāras as they are conceptualized in Early Buddhist canonical literature. We explore how the overlapping theoretical components of the brahmavihāras may shed light on conceptual/psychological similarities and differences among them. Next, the brahmavihāras are compared and contrasted with other foundational contemplative practices, such as sustained attention and open monitoring. Following this conceptual exploration of contemplative practices, we explore the extant neuroscience literature on sustained attention and open monitoring to shed light on how these foundational practices influence a variety of neural markers, such as attention, emotion, and self-referential processing. Finally, we review the emerging neuroscience literature that examines how deliberate training of the brahmavihāras may influence the brain. Weaving together Early Buddhist scholarship with modern neuroscience, changes in neural activity that result from the deliberate cultivation of loving-kindness and compassion are identified and differentiated from their contemplative cousins.