Investigating the phenomenological matrix of mindfulness-related practices from a neurocognitive perspective

Abstract

There has been a great increase in literature concerned with the effects of a variety of mental training regimes that generally fall within what might be called contemplative practices, and a majority of these studies have focused on mindfulness. Mindfulness meditation practices can be conceptualized as a set of attention-based, regulatory, and self-inquiry training regimes cultivated for various ends, including wellbeing and psychological health. This article examines the construct of mindfulness in psychological research and reviews recent, nonclinical work in this area. Instead of proposing a single definition of mindfulness, we interpret it as a continuum of practices involving states and processes that can be mapped into a multidimensional phenomenological matrix which itself can be expressed in a neurocognitive framework. This phenomenological matrix of mindfulness is presented as a heuristic to guide formulation of next-generation research hypotheses from both cognitive/behavioral and neuroscientific perspectives. In relation to this framework, we review selected findings on mindfulness cultivated through practices in traditional and research settings, and we conclude by identifying significant gaps in the literature and outline new directions for research.

Figure 1

A phenomenological matrix of mindfulness-related practices: This figure maps hypothetically two standard mindfulness-related practices, Focused Attention meditation (FA) and Open Monitoring meditation (OM), and three mental states relevant for psychopathology on a multi-dimensional phenomenological space. “Exp” and “Nov” stand for expert and novice practitioners. The three primary dimensions of this space are Object Orientation, Dereification, and Meta-awareness. They are mapped on the Euclidian space. The four secondary dimensions correspond to the qualities of Aperture, Clarity, Stability, and Effort. These four qualities are represented, respectively, by the diameter of a circle, fill color of the circle, color of the perimeter of the circle, and by the width of a supporting stalk. See text for details regarding the meditation states. Mind-wandering is represented as an effortless state (dashed line) of absorption (low Meta-awareness) where the contents of experience is phenomenally interpreted as accurate depictions of reality (low Dereification). Addictive craving is depicted as a state strongly and repeatedly oriented toward the object of addiction (high Object Orientation). Rumination is represented as a state where the person is aware of stable intrusive thoughts (some Meta-awareness) that are however still experienced as ‘real’ (low Dereification).