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Traits and states in mindfulness meditation

Nature Reviews Neuroscience volume 17, page 59 (2016)Cite this article

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In our Review (The neuroscience of mindfulness meditation. Nat. Rev. Neurosci. 16, 213–225 (2015))1, we described recent research into the neural mechanisms and consequences of mindfulness meditation. In their comment on our article (What is being studied as mindfulness meditation? Nat.Rev.Neurosci.http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nrn.2015.6)2, Wheeler, Arnkoff and Glass pointed out the importance of differentiating between dispositional mindfulness (also known as trait mindfulness) and deliberate (intentional) mindfulness meditation2. Their suggestion is consistent with our point of view with regard to individual differences in mindfulness meditation1,3. Although we restricted our Review to studies that aimed to investigate mindfulness as an intentional practice1, pre-existing differences in dispositional mindfulness might have affected the findings described.

So far, relatively little is known about how differences in dispositional mindfulness might influence brain processing and the effective practice of mindfulness. However, a number of studies within the past decade have investigated the neural correlates of dispositional mindfulness and have identified some functional and structural brain areas involved4,5,6,7,8,9.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the US Office of Naval Research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Yi-Yuan Tang is at the Department of Psychological Sciences, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas 79409, USA.,

    Yi-Yuan Tang

  2. Britta K. Hölzel is at the Department of Neuroradiology, Technical University of Munich, 81675 Munich, Germany and Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, Massachusetts 02129, USA.,

    Britta K. Hölzel

  3. Michael I. Posner is at the Department of Psychology, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon 97403, USA.,

    Michael I. Posner

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  1. Yi-Yuan Tang
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Correspondence to Yi-Yuan Tang.

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Tang, YY., Hölzel, B. & Posner, M. Traits and states in mindfulness meditation. Nat Rev Neurosci 17, 59 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn.2015.7

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