Abstract
How profoundly can humans change their own minds? In this paper we offer a unifying account of deconstructive meditation under the predictive processing view. We start from simple axioms. First, the brain makes predictions based on past experience, both phylogenetic and ontogenetic. Second, deconstructive meditation brings one closer to the here and now by disengaging anticipatory processes. We propose that practicing meditation therefore gradually reduces counterfactual temporally deep cognition, until all conceptual processing falls away, unveiling a state of pure awareness. Our account also places three main styles of meditation (focused attention, open monitoring, and non-dual) on a single continuum, where each technique relinquishes increasingly engrained habits of prediction, including the predicted self. This deconstruction can also permit certain insights by making the above processes available to introspection. Our framework is consistent with the state of empirical and (neuro)phenomenological evidence and illuminates the top-down plasticity of the predictive mind. Experimental rigor, neurophenomenology, and no-report paradigms are needed to further understanding of how meditation affects predictive processing and the self.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 199-217 |
| Number of pages | 19 |
| Journal | Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews |
| Volume | 128 |
| Early online date | 14 Jun 2021 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Sept 2021 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This work was supported by an ERC starting grant ( 679399 ) to H.A.S. We would like to thank several colleagues and meditation teachers who provided insightful comments on our paper, including Henk Barendregt, Gregg Howard, Adam Bulley, Michiel van Elk, Aidan Lyon, and Yair Pinto. We also thank a colleague who wishes to remain anonymous for contributing to the ideas presented in this paper, but who is of the opinion that their ideas are misrepresented in the paper. Finally, we would like to thank Thomas Metzinger for valuable discussions on the topics addressed here.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021
Copyright:
Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
Funding
This work was supported by an ERC starting grant ( 679399 ) to H.A.S. We would like to thank several colleagues and meditation teachers who provided insightful comments on our paper, including Henk Barendregt, Gregg Howard, Adam Bulley, Michiel van Elk, Aidan Lyon, and Yair Pinto. We also thank a colleague who wishes to remain anonymous for contributing to the ideas presented in this paper, but who is of the opinion that their ideas are misrepresented in the paper. Finally, we would like to thank Thomas Metzinger for valuable discussions on the topics addressed here.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| Horizon 2020 Framework Programme | 679399 |
| European Research Council |
Keywords
- Attention
- Brain
- Consciousness
- Insight
- Meditation
- Non-dual awareness
- Plasticity
- Predictive brain
- Predictive processing
- Sense of self