Calm and smart? A selective review of meditation effects on decision making

Abstract

Over the past two decades, there has been a growing interest in the use of meditation to improve cognitive performance, emotional balance, and well-being. As a consequence, research into the psychological effects and neural mechanisms of meditation has been accumulating. Whether and how meditation affects decision making is not yet clear. Here, we review evidence from behavioral and neuroimaging studies and summarize the effects of meditation on social and non-social economic decision making. Research suggests that meditation modulates brain activities associated with cognitive control, emotion regulation and empathy, and leads to improved non-social and social decision making. Accordingly, we propose an integrative model in which cognitive control, emotional regulation, and empathic concern mediate the effects of meditation on decision making. This model provides insights into the mechanisms by which meditation affects the decision making process. More evidence is needed to test our explanatory model and to explore the function of specific brain areas and their interactive effects on decision making during meditation training.

Keywords: decision making; empathy; meditation; neuroimaging; prosocial behavior.

FIGURE 1

A model for the effects of meditation on decision making. Meditation modulates brain activities associated with cognitive control, emotion regulation and empathy, and lead to improved non-social and social decision making. Our proposed model is a combination of existed behavioral and neuroimaging findings, theoretical guidance of dual-process theory, as well as proper speculations on the underlying mechanisms. Both the specific neural findings and the modulation effects of cognitive control, emotional regulation, and empathic concern between meditation and decision making are supported by extant research literature. However, more evidence is needed to explore the function of specific brain areas and their interaction effects on decision making during meditation training. ACC: anterior cingulate cortex; DLPFC: dorsolateral prefrontal cortex; dmPFC: dorsomedial prefrontal cortex; IFG: inferior frontal gyrus; pSTS: posterior superior temporal sulcus; TPJ: temporo-parietal junction; vmPFC: ventromedial prefrontal cortex.