Change your brain by transforming your mind

Change your brain by transforming your mind: Neuroscientific studies of

meditation

Richard J. Davidson Waisman Laboratory for Brain Imaging and Behavior,

Laboratory for Affec>ve Neuroscience, and Center for Inves>ga>ng Healthy Minds

Departments of Psychology and Psychiatry University of Wisconsin-‐Madison

A brief autobiographical interlude…

The contemporary convergence

•  Neuroplas>city and contempla>ve prac>ce •  Epigene>cs •  Neurally-‐inspired behavioral interven>ons •  PuKng the brain back into biomedicine: A pathway back to the mind

The voluntary cultivation of compassion

40 sec

15 sec

Neutral state

Meditation

Neutral state

Neutral state

Meditation

Block design

Meditation

Neutral State

Neutral State

Neutral State

Meditation Meditation

Neutral State

= Auditory stimuli from the Lang database

Event-related design

“Here, what we have tried to do, for the sake of the experiment, is to generate a state in which love and compassion permeate the whole mind, with no other consideration, reasoning or discursive thoughts. This is sometimes called ‘pure compassion’, or ‘non-referential compassion’ (in the sense that it does not focus on particular objects to arouse love or compassion), or ‘all-pervading compassion’.” Matthieu Ricard

Lutz et al., 2004, PNAS

Which circuits are recruited by the voluntary cul>va>on of compassion?

15 expert meditators, 15 aged-‐matched controls

Voxel-‐wise 3-‐way Interac>on: Group by State by Emo>onal Valence (corrected, p< 0.05)

Lutz et al., PLoS One, (2008)

Lutz et al., PLoS One, (2008)

Compassion medita>on modulates BOLD signal in the amygdala and right TPJ in response to emo>onal sounds

The heart of compassion

Lutz et al., 2009 Neuroimage

Heart rate during compassion vs. neutral blocks

Neurocardiac coupling

Lutz et al., 2009 Neuroimage

Can short-‐term compassion training affect the brain

•  Two week compassion interven>on – Daily prac>ce via the internet for 30 min/day for 2 weeks

•  Comparison group was taught cogni>ve reappraisal

Weng et al., Psychological Science, in press

Elements of Compassion Training

•  Contemplate and visualize the suffering and then wishing the freedom from that suffering for: –  A loved one –  Themselves –  A stranger –  A difficult person –  All beings

•  Phrase most used: "May you be free from suffering. May you experience joy and ease."

•  Instructed to no>ce visceral sensa>ons (especially in the area of the heart)

•  Instructed to feel the compassion emo>onally; not simply repeat phrases cogni>vely


Study Design

Randomiza>on: Simula>on Scan

Compassion

Reappraisal

Time 1 Measures

Time 2 Measures Training: 2 weeks

30 min/day

fMRI

fMRI Economic Games

Compassion Training

Reappraisal Training

Training Ques>onnaires


The Compassion group is more prosocial afer 2 weeks of training.

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Compassion Reappraisal

Red

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(Ran

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Mann-‐Whitney U = 135.5 *p < 0.05

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N = 20 N = 21


Training-‐induced increases in IPC and DLPFC are associated with increases in altruis>c

behavior in COM


Increased training-‐related increases in PFC-‐Nacc connec>vity predicts increases in

altruis>c behavior in COM


Effects on ajen>on

Ajen>on

“And the faculty of voluntarily bringing back a wandering ajen>on, over and over again, is the very root of judgment, character, and will. No one is compos sui if he have it not. An educa>on which should improve this faculty would be the educa>on par excellence. But it is easier to define this ideal than to give prac>cal direc>ons for bringing it about.” William James, The Principles of Psychology, 1890.

Children with ADHD have more variable response times

Leth-‐Steensen et al., 2000

Lutz et al., (2009), J. Neuroscience

Meditation reduces response time variability

Lutz et al., (2009), J. Neuroscience

Frontal phase locking increases from T1 to T2 and predicts decreased RT variability

Does intensive a+en,on training, as cul,vated during medita,on, change the distribu,on of a+en,onal resources?

* Ajen>onal blink task * EEG: 64 channels

* Two groups:

PracDDoner group (n=17): tested before and afer a 3-‐month retreat during which they prac>ced mindfulness medita>on for approximately 10 hours per day.

Control group (n=24): also tested twice with a 3-‐month period in between sessions. This group was provided with a one-‐hour medita>on instruc>on class and then was asked to prac>ce similar medita>ve techniques daily for twenty minutes for one week prior to each session.

Slagter et al., 2007, PLoS Biology

Attentional Blink

A D S R 3 U 7 P

T2

T1 T1-‐T2 Interval: short (336 ms) or long (672 ms)

Predic,on:

As mindfulness medita>on cul>vates non-‐reac>ve sensory awareness, we predicted that intensive medita>on would reduce the ajen>onal blink.

(note: par>cipants were not ac>vely engaged in medita>on while performing the task)

Both groups showed a smaller blink at time 2 (Main effect Time; p<.001). This reduction was more pronounced for the practitioners than the controls (Interaction between Group and Time; p=.007). Slagter et al., 2007, PLoS Biology

Prac>>oners show decreased ajen>onal blink and more efficient neural processing following the retreat compared with performance at baseline while controls show lijle change

Slagter et al., 2007, PLoS Biology

What about effects on peripheral biology that may be consequen>al for health?

Meditation effects on antibody titers to influenza vaccine

Davidson et al., 2003

Tumor Necrosis Factor-‐alpha (TNF-‐α) and Interleukin-‐8 (IL-‐8) levels

in suc>on blister fluid

Rosenkranz et al., 2012, Brain, Behavior & immunity

Flare size


HEP MBSR

*r = -‐.53, n = 27 r = .38, n = 16

Change in inflamma>on from T1 to T2 and minutes of prac>ce


MBSR leads to steepening of cor>sol slope

Rosenkranz et al., in prepara>on

Interim summary and conclusions

•  Emotion regulation, compassion, kindness, mindfulness and other related characteristics are best viewed as products of trainable skills

•  Mental training to enhance these skills changes the brain and body

•  This growing body of evidence provides a scientific underpinning for many contemplative practices and can lead to a more widespread incorporation of these practices into institutions of education, medicine and other major societal venues

Challenges, conundrums and opportuni>es

•  Ac>ve comparison groups •  Measurement of prac>ce •  Scalable interven>ons, e.g., internet-‐based •  Studies with pa>ents with par>cular physical disorders in which stress is known to exacerbate the disease and neural bases are tractable, e.g., asthma

•  Other intervening variables that may be important in producing effects, e.g., sleep

•  Novel outcome measures – Health care u>liza>on –  Sustainable well-‐being

Envisioning the future

In 2050… •  Mental exercise will be accepted and prac>ced in the same way physical exercise is today

•  We will have a science of virtuous quali>es

•  We will incorporate the mind back into medicine and bejer understand how the brain can modulate peripheral biology biology in ways that affect health. This will lead us to take more responsibility for our own health

•  We will develop a secular approach to provide methods and prac>ces from contempla>ve tradi>ons to: –  Teach teachers and children ways to bejer regulate emo>ons and ajen>on and cul>vate quali>es like kindness and compassion

–  Increase awareness of our interdependence upon others and upon the planet and be more responsible caretakers of our precious environment

– Promote their more widespread adop>on into the major ins>tu>ons of our culture. This will help to restore civility, humility, gra>tude and other virtues in our culture

Example of development and education

The dilemma of adolescence

•  Puberty is occurring earlier yet cognitive development and frontal lobe maturation is more strongly correlated with age and experience

•  Result is a longer period than ever in history with development of prefrontal regulatory circuits lagging pubertal development

Age at which puberty occurs is growing younger

From Lenroot & Giedd, 2006

Brain maturation continues past 20 years of age

New Imaging Methods: Visualizing the uncinate fasiculus

Can we teach our children to better regulate their negative emotions,

cultivate more positive social skills, and better focus their attention?

Social and emotional learning competencies

•  Self awareness •  Social awareness •  Self management •  Relationship skills •  Responsible decision making

SEL is now legally mandated in several states

•  In Illinois, three broad learning goals: – Develop self-awareness and self-

management skills to establish and maintain positive relationships

– Use social awareness and interpersonal skills to achieve school and life success

– Demonstrate decision-making skills and responsible behaviors in personal, school and community contexts

SEL programs change behavior and improve academic performance

•  A recent analysis of 207 studies of SEL that involved a group of more than 288,000 students from around the country. This study found: –  Improvement in social and emotional skills –  More positive attitudes toward themselves, others and

school –  Improvement in social and classroom behavior –  Decreases in classroom misbehavior and aggression –  Decreases in emotional distress such as stress and

depression –  Improvement in test scores and school grades

To catalyze and focus our research efforts on these topics, we have

launched…

Major activities

• Basic Research • Translational Research • Outreach • Training

Preschool children

Preschool kindness curriculum

•  Week One-‐ Mindful bodies and plan>ng seeds of peace

•  Week Two-‐ How I feel on the Inside shows by what I do on the outside

•  Week Three-‐ We can work with problems on the inside and outside

•  Week Four-‐ Kindness place: A place to go to be mindful of what is happening on the inside

Preschool kindness curriculum

•  Week Five-‐ Working out problems when we have calmed down

•  Week Six-‐ Gra>tude: Prac>cing posi>ve emo>ons

•  Week Seven-‐ Interconnectedness with all people and the planet

•  Week Eight-‐ Gra>tude and caring for our world and wrap up

Design

•  Curriculum consists of 24 lessons, 3/week, ~30 minutes per lesson

•  17 preschool students (4-‐5 years of age) in treatment group; 12 in control group

Teacher Report: Prosocial Behavior

Flanker

In the Standard Flanker Task, the participant should focus on the CENTRAL stimulus and ignore the flanking stimuli on either side.

Flanker

Other Sharing

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Intervention Group

Friend Non-friend Stranger Sick

Waisman Center University of Wisconsin-Madison

www.investigatinghealthyminds.org

With a very deep bow of gra>tude!

•  Antoine Lutz •  Helen Weng •  Drew Fox •  Heleen Slagter •  Julie Brefczynski •  John Dunne •  Majhieu Ricard •  Andy Francis •  Donal MacCoon •  Dave Perlman •  Lisa Flook •  Emma Seppala

•  Laura Pinger •  Daniel Levinson •  Melissa Rosenkranz •  Katherine Bonus •  Larry Greischar •  Andy Alexander •  Isa Dolski •  Susan Jensen •  Barb Mathison

"A human being is part of a whole, called by us the Universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circles of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty."

Albert Einstein, 1921

“The systematic training of the mind—the cultivation of happiness, the genuine inner transformation by deliberately selecting and focusing on positive mental states and challenging negative mental states—is possible because of the very structure and function of the brain…But the wiring in our brains is not static, not irrevocably fixed. Our brains are also adaptable” (His Holiness the Dalai Lama, The Art of Happiness, pp. 44-45).

Does length of training predict magnitude of gamma signal?

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Practitioners with more years of practice show greater relative gamma power during the initial baseline

r=.79

Some unanswered (and mostly unasked) ques>ons

•  What is the func>onal significance of the different brain signals we have observed in response to compassion training?

•  What is the rela>on between the cul>va>on of compassion and self-‐related processes? In par>cular, how is self-‐iden>fica>on modulated by compassion training and are some of the effects produced by compassion training mediated by the impact on self-‐relevant processes?

•  What is the rela>on between self-‐compassion and pain? How does self-‐compassion alter one’s rela>onship to pain and is pain a useful probe in the study of compassion?

•  How does the cul>va>on of compassion increase the likelihood of ac>ng in the face of suffering and how best should this ques>on be studied in the laboratory?

•  What is the impact of a highly compassionate person on others? Is this interpersonal context a viable one to bring into the laboratory?

•  What are the rela>ons among the four immeasurables? Does cul>va>ng one strengthen each of the others? Is there a norma>ve developmental progression? What do the contempla>ve tradi>ons say about this?

•  Cul>va>ng compassion in children? Where to begin?

Change your brain by transforming your mind

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