the self etsi: year 5
DESCRIPTION
Lecture Goals Define “self” and understand its value Discuss self-concepts structure: what makes up a concept dynamic: concepts are not fixed entities function: how are concepts useful? Examine brain networks and different neural theories of self processing Today we’ll be talking about the “self” from the perspective of western science. We’ll first go over different ways of defining self and examine the value of this conceptual system. Then we’ll address the many forms and functions of self-concepts. Finally, we’ll look at neural correlates of the self, and discuss different approaches to this question within neuroscience. The self is a very complicated topic that bridges psychology, neuroscience and philosophy. We are also aware that Buddhism has particular views this topic. As we go through the lecture, we’d love to hear your thoughts about the intersection between these western science views on self and Buddhist ideas. Are there places where the approaches agree or contradict one another?TRANSCRIPT
The Self ETSI: Year 5 Lecture Goals Define self and understand
its value
Discuss self-concepts structure: what makes up a concept dynamic:
concepts are not fixed entities function: how are concepts useful?
Examine brain networks and different neuraltheories of self
processing Today well be talking about the self from the
perspective of western science.Well first go over different ways of
defining self and examine the value of this conceptual system.Then
well address the many forms and functions of self-concepts.Finally,
well look at neural correlates of the self, and discuss different
approaches to this question within neuroscience. The self is a very
complicated topic that bridges psychology, neuroscience and
philosophy.We are also aware that Buddhism has particular views
this topic.As we go through the lecture, wed love to hear your
thoughts about the intersection between these western science views
on self and Buddhist ideas.Are there places where the approaches
agree or contradict one another? What is self? Three Levels:
Proto-self: most basic sense distinguishing self from other, even
simple organisms have this moment to moment representation of the
bodily state Antonio Damasio Core self: simple, transient sense of
self in the here and now, recreated in each moment Autobiographical
self: timeline of your own history extended over time (involves
memory) Self is a complicated construct and there are many ways of
thinking about it.Antonio Damasio, one of the premier scholars in
this area, has proposed three levels of self.What he calls the
proto-self is the most basic level, whereby an organism can
distinguish self from other.In humans, this would be the
moment-to-moment representation of the bodily state, without any
higher cognitive processing.The next level is known as the core
self, which is more complex than just the bodily state, but is
still transient and recreated in each moment.This involves the
relationship between the proto-self and any object, which can
modify the proto-self or be modified by it.Finally, the third level
is called autobiographical self, which is what we often think of as
our self the person you are, complete with a history extended over
time.As you might imagine, memory processes are central for this
kind of self, because you must remember and integrate your
experiences into some cohesive whole. Self vs. Other what are some
benefits of an organism
Why might these processes of self have evolved?Consider the most
basic function differentiating self and other.Can you think of some
benefits of being able to distinguish yourself from others in the
environment?[DO NOT TRANSLATE: e.g. to get around in the world,
control movement, survival must take care of this entity]. This
basic function is central for survival, and occurs even in
bacteria!It also is present in humans, from a cellular level (e.g.
our immune system recognizes self and other) all the way up to the
cognitive level where you know that you are different from the
person sitting next to you.You can imagine why this function would
be evolutionarily conserved. what are some benefits of an organism
being able to distinguish self from other? Autobiographical
Self
Over time, we develop self-conceptsbased on our cumulative
experience These are particularly developed and important in
socialorganisms Self-concepts are central for regulating ones own
behavior goal setting cognitive preparation for action planning,
rehearsal, strategy monitoring evaluating In this lecture, we will
be focusing on the more high-level, cognitive process of self.As we
grow, develop and accumulate experiences, we develop a self that is
based on memories of these events and interactions.This is the self
that is bound up in the story of our lives, as we remember it.This
self, called the autobiographical self, is very complex and is
based on many self-concepts.Like any other concept, self-concepts
are multimodal, dynamic representations in our brains.The function
of self-concepts is thought to be primarily to guide and regulate
behavior a pretty important function! What are some concepts you
have about yourself?
Self-concepts What are some concepts you have about yourself? [DO
NOT TRANSLATE: have monks list some self-concepts (ie, devout,
learned, compassionate, etc?), write on the board - try to break
out into structure on next slide some traits, some memories, some
values, etc] Self-concepts are multi-faceted
contain ideas about: traits values feelings memories social roles
many different types: positive or negative current experience vs.
past or future actual self vs. ideal self vs. other possible selves
(feared, ought) central (well developed, important, relatively
stable) or peripheral As we just saw, we can have many different
self-concepts.They exist in many dimensions, covering traits (e.g.,
tall, healthy, compassionate, etc), to values (what you believe),
to feelings, memories and roles in society.Self-concepts also can
be classified into different types.For example, they can be
positive or negative, and they can involve the past, present or
future.In addition, they can relate to your actual self (how you
think you are right now), the ideal self (how youd like to be), or
other selves like the ought self (how you imagine others think you
should be) or the feared self (how you worry you might become
if).Finally, some self-concepts seem to be more central than
others, and are more stable over time, while others are more
transient and peripheral they may change easily with
circumstances.[ask for examples] Markus & Wurf (1987)
Self-concepts are dynamic
Interestingly, the concept of the self was once viewed by
researchers as unitary, stable concept.You can see how this might
have been the case, because when we think of ourselves, we
generally have a fairly stable idea of a being that in some way
stays the same over time.As youre probably beginning to see,
however, self-concepts are quite dynamic and changeable, and
researchers now realize that nothing about the self is fixed: it
represents a continually active and shifting array of knowledge and
ways of relating to the world. What do you think about how this
overlaps with Buddhist ideas about impermanence? While we may think
of our self-concept as unitary or fixed, these concepts are NOT
stable or static, but ever-changing Self-concepts are dynamic
Highly dependent on context and surroundings Many factors can cause
our self-concepts to shift.One of the most significant factors that
influences our self-concepts is the surrounding context.As it turns
out, what we value or focus on, or even the way we behave, depends
strongly on our environment.This is particularly relevant in social
settings.For example, a woman in a room full of men only might
become very aware and focused on her gender, whereas this would not
factor into her self-concepts very much in a setting with equal
numbers of men and women.Likewise, for a tall person surrounded by
shorter people, height may become very relevant. Our self-concepts
also change with experience.For example, a young child doing well
in school may come to believe that s/he is smart in a general sense
(good at all subjects).However, with time and experience, s/he may
modify their self-concept to reflect that they are smart in some
subjects (e.g., math) but not necessarily others (e.g., languages).
in this situation, gender will be salient in this situation, height
will be salient The dynamic self-concept
ENVIRONMENT PERSON Internal processes Self-Concept self-schemas
values strategies possible selves Behavior Instead of a unitary
self-concept, we can refer to the working self-concept, which is
the self-concept that is accessible at any given time, constructed
largely from social context and experience, as we just
discussed.The working self-concept influences, and is influenced
by, factors within oneself (internal processes), and between
oneself and others (social behavior).It draws from the larger pool
of traits, beliefs, memories, etc, that have accumulated over time,
based on what is relevant to the current situation.Thus, the entire
environment affects our working self-concept. Working Self adapted
from Markus & Wurf (1987) What is the function of
self-concepts?
Internal Processes: information processing affect regulation
motivation of behavior Behavior: social perception, evaluating
others choice of situation and partners interaction strategies(the
image we present to others) reacting to feedback Earlier, we said
that the main function of self-concepts was to regulate behavior.As
we just saw in the previous slide, this can apply to internal
processes, or to behavior in your environment.Within yourself,
self-concepts affect information processing.For example, we are
faster to process stimuli that are congruent with our
self-concepts, or are generally self-relevant.Self-concepts can
also act to regulate emotional states and motivate our behavior
towards goals we deem important. In the context of interacting with
others, self-concepts play many roles.They are involved in how we
perceive and evaluate others (which is usually based on
self-relevant dimensions).For example, if you think you are very
intelligent, or funny, or kind, and you value that in yourself, you
will likely judge others on whether or not they have those same
qualities.Another domain where self-concepts are very important is
in interacting with others.If you have a facebook profile, you can
examine it as an excellent example of how we filter and select the
image of ourselves we present to others.Furthermore, we usually
have somewhat different identities depending on those around us
friends, family, revered teachers, etc. The danger of
self-concepts
Think of a self-concept you have that you value highly, or feel is
very important or central to you being you Now, imagine that you
are in a scenario in which you act completely opposite from this
self-concept (or someone tells you they think you are not that way)
Weve looked at several ways that self-concepts can be beneficial,
even essential for survival.However, self-concepts can also have
detrimental effects.To illustrate this, lets do a brief
exercise.First, think of a self-concept you hold that is very
important to you a central self-concept that doesnt vary too much
across circumstances, and that you value highly. [e.g. smart,
compassionate] Now, how would you feel if you found yourself in a
situation where this concept was challenged for example, you acted
in the opposite way, or someone told you they thought you were the
opposite?[example: smart stupid; compassionate self-serving] The
usual response in this situation is stress!In fact, many theorists
now propose that a central component of what makes something
stressful is that it represents some threat to our self.This could
be a physical threat to our bodies (material self), but is also
often a more subtle psychological threat to who we think we are.
This kind of mental stress can come from holding too tightly to
fixed views of self (remember, self is dynamic).Again, here we see
some interesting overlap with Buddhist views, in that believing
(erroneously) in a solid, stable self leads to suffering. STRESS!
In fact, threat to self is a central element in stress this occurs
when any of your goals, values, or core beliefs about yourself are
challenged. Neural Correlates of Self
So now that we know a little bit about the self and self-concepts,
how are these represented in the brain?This is an exciting field of
research that is growing rapidly today.Because of this, we dont yet
know for sure how the brain represents self.However, there are many
current ideas about self in the brain well examine some of them
here. Meta-Analysis of Self vs. Other fMRI
One of the ways to approach this question is to look at the results
of brain imaging experiments that use paradigms contrasting self
and other processing.For example, many studies asked people in the
scanner to judge how well various words or images described either
themselves or some other person.They could then contrast the
average brain activity in self conditions vs. other conditions.The
results of a meta-analysis (remember, that is when the results of
many separate studies are analyzed together) of many of these kinds
of studies are shown here.As you can see, these data indicate that
midline cortical regions of the brain seem to be preferentially
activated for self processing, over and above other processing.
[Note: the yellow symbol means union, representing the overlap, or
conjunction, of the two datasets.This actually foreshadows the
point on slide 21 if someone asks what it is, you can explain and
say well come back to this in a few slides.] Northoff et al,
NeuroImage 2006 Many studies show cortical midline regions
preferentially activated when processing information related to
SELF vs. OTHER What functions might midline cortical regions serve
in relation to self?
3 4 2 Much is already known about these cortical midline regions of
the brain (specifically, the medial prefrontal cortex (PFC) and the
cingulate cortex), and what cognitive operations they might be
serving.Imagine you are asked to view the word honest and judge how
much it applies to you.First (1) you will have to represent the
trait honest in your brain.It has been proposed that this
sub-process might be performed by the ventromedial PFC (red).Then
(2) you will have to evaluate, or judge, how that trait applies to
you this sub-process of evaluation is thought to be performed by
the dorsomedial PFC (yellow).All this time, you will be internally
monitoring your own actions (anterior cingulate, blue (3)) and
integrating the stimulus word with your pre-existing self-concepts
(posterior cingulate, green (4)).Remember, this is just a theory of
how this might work in the brain, but it is interesting to consider
in light of the data we just saw. 1 VMPFC: Northoff and Bermpohl,
TICS 2004 Default Mode Network Meta-analysis of brain regions more
active at rest than during task posterior cingulate cortex medial
prefrontal cortex You may remember learning about these cortical
midline regions last year.These regions are major hubs in the
default mode network, which is the set of brain regions that are
preferentially active during REST periods, when people are not
actively engaged in any other task. LATERAL SURFACE MEDIAL SURFACE
Buckner et al, Ann NY Acad Sci, 2008 Definition: a specific,
anatomically defined brain system preferentially active when
individuals are left to think to themselves undisturbed Mind
wandering: what do we think about? almost always about SELF!
Cognitive operations: moving in time remembering imagining (without
doing) planning, incorporating memories When were not doing
anything else, we usually engage in mind wandering.What kind of
cognitive functions are associated with mind wandering?It is
usually not about the present moment in other words, we tend to
move in time.We remember things from the past, imagine things in
the future, make plans, etc.As you might imagine, activity within
the default mode network has been associated with mind wandering
processes. Interestingly, if you reflect on the content of
mind-wandering it is almost always about your SELF!Thus, its
interesting that these same brain regions along the midline (and
also other default mode regions, in fact) are thought to be
involved in self-related processing. almost always about SELF!
Neural Correlates of Self
For the above reasons, many neuroscientists relate the default mode
network, or regions within in (particularly mPFC), to self
processing. However, other theorists propose different ideas
neuroscientists are just beginning to distinguish between various
definitions of self. Self-as-object vs. Self-as-subject
me versus I me = self-concept, the object I = the observer,
subjective sense example: looking at image in mirror perceived me
is self-as-object perceiving I is self-as-subject This view argues
that default modeprocessing (mPFC especially) viewsself as object
only. Now we come to a point where we need to discuss some
philosophical ideas.There are two ways in which we can talk about
self one is as an object and the other is as a subject. To get an
idea of the difference, imagine you are looking at your own image
in a mirror.The image you perceive is your self-as-object.This
contains all your self-concepts and ideas about yourself that weve
been discussing so far.However, there is also the you that is
looking into the mirror.This is the self in the subjective sense
the perceiver.This self-as-subject represents the basic feeling
that I am, and also more specifically, I am the one perceiving the
image in the mirror.This distinction is related to Damasios
difference between the core self (self-as-subject) and
autobiographical self (self-as-object). Legrand & Ruby (2009)
Self: a re-conceptualization
default mode regions as a non self-specific evaluationnetwork,
relating to both self and other processing Several years ago,
another group of researchers headed by Dorothe Legrand brought up
two problems with the previous model.First, they performed a more
extensive meta-analysis than the previous group, and found that
many of the regions that some studies found more active in self
> other contrasts (white dots above) were shown by other studies
to be more active in other > self contrasts (blue dots above)!To
resolve this somewhat confusing finding, they proposed that the DMN
may be a general evaluation network that undertakes inferential
processing using information recalled from memory.Basically, this
means that whenever youre evaluating stimuli (regardless of self or
other), you utilize this brain network.In both cases, the content
is similar (your name vs. anothers name, your traits vs. anothers
traits, etc.). Second and perhaps more importantly, Legrand and
Ruby pointed out that all the studies that relate the midline
regions (or default mode regions) to the self are viewing the self
as an object. Do you see the difference?The studies used in the
previous work all asked the person to reflect on themselves, as an
subject without addressing the subjective sense of I that is
ever-present in our experience.(Note here, this is an example of
applying latent constructs in science the construct of
self-as-object and self-as-subject.) self > other (white dots)
other > self (blue dots) Legrand & Ruby (2009) What IS
self-specific? Christoff et al (2011) So if the default mode
network is not specific to the self, but rather can process
information relevant to both self and other, is there anything in
the brain that IS self-specific?It seems that the contents of the
self-as-object are not necessarily specific to the self (traits,
values, etc) because they can be applied to others as well.So what
determines the self-as-subject? What processes might underlie the
subjective sense of I? As illustrated in this slide, Legrand and
Ruby ("What Is Self-Specific? Theoretical Investigation and
Critical Review of Neuroimaging Results, Psychological Review,
2009) propose that the first person perspective is what accounts
for the sense that you are the one perceiving.The relationship
between what you see (object) and you seeing it (subject) is what
determines your perspective.No-one else can have the exact
perspective that you do when you are interacting with the world.How
might this be rooted in the brain (and body)? contents are not
self-specific - even feeling of ones body perspective is
self-specific This perspective involves acting, andknowing you are
acting: reafference Self as Perceptual-motor Grounding
Sensorimotor integration Efference copy Motor command from motor
cortex Effector (e.g., muscles) Sensory Consequence SELF EXTERNAL
WORLD Reafference Self-specific perspective, at the most basic
level, is a sensorimotor loop implemented by integrating efferent
and reafferent information.Efferent information is sent from your
brain out to the body.For example, an efferent signal would be sent
to your muscles to create movement, to say, bite a lemon.An
efferent copy is an internal copy created with a motor command and
kept in the brain (to estimate sensory feedback).Reafference
corresponds to afferent signals coming back from the body into the
brain, issuing from the perceiving subjects own action. So, there
is no such thing as a non-self-related reafferent! The efferent
copy and the reafference are sent to the same area of the brain and
compared.Relating an efferent signal with its reafference plays a
crucial role in monitoring performance, by comparing output
(represented in reafference) with the command (represented in the
efferent copy). It also enables the perceptual act to be
characterized not only by a given content (the acidity of a lemon)
but also by a self-specific perspective (I am the one experiencing
the acidity of the lemon juice). Legrand & Ruby (2009) Anterior
Insula: another view on I
feeling of knowing inspection time Studies in many domains find
activation in anterior insula Hypothesis: awareness is common
process underlying all activations Awareness = knowing that one
exists; the feeling that I am Inner feelings that underlie ones
representation of self are only accessible from ones own brain
sensual touch painful temperature Another view on the
self-as-subject involves the anterior insula, which weve learned
about before.The insula has been implicated in a wide range of
functions, including interoception (internal signals about the
state of the body), pleasure and reward, self-recognition,
anticipation, feelings of time passing, monitoring performance, and
awareness of emotion (empathy).In general, a cognitive operation
that is common to all these experiences is present-moment awareness
the awareness that something is happening RIGHT NOW.This awareness
is a central feature in the feeling that you exist, or knowing I
am.For this reason, some researchers hypothesize that the anterior
insula is an important brain area for awareness, consciousness, or
the subjective sense of self. respiration & exercise itch Craig
(2009) Is there a a neural substrate of self?
Ideas about self in the brain abound Some presume self can involve
any set of brain regionsrepresenting experience and memory Self may
emerge from multiple streams of processing Elements of all these
theories may be correct There is likely no single neural substrate
of self This topic is still very much in debate, and is
closelyrelated to the study of consciousness As you can see, there
are many ideas about how self is represented in the brain.Aside
from the theories weve just seen, other researchers propose that
self can exist wherever experience and memory exists in the brain
(which is distributed widely).It is important to remember that
elements of all of these proposals might be correct, and there is
likely no single neural substrate of self in the brain.This is a
good example of the multiple different ways of knowing that science
embraces.This field will surely continue to develop, and
increasingly, neuroscientists are working with philosophers and
other cognitive scientists (and Buddhists!) to gain a better
understanding of this complex topic. Summary Self is an important
construct for survival, and involvesmany domains (traits, values,
memories, etc.) Although we often think of it as stable and fixed,
self is dynamic and very dependent on the situation. While the self
is important and very useful forregulating behavior, it can also
lead to stress iftightly-held views are challenged. The neural
underpinnings of self are still beinginvestigated. Some research
focuses on self-as-object (mPFC and default mode). Other work tries
to distinguish self-as-subject (reafference and insula). ETSI: Year
4, Day 4 afternoon
Exploring Brain Networks during Meditation Lets take a look at a
recent experiment that was done at Emory, that tried to get some
information about how activity in the networks we discussed this
morning relates to our subjective experience. ETSI: Year 4, Day 4
afternoon Default Mode Network Meta-analysis of brain regions more
active at rest than during task posterior cingulate cortex (PCC)
medial prefrontal cortex You may remember learning about these
cortical midline regions last year.These regions are major hubs in
the default mode network, which is the set of brain regions that
are preferentially active during REST periods, when people are not
actively engaged in any other task. LATERAL SURFACE MEDIAL SURFACE
Buckner et al, Ann NY Acad Sci, 2008 Definition: a specific,
anatomically defined brain system preferentially active when
individuals are left to think to themselves undisturbed Overlap
between DMN and Self-referential processing
posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) medial prefrontal cortex And
zooming in a bit more, sue did a simple but critical experiment she
had the same subjects do both resting state and self-referential
processing tasks. Overlap shown in green. Fig.2.Conjunction
analyses of self-referential processing and default network for
Experiment 1 (a) and Experiment 2 (b). GREEN: Self>Semantic and
Rest>Semantic in BA 10 and BA 31; RED: Self>Semantic and
Self>Rest in BA 9; BLUE: Rest>Self and Rest > Semantic in
BA 7. participants viewed 160 trait adjectives presented across 4
functional runs; in Experiment 2, there were 144 trait adjectives
in 3 functional runs. Words were drawn from Anderson's (1968) list
of trait adjectives, and lists were counterbalanced across
conditions for word valence, length, and number of syllables. In
Experiment 1, words were presented in a blocked design such that
each word was presented for three seconds in blocks of ten words.
Prior to each block onset, participants viewed a two-second cue
screen describing their task for the upcoming block. Participants
either judged the words in the following block for selfreference
(Does this word apply to you?) or for valence content (Is this word
positive?). Whitfield-Gabrieli Neuroimage (2011) Decreased
DMN/self-related activity during meditation in experienced
meditators
Contrast: (Experienced Meditator > Novice) medial prefrontal
cortex PCC How do the groups compare? Do experienced meditators do
it better? N=12 meditators; hours of lifetime practice. The task
was 4.5 min of focused attention, or loving-kindness meditation, or
choiceless awareness (aka resting in the natural state), compared
to an ordinary resting state. Later replicated in 20 experts vs. 26
novices: again found PCC/precuneus deactivation in meditators as
compared to novices during meditation versus rest We also found
PCC/precuneus deactivation in meditators during meditation versus
an active baseline Reference: J. A. Brewer, P. D. Worhunsky, J. R.
Gray, Y.-Y. Tang, J. Weber, and H. Kober, Meditation experience is
associated with differences in default mode network activity and
connectivity, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A., vol. 108, no. 50, pp
20259, Nov x = -6 z = 21 Brewer et alPNAS (2011) An fMRI study by
Wendy Hasenkamp, PhD
What exactly happens in the brain during focused attention
meditation, moment-by-moment? An fMRI study by Wendy Hasenkamp, PhD
Cognitive Dynamics during Focused Meditation
Mind-wandering (MW) Default Mode Network? Focus Attention Network?
Awareness of MW When trying to examine naturalistic fluctuations in
cognitive states, meditation can become a really useful paradigm.
This study examines the practice of focused attention (shamatha)
meditation, which is essentially a form of attention training.As Im
sure you are aware, in this practice, the basic instructions are to
try to maintain focus on a single object, such as the breath. [DO
QUICK MEDITATION WITH MONKS, or have them do it in morning
meditation session PRESS BUTTON AT MW] As we just saw, there is
actually a very dynamic and fluctuating subjective experience that
occurs when one tries to do this as follows. When attempting to
sustain focus on an object such as the breath, an individual will
inevitably experience MW.At some time during MW, the practitioner
becomes aware that their mind was not on the object, at which point
they must disengage from the current train of thought and shift
their attention back to the breath, where it stays focused again
for some period of time. With practice, people gain an increased
awareness of their ongoing mental states. This is the cognitive
framework that this study is based on, and you can see that it
involves a repeated switching between MW and perhaps different
kinds of attention. I wanted to see if we could leverage the
ability of meditators to report on their cognitive states to try to
help define brain activity associated with these states.In
addition, I wanted to more clearly define what happens in the brain
during meditation, as this is often conceived of in the west as a
single state all fMRI studies on meditation average brain activity
over many minutes, which may gloss over these dynamic cognitive
changes. Shifting Attention Disengage/Re-focus What happens in the
brain during focused meditation? Methods 14 meditators from western
culture
age 28-66 3 male, 11 female assessed meditation experience
familiarity with breath-focus meditation Functional MRI Task:Focus
on the breath, whenever you realize your mind has wandered, press
the button and return focus to breath (20 min) Focus Mind-
wandering Awareness of MW Shifting Attention To do this, we asked
14 meditation practitioners (laypeople) to perform 20 minutes of
breath-focus meditation in the scanner.Our instructions were just
like we just practiced: Focus on the breath, whenever you realize
your mind has wandered, press the button and return your focus to
breath.Based on the model we just looked at, this would give us
some estimation of timing at the Awareness stage.We then used this
button-press data to try to get an idea of brain activity during
these different phases. Use button-press data to determine brief
conditions related to shifting mental states Approach to Analysis
Approach to Analysis Moment of awareness
TR=1.5 sec A Mind- wandering Shifting/ Meditation Moment of
awareness (button press) To do the analysis, we essentially have 20
minutes of fMRI data, and then we have button presses indicating
the moments when subjects became aware of their mind wandering.We
can assume that right before the button press, their minds were
wandering (since thats what they just told us) and that right
after, they were returning their focus to the breath.Based on this
logic, we divided the data into 3-second bins around the button
press to correspond to the proposed cognitive stages. AWARE 3 sec
MW 3 sec SHIFT 3 sec FOCUS 3 sec No interest 6 sec censored
Cognitive References for Conditions
AWARE MW SHIFT FOCUS MW A Focus Mind-wandering (MW) Awareness of MW
Shifting Attention Disengage/Re-focus FOCUS AWARE So to be clear,
were trying to match up these conditions in the data with these
states in the model.[step through animation]Starting at the moment
of awareness (indicated by the button press), we move backward in
time and call that mind-wandering, and forward in time to assign
the shifting and sustained focus conditions. SHIFT Contrast: AWARE
> MW
Awareness of MW Contrast: AWARE > MW AWARE SHIFT MW FOCUS A
These results are averaged over the 14 subjects.Lets first look at
brain activations during the AWARE phase.Here we see activations in
the anterior insula and the dorsal anterior cingulate.If you
remember from before, these areas are part of the attention
network, and have been called the salience network.The salience
network is thought to be involved in identifying relevant stimuli
in ones environment. So, the function of this network is very much
in line with what we think the subjects are doing during this time
namely, detecting the target state of mind-wandering.
Interestingly, most studies that have looked at this network have
used external stimuli (visual targets, etc).However, in this
paradigm, the target was an internal cognitive state.This means
that perhaps the salience network performs a general target
detection function, regardless of the type of target. Bilateral
anterior insula and dorsal ACC salience network: identify relevant
stimuli activation relative to baseline (MW) activation during
motor control Shifting/Re-focusing
Contrast: SHIFT > MW AWARE SHIFT MW FOCUS A During the SHIFT
phase, right after the button press when subjects were returning
their attention to the breath, we saw activations in the right
dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and the right lateral parietal
cortex.We saw before that these brain regions are another subset of
the attention network known as the executive network.The function
of this network is thought to be to re-direct attention to relevant
stimuli, which again fits well with what we think subjects are
doing: re-directing their attention from whatever they were
thinking about back to the breath. Fronto-parietal attention
networks (right-lateralized) executive network: respond to stimuli
by controlling attention Sustained Focus/Meditation
Contrast: FOCUS > MW AWARE SHIFT MW FOCUS A During the FOCUS
phase, a region within the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex
remained active.This region, in addition to being a part of the
executive network and involved in directing attention, is also
known to be very important for working memory.This function of
keeping a goal in mind also fits very well with what we imagine
subjects are doing during this time keeping their attention focused
on the breath. Right dorsolateral PFC executive network: respond to
stimuli by controlling attention, working memory, keeping goal in
mind Contrast: SHIFT > MW
Mind wandering Contrast: SHIFT > MW AWARE SHIFT MW FOCUS A
Finally, right before the button press, during MW, we saw elements
of the DMN (note the regions of posterior cingulate and medial
prefrontal cortex).This data agrees with the idea that the DMN
underlies mind wandering, and here we have identified it using the
subjects own reporting of their experience.In addition to the DMN
regions, we also saw other regions here, which are known to be
related to planning motor responses.Since this period was right
before the button press, activations in these regions also makes
sense. mPFC, posterior cingulate, parahippocampal gyrus default
mode network: memory, planning, imagining (other, motor-related
regions also active, due to button press preparation) Correlation
of brain activity with meditation experience
AWARE SHIFT MW FOCUS A seconds p=0.010 % signal change from
baseline Theres a lot of interest in the field of meditation
research about how the amount of time a person has practiced
affects various outcomes.Here, we examined whether the estimated
number of lifetime hours of meditation significantly affected the
activity in these conditions. We saw some significant results
during the Shifting phase one of which is examined here in further
detail.Activity in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC,
circled in red) was negatively correlated with practice time,
meaning that the more a person has practiced, the less active this
region was when they were shifting their attention back to the
breath.We also modeled the activity within this region over time,
which is plotted here high and low practice between groups.You can
see that for subjects in the high practice group, activity in this
region drops off within a few seconds of the button press, whereas
it persists in those with less experience. This could mean several
things.One possibility is that this region was active as apart of
mind-wandering (it is a region within the DMN), and people with
more experience are more quickly able to disengage it.Overall, this
suggests that practice time may effect the way the brain responds,
perhaps through neuroplasticity (re-wiring of the brain). VMPFC:
self & evaluation More experience, better at quieting
self-processing/evaluation? Summary MW FOCUS AWARE SHIFT
Taken together, these results suggest a pattern of fluctuating
neural network activity during focused meditation that can be
summarized as follows.MW periods are associated with DMN activity,
with sensory and motor regions likely coming online prior to the
button press.At the moment when awareness of MW occurs, the
salience network becomes strongly active, perhaps because of the
detection of the targeted state of MW.Subsequently, the
frontoparietal executive network activates, presumably to redirect
attention back to the breath, with the dorsolateral PFC then
persisting into the maintenance of focused attention
meditation.This pattern of shifting activity is consistent with an
alternation between the two anticorrelated brain networks, in which
DMN activity is associated with MW states, and attentional
subnetworks are associated with awareness, shifting and maintenance
of attention. SHIFT Correlations with practice time suggest
experience-dependent neural plasticity A real-time neurofeedback
study by Jud Brewer, PhD
Can meditators learn to modify their brain activity if they see it
shown on a screen during an fMRI brain scan? A real-time
neurofeedback study by Jud Brewer, PhD fMRI neurofeedback While
lying inside the fMRI scanner, the subject is practicing focused
attention on the breath, with eyes open. At the same time he sees
on the screen his own brain activation in area PCC. In the
background we show a graph of their brain activation over time, and
tell them that this region may be involved in self-referential
activation so they can check it from time to time to see if it
correlates with their experience. So if their mind is wandering it
might go up, but if concentrated it would go down. Just starting
this work so these results are very preliminary, and may not hold
up. So far, they report strong correlations with experience. So do
the experienced folks, but their activation looks a bit different.
Afterwards, participants were asked to described what happened
during their meditation inside the scanner So at the beginning, I
caught myself, that I was sort of trying to guess when the words
were going to end and when the meditation was going to begin.So I
was kind of trying to be like okay ready, set, go! and then there
was an additional word that popped up and I was like oh shit and so
thats the red spike you see there and then I sort of immediately
settled in and I was really getting into it and then I thought oh
my gosh this is amazing its describing exactly what I am saying and
then you see that red spike... and I was like okay, wait dont get
distracted and then I got back into it and then it got blue again
and I was like oh my gosh this is unbelievable, its doing exactly
what my mind is doing and so [chuckles] then it got red again So I
just find it really funny because thats a perfect map of what my
mind was going through. Novice Meditator Run 1 Run 2 Run 3 Run
4
Thinking about the breath focused more on the physical sensation
instead of thinking in and out 3. I felt like that I was on really
concentrating on my breathing, but it looks like on the graph that
I had a lot of wandering thoughts. 4. I was able to focus on my
breathing, the physical sensation, and not thinking of
breathing.But I felt like that I had [two] wondering thoughts. Q:
I'm sorry, did you say that you weren't thinking of breathing? A:
Yeah, I was focused more on the physical sensation instead of
thinking in and out. Run 1 Run 2 Run 3 Run 4 Experienced
Meditator
On run 6, I had a familiar memory image appear, one of a pond,
willow tree and fields of my parents farm. I noticed the strong red
deflection in response to this, although I don't appear in the
image. I went back to theimage to see if there was a sense of
watcher-subject and noticed that image has a sense of being seen
through a child's eyes. The somewhat desolate feeling landscape
corresponds to that child's subjectivity. So there is a subject
there, even though I never noticed it before, the scanner feedback
made me look for it. If you look at run 6 you can see me exploring
the image in a long run of red in the middle. Then I remembered I
wasn't doing the task so I let it go for a while. Then I started
imaginging myself in the future, telling Jud about what I had
discovered about childhoold memories, which you can see clearly in
the second run of red at the end of run 6. Experienced Meditator
Run 6 Repeating ones name Future thinking Exploring image Run 1 is
interesting because after several minutes of blue, I wondered if
this paradigm actually did measure self-referential processing so I
effortfully broke the period of resting in awareness and generated
a sense of self by saying my name Paul, Paul, Paul" [not his real
name] while trying to visualize my face and sense of myself as a
subject in the scanner "doing something". This produced a large red
spike at the end of the run. OK... it works...interesting. -On run
6, I had a familiar memory image appear, one of a pond, willow tree
and fields of my parents farm. I noticed the strong red deflection
in response to this, although I don't appear in the image. I went
back to theimage to see if there was a sense of watcher-subject and
noticed that image has a sense of being seen through a child's
eyes. The somewhat desolate feeling landscape corresponds to that
child's subjectivity. So there is a subject there, even though I
never noticed it before, the scanner feedback made me look for it.
If you look at run 6 you can see me exploring the image in a long
run of red in the middle. Then I remembered I wasn't doing the task
so I let it go for a while. Then I started imagining myself in the
future, telling Jud about what I had discovered about childhood
memories, which you can see clearly in the second run of red at the
end of run 6. I am sorry that I blew off the directions, but I
learned something new and very subtle about those recurring
memory-images that I have had for more than a decade. Something I
may not have learned otherwise. On task Run 1