Catching the wandering mind: Meditation as a window into … · 2017-04-10 · Forthcoming chapter...

ForthcomingchapterinTheOxfordHandbookofSpontaneousThought 1

Catchingthewanderingmind:

Meditationasawindowintospontaneousthought

WendyHasenkamp,PhDa,b

a:Mind&LifeInstitute,Charlottesville,VA

b:DepartmentofPsychology,UniversityofVirginia,Charlottesville,VA

Correspondingauthor:WendyHasenkamp([email protected])

ToappearinTheOxfordHandbookofSpontaneousThought,K.C.R.FoxandK.Christoff

(Editors),forthcoming(2017).NewYork:OxfordUniversityPress.


Abstract

Thischapterconsidersaformofattention-basedmeditationasanovelmeanstogain

insightintothemechanismsandphenomenologyofspontaneousthought.Focused

attention(FA)meditationinvolveskeepingone’sattentiononachosenobject,and

repeatedlycatchingthemindwhenitstraysfromtheobjectintospontaneousthought.This

practicecanthusbeviewedasakindofself-caughtmindwanderingparadigm,which

suggestsitmayhavegreatutilityforresearchonspontaneousthought.Currentfindings

abouttheeffectsofmeditationonmindwanderingandmeta-awarenessarereviewed,and

implicationsfornewresearchparadigmsthatleveragefirst-personreportingduringFA

meditationarediscussed.Specifically,researchrecommendationsaremadethatmay

enablecustomizedanalysisofindividualepisodesofmindwanderingandtheirneural

correlates.Itishopedthatbycombiningdetailedsubjectivereportsfromexperienced

meditatorswithrigorousobjectivephysiologicalmeasures,wecanadvanceour

understandingofhumanconsciousness.

Keywords:meditation,mindwandering,meta-awareness,spontaneousthought,focused

attention


Oneofthecentralchallengesinstudyingspontaneousthoughtisthefactthatmind

wanderingoftenoccurswithoutintentionorawareness(Smallwood&Schooler,2015).

Thisleadstoinevitabledifficultyinassessment,asparticipantscannotaccuratelyreporton

mentalexperiencesaboutwhichtheyareunaware.Inlightofthis,strategiesthatmay

increaseawarenessofmentalstateswouldseemtohaveparticularutilityforthestudyof

spontaneousthought.Inthischapter,Iconsideraformofattention-basedmeditationasa

novelmeanstogaininsightintotheprocessesunderlyingspontaneousthoughtandthe

abilitytodetectit.

InWesternculture,bothscientificandpopularinterestinvariousformsof

meditationhasburgeonedoverthelastdecade.In2012,theNationalHealthInterview

Surveyestimatedthat18millionAmericansusedmeditationasacomplementaryhealth

approach(Black,Clarke,Barnes,Stussman,&Nahin,2015).Inaddition,scientificresearch

oncontemplativepracticeslikemeditationcontinuestoaccumulateatarapidpace,with

over2,000publicationssincejust2010.Whilethefieldisstillinitsinfancy,earlyresults

pointtosomepromisingclinicalapplicationsaswellasneuralchangesassociatedwith

repeatedmeditationpractice(e.g.,Foxetal.,2014;Goyaletal.,2014;Tang,Hölzel,&

Posner,2015).

MostformsofmeditationcurrentlyusedintheWesthaveBuddhistorigins,but

manyhavebeenadaptedinasecularwaytoemphasizethementaltrainingaspectsand

avoidthemorereligiousorritualisticelementsoftraditionalpractices(McMahan,2008).

Meditationsvarywidelyinthecognitiveandemotionalstatestheyendeavortofoster,as

wellastheinstructionstheyusetoachievethesegoals.Forexample,openmonitoring

stylesofmeditationseektostrengthenandexpandawarenesstoincludeanythingentering


themind,whilecompassionpracticesareusedtocultivatespecificemotionalstates

towardsoneselfandothers(Dahl,Lutz,&Davidson,2015;Lutz,Slagter,Dunne,&

Davidson,2008).

Despitethisplurality,manycontemplativepracticesarebasedonafoundationof

attentiontrainingthatservestofamiliarizeapersonwithhisorherthoughtsandemotions

andgaincontrolovercognitivefaculties(Dahletal.,2015;Lutzetal.,2008;Wallace,2006).

ItisthisbasicattentiontrainingthatIwouldliketoconsiderinthischapter,asitmayhold

potentialtoadvanceourunderstandingofthecognitiveandneuralmechanismsunderlying

thearisinganddetectionofspontaneousthought.

Cognitiveandneuraldynamicsduringfocusedattention(FA)meditation

Onecommonmeditationpractice—knownasfocusedattention(FA),concentration

meditation,orshamatha—canbeviewedfromacognitiveperspectiveasakindof

sustainedattentiontask.DuringFAmeditation,attentionisplacedandmaintainedona

chosenobject(e.g.,sensationsofbreathing,ambientsounds,avisualimage,etc.).Because

spontaneousthought,ormindwandering,willalmostinvariablyoccur,thepractitioneris

instructedtosimplynoticewhenthemindhasstrayedfromtheobjectoffocus,andreturn

herorhisattentiontotheobjectwithoutengaginginelaborativethinkingorjudgment

(Wallace,2006).Atsomepointafterattentionisreturnedtothechosenobject,mind

wanderingwillusuallyoccuragain,andthecyclerepeats.Thus,asessionofFAmeditation

practiceisaniterativecyclethroughthedynamiccognitivestatesoffocusedattention

(FOCUS),mindwandering(MW),awarenessofmindwandering(AWARE),andshifting

attentionbacktotheobject(SHIFT;Hasenkamp,Wilson-Mendenhall,Duncan,&Barsalou,


2012).AbasiccognitivemodelofthisprocessisshowninFigure1.

AninterestingaspectofFAmeditationisthattheinstructionsaretokeepone’s

attentiononagivenobject,whichsetsupanapparent“goalstate”ofsingle-pointedfocus.

Inthissituation,anycognitivestatethatdivergesfromthatgoal(e.g.,MW)becomesa

“target”todetectusingthefacultyofmeta-awareness.Ineffect,theselectionofan

attentionalobjectinthispracticesetsupasubjectivecounterpointtothenormal

fluctuatingcontentsofthemind,bringingthescatterednatureofthoughtintoreliefagainst

thecontrastofasteadyobject.Overtimeandwithrepeatedpractice,themeditatoris

actuallybuildingskillsnotonlyofsustainingormaintainingattention(FOCUS),butalso—

andperhapsmoreimportantly—ofmonitoringandrecognizingnaturallyarisingmental

statesorspontaneousthoughts(AWARE),aswellasdisengagingandre-directingattention

(SHIFT).Eventhoughtheseadditionalskillsmaynotbetheinstructedgoalofthepractice,

amajoraimofthiskindoftraininginbothitstraditionalandcurrentapplicationsisto

developmeta-awarenessalongsideattentionalcontrol(Dahletal.,2015;Lutzetal.,2008).

GiventhatFAmeditationischaracterizedbyanoscillationbetweenstatesoffocus

Figure1:CognitivedynamicsofFAmeditation.AsessionofFAmeditationisaniterativecycleofmentalstatesincludingobject-focusedattention(FOCUS),mindwandering(MW),awarenessofmindwandering(AWARE),andshiftingattentionbacktotheobject(SHIFT).TheFOCUSstateistheintended“goal,”whileMWrepresentsadeviationfromthatgoal,andbecomesasalientmentaltargetinthecontextofFAmeditation.Imagemodifiedwithpermissionfrom(Hasenkamp,2014).


andspontaneousthought,itmaybeofparticularbenefitinthecontextofcognitive

research.MycolleaguesandIdevelopedanfMRIparadigmthatleveragestheunique

frameworkofFAmeditationcoupledwithsubjectivereporttostudytheneuralcorrelates

ofmindwanderingandattention(Hasenkampetal.,2012).Westudiedmeditation

practitionerswhohadexperiencewithFAmeditation,assessingbrainactivitywithfMRIas

theyengagedinthispracticefor20minutes.Participantswereinstructedtokeeptheir

attentiononthesensationsofbreathing(specifically,theaircominginandoutofthe

nostrils),andwhenevertheynoticedtheirmindhadwanderedcompletelyawayfromthis

object,topressabuttonandthenreturntheirfocustothebreath.Thus,thetaskwas

similartoatypicalFAmeditationsession,simplyaddingabuttonpressatthemomentof

awarenessofmindwandering(AWARE;seeFigure2).Asparticipantsareaskedtoidentify

andreportepisodesofspontaneousthought,thisdesigncanalsobeconsideredaself-

caughtmindwanderingtask.1

Inourstudy,thebuttonpressprovidedatemporalmarkerforthemomentof

awarenessofmindwandering,andpresumablyalsotheendofthemindwandering

episode.Basedonthismarker,wedividedthedatainto4distinctphases(3seceach)

correspondingtothecognitivemodelinFigure1.ByanalyzingfMRIdatawithinonlythese

briefphases,wecouldrestrictourwindowofanalysistoaspecifictimeduringwhichwe

couldberelativelyconfidentoftheparticipant’smentalexperience.Notably,eventhough1Twomajorapproachestostudyingspontaneousthoughtincludeprobe-caughtandself-caughtdesigns(Smallwood&Schooler,2006,2015).Inprobe-caughtparadigms,theexperimenterintroducesthoughtprobesduringanongoingtasktoassesswhethertheparticipantwason-taskoroff-task.Inself-caughtdesigns,theparticipantisinstructedtoreportmindwanderingwhenevers/hebecomesawareofit.Theself-caughtapproachisnotasaccurateasprobe-caughtfordeterminingfrequencyofspontaneousthoughtbecauseitdependsontheparticipant’sawarenessofmindwandering,whichisonlyintermittent.However,self-caughtdesignsaremoreusefulforunderstandingthemechanismsunderlyingtheemergenceanddetectionofspontaneousthought,andhavestrongpotentialforelucidatinggeneralprocessesthroughwhichpeoplebecomeawareofmentalstates(Smallwood&Schooler2006).


thisapproachmeantincludingonlyafractionofourdataintheanalysis,ourfindingswere

quiterobust,andconsistentwiththefunctionsofwell-studiedbrainnetworks(seebelow).

Ofcourse,significantvariabilityundoubtedlystillexistsbothbetweenandwithin

individuals,makingthismodelhighlyoversimplifiedandsubjecttonoise(seeHasenkamp

etal.,2012;Hasenkamp,2014foradiscussionoflimitationsandpossibilitiesforextending

themodel).Nevertheless,itappearsthatusingsubjectivereporttodefineanarrow

windowofanalysisservedtoincreasethesignal-to-noiseratioratherthanreducepower.

Comprehensiveresultsfromthisstudyhavebeendiscussedelsewhere(Hasenkamp

&Barsalou,2012;Hasenkampetal.,2012;Hasenkamp,2014),butashortsummaryis

providedhereforreference(Figure2).DuringtheMWphase,analysesrevealedactivityin

brainregionsassociatedwiththedefaultmodenetwork(medialprefrontalcortexand

posteriorcingulatecortex),whichhavebeenstronglyimplicatedinspontaneousthought

(Andrews-Hanna,Reidler,Huang,&Buckner,2010;Andrews-Hanna,Smallwood,&Spreng,

2014;Buckner,Andrews-Hanna,&Schacter,2008;Davey,Pujol,&Harrison,2016;Ellamil

etal.,2016;Fox,Spreng,Ellamil,Andrews-Hanna,&Christoff,2015;Masonetal.,2007;

Raichle,2015).IntheAWAREphase,thesaliencenetwork(bilateralanteriorinsulaand

dorsalanteriorcingulatecortex)wasstronglyactivated.Thisnetworkhasbeenimplicated

intheidentificationofsalientorrelevantstimuliacrossdomains,andhelpstoengageand

controlattention(Mooneyham,Mrazek,Mrazek,&Schooler,2016;Seeleyetal.,2007).

DuringtheSHIFTphase,elementsoftheexecutivenetworkwereactivethathavebeen

implicatedindisengagementandre-orientingofattention(dorsolateralprefrontalcortex

andinferiorparietallobule;Corbetta,Patel,&Shulman,2008;Mooneyhametal.,2016;

Posner&Petersen,1990;Seeleyetal.,2007).Finally,aregionofthedorsolateralprefrontal


cortexassociatedwithworkingmemoryandsustainedattention(Curtis&D’Esposito,

2003;D’Esposito,2007;Miller&Cohen,2001)wasactiveduringtheFOCUSperiod,

indicatingcontinuedexecutivenetworkactivity.

Ingeneral,thefunctionsofbrainnetworksthatwereactivatedduringthesefour

briefcognitivephasesalignedwiththementalfunctionswebelievedtobeoccurringat

thosetimes.Specifically,mindwanderingwasassociatedwithdefaultmoderegions,

awarenessofmindwanderingwasassociatedwiththesaliencenetwork,andshiftingand

Figure2:BrainnetworksinvolvedinFAmeditation.Usingabutton-pressfromtheparticipanttomarkthemomentofawareness,fourbriefcognitivephasesweredefinedaroundthistimepoint,andneuralactivitywasanalyzedaccordingly.TheseresultsshowactivityduringtheFOCUS,AWARE,andSHIFTphasescomparedtotheMWphase;MWactivityiscomparedtoSHIFTactivity.Mindwanderingwasassociatedwithdefaultmoderegions(blue),awarenessofmindwanderingwasassociatedwiththesaliencenetwork(green;redshowsactivationsduetoamotorcontrolforthebuttonpress),andshiftingandmaintainingattentionwasassociatedwiththeexecutivenetwork(orange,lightorange).Imagemodifiedwithpermissionfrom(Hasenkamp,2014)..


maintainingattentionwereassociatedwiththeexecutivenetwork.Additionalanalyses

showedthatneuralactivityduringthesecognitivephases,aswellasrestingstate

functionalconnectivity,weremodulatedbylifetimemeditationexperience,suggesting

experience-dependentplasticityinrelevantnetworks(Hasenkamp&Barsalou,2012;

Hasenkampetal.,2012).Thisworkhighlightstheutilityandimportanceofsubjective

reportinthestudyofdynamicmentalstates,andhashelpedtorefineourunderstandingof

thecomplexneuralandcognitivecorrelatesofFAmeditation.

Meditationpracticeandcognitiveprocessesaroundspontaneousthought

GiventheoverarchinggoalsofFAmeditationanditsemphasisoncatchingthe

wanderingmind,itisoftenassumedthatwithrepeatedpractice,meditatorswill

experiencedecreasedmindwanderingandincreasedattentionalcontrol.Suchcognitive

effectshavelongbeennotedwithincontemplativetraditions(Dahletal.,2015;Wallace,

2006),andrecentresearchalsosupportstheseclaimstovaryingdegrees.

Contemplativeresearchhasfoundevidenceofreducedmindwanderingfollowing

briefmindfulbreathing(Mrazek,Smallwood,&Schooler,2012),followingseveralweeksof

meditationpractice(Jazaierietal.,2015;Jha,Morrison,Parker,&Stanley,2016;Morrison,

Goolsarran,Rogers,&Jha,2014;Mrazek,Franklin,Phillips,Baird,&Schooler,2013;butsee

Banks,Welhaf,&Srour,2015),andfollowingoneandthreemonthsofintensiveretreat

practice(Zanescoetal.,2016).Inaddition,experiencedmeditatorsreportedlessmind

wanderingthannon-meditatorsinseveralstudies(Breweretal.,2011;Garrison,Zeffiro,

Scheinost,Constable,&Brewer,2015;Levinson,Stoll,Kindy,Merry,&Davidson,2014),

andshowedreduceddefaultmodenetworkactivationcomparedtocontrolsduringvarious


typesofmeditation(Breweretal.,2011).Thisagreeswithotherstudiessuggesting

meditationexperienceisassociatedwithdifferentialdefaultmodeactivityandconnectivity

(Farb,Segal,&Anderson,2013;Garrisonetal.,2015;Hasenkamp&Barsalou,2012;Janget

al.,2011;Mooneyhametal.,2016;Tayloretal.,2013).Severallinesofresearchalsosuggest

thatrepeatedmeditationimprovesvariousaspectsofattention(Jhaetal.,2015;Jha,

Krompinger,&Baime,2007;Lutzetal.,2009;MacLeanetal.,2010;Malinowski,2013;

Sahdraetal.,2011;Slagteretal.,2007;Zanesco,King,Maclean,&Saron,2013).Moreover,

manystudieshavefoundevidenceforneuralchangesinrelevantnetworksfollowing

meditation,supportingtheideathataprocessofexperience-dependentneuroplasticity

mayunderliethedevelopmentofthesecognitiveeffects(seeFoxetal.,2014;Tang,Hölzel,

&Posner,2015forreview).

Thus,agrowingbodyofevidencesupportsthenotionthatrepeatedmeditation

leadstochangesinattentionalcapacityandreductionsinmindwandering.Arelated

questioniswhethermeditationpracticecanenhancemeta-awareness.Thisisareasonable

hypothesis,asmonitoringfordistractionisanessentialpartofmaintainingfocused

attention.BysettingupthespecificcognitiveframeworkofFAmeditationinthemindof

thepractitioner,spontaneousthoughtbecomeshighlightedbecauseitdivergesfromthe

goalstateofdirectedfocus.Inthiscontext,theprocessesaround,andcontentsof,mind

wanderingacquireincreasedsaliencebecausetheyhavebecomeatargetformeta-

awarenesstodetect.Inourstudy,themomentofdetection(AWARE)wasassociatedwith

robustactivationofthebrain’ssaliencenetwork,similartoresultsfromsimpletarget


detectiontasksinothermodalities(Seeleyetal.,2007;Uddin,2014).2Thisneural

convergenceacrosstaskssuggeststhatduringFAmeditation,thecognitivestateofmind

wandering(e.g.,aninternal,mentaltarget)mayfunctioninthesamewayasstandard

visualorauditorytargetsusedinothertasks(e.g.,external,sensorytargets)—something

thatisarbitrarilydefinedassalient,whichthemindthenmonitorsforanddetectswhenit

isidentified.Thisfindingextendsourunderstandingofthefunctionofthesalience

network,whichhasoftenbeendescribedasdetectingmainlyexternalstimuli,towarda

moregeneralsaliencedetectorthatcanbeequallytunedtointernaleventssuchasmind

wandering(Andrews-Hannaetal.,2014;Uddin,2014).InFAmeditation,then,repeatedly

ascribingsaliencetointernalthoughtsandtrainingoneselftodetectthemmaywell

enhancemeta-cognitiveabilities.

Anecdotalreportscommonlyaffirmthatthearisingofspontaneousthought

becomesmorereadilydetectableinexperiencedpractitioners(Wallace,2006),presumably

reflectingsuchanincreaseinmeta-awarenessormonitoringcapacity.Whilemeta-

awarenessisachallengingconstructtooperationalizeduetodifficultiesinconfirming

accuracy,recentworkhasbeguntoapproachthisquestionasitrelatestomeditation.One

studyfoundthatexperiencedmeditatorsperformedmoreaccuratelythannovicesona

breathcountingmeasure(confirmedwithphysiologicaltrackingofbreathing),suggesting

improvedmeta-awarenessinpractitioners(Levinsonetal.,2014).Anotherstudyfound

thatfollowing8weeksofmindfulnesstraining,participantswhopracticedmoreexhibited

greaterself-reportedmeta-awarenessofmindwanderingduringtheSARTtask(Jhaetal.,

2Theinsula,amajorhubofthesaliencenetwork,isalsoproposedtobea“switch”betweenthedefaultmodenetwork,associatedwithmindwandering,andtheexecutivenetwork,associatedwithattentionalcontrol(Menon&Uddin,2010;Sridharan,Levitin,&Menon,2008).ThisissupportedbythefindingsshowninFigure2,withinsulaactivitybridgingdefaultmodeandexecutivenetworkactivity.


2016).Introspectiveaccuracyalsoappearstobeimprovedbymeditationtraining,as

showninmetacognitiveabilityformemory(Baird,Mrazek,Phillips,&Schooler,2014)and

emotionalself-awareness(Sze,Gyurak,Yuan,&Levenson,2010).Finally,twolongitudinal

studiesfoundthatafterintensivemeditationtraining,practitionersreportedagreater

proportionofself-caughtmindwanderingepisodesfollowingtraining,afteradjustingfora

reducedoverallnumberofepisodes(Zanescoetal.,2016).

Whilethesestudiesaresuggestiveofincreasesinmeta-awarenessfollowing

meditation,theydonotspeakdirectlytowhethermeditatorscanmoreaccuratelyor

validlydetectmindwandering.Forexample,probesaboutmeta-awarenessduringthe

SART,aswellasreportsofself-caughtmindwanderingduringatask,relyonlyonself-

reportwithnobehavioralvalidation;breathcounting,whilevalidatedwithaphysiological

measure,doesnotaddressawarenessofspontaneousthoughts.Alongtheselines,Zedelius

andcolleagues(2015)usedanovelparadigmtodeterminewhetherincentivizingpeopleto

catchtask-unrelatedthoughtsduringreadingwouldincreasetheiraccuracy.Bycorrelating

self-caughtmindwanderingwithacovertbehavioralmeasureofmindwandering,the

researchersfoundthatmotivatingparticipantstomonitortheirthoughtsdidindeed

increasethenumberofself-catches,aswellasincreasingthevalidityofthesereports.3

Futurestudiescouldusethiskindofapproachtoinvestigatewhethermeditationtraining

affectsone’scapacitytomonitorthoughtsanddetectthemaccurately.

Thus,whileresearchisstillintheearlystages,initialresultscoupledwith

considerableanecdotalevidencesuggestthatrepeatedmeditationmayimprovemeta-

3IfoneconsiderstheexplicitintentionbehindFAmeditationasatypeofmotivationtodetectmindwandering,thisfindingmayprovidefurthersupportfortheideathatrepeatedFApracticewillincreasemeta-awareness.


awareness,leadingtoanenhancedabilitytodetectspontaneousthought.Ifthisisthecase,

experiencedmeditatorsmaybeparticularlybeneficialasparticipantsinstudiesofself-

caughtmindwandering.

Defininganepisodeofspontaneousthought

Achallengeinallstudiesofspontaneousthoughtisthatthetemporalwindowof

mindwanderingisextremelyvariable,andourabilitytodefineithighlyimprecise.To

makeprogressinunderstandingthephenomenologyandphysiologyofmindwandering,

wewillneedtomoreclearlyoutlinethecriteriafor—andtemporalboundariesof—the

onsetandterminationofasingleepisode(Ellamiletal.,2016;Metzinger,2013;Smallwood

&Schooler,2015).Existingparadigmsaresubjecttoseverallimitationsinthisregard.

Usingself-caughtdesigns,experimenterscanonlymeasurethemomentofdetectionof

mindwanderingandnotitsonset.Probe-caughtparadigmssimilarlydonotshedlighton

thetemporalityofamindwanderingepisode,againonlycollectingsubjectiveinputatthe

momentoftheprobe.Inarecentreview,SmallwoodandSchooler(2015)suggestthatthe

fieldshouldworktoidentify“reliablebehavioralandphysiologicalmeasuresthatcan

indicatetheonsetandoffsetofmindwanderingwithouthavingtorelyonindividuals’self-

reports.”Whilethesethird-personmeasureswillcertainlybeimportant,researchersmay

alsobeabletoleverageself-reportinamorecarefulwaytoaddresscurrentlimitations.

Particularlywhenattemptingtodetermineneuralcorrelatesofmindwandering,

definingthetemporalboundariesofasingleepisodeisessential,butmethodsfordoingso

havebeenelusive.Inourstudy,wechosearelativelyshortwindow(3secondspriorto

detection)inanattempttolimitvariabilityincognitivestatesduringtheMWphase.


Previousstudieshaveusedlongertemporalwindowstoexamineneuralactivitypriorto

self-reportedmindwanderinginresponsetothoughtprobes(e.g.,10secondsormore,see

Allenetal.,2013;Christoff,Gordon,Smallwood,Smith,&Schooler,2009;Stawarczyk,

Majerus,Maquet,&D’Argembeau,2011).Whilethisapproachincreasesstatisticalpower

byusingmoredata,itmaycomplicatetheinterpretationofrelatedbrainactivityby

includingtimepointsthatcorrespondtocognitivestatesoccurringpriortotheonsetof

mindwandering(i.e.,attentional/on-taskstates;Figure3).Withinagiventemporal

windowdefinedbytheexperimenter,thesignal-to-noiseratioofactualmindwandering

dependsontheparticipant’ssubjectivestateduringeachTR,4whichwillvarytrialbytrial.

Insomecases,mindwanderingwillhavebegunbeforethewindowofanalysis,makingthe

datafullyrepresentativeoftheneuralcorrelatesofspontaneousthought(Figure3A).In

othercases,mindwanderingmaybebrief,andfocusedattentionwillalsohaveoccurred

withinthewindowofanalysis—ifthishappens,thesignal-to-noiseratioisreducedand

attemptstointerpretneuralactivitybecomeconfounded(Figure3B).5

Arelatedandlargelyunexploredissueiswhetherconsciousattentioncanbe

directedtowardmultipleobjectsatthesametime.Manyexperimentsusingprobe-caught

mindwanderingasknotjustwhethertheparticipant’smindwason-oroff-task,but

provideacontinuousscaleforreporting(e.g.,oneendpointrepresentingcompletelyon-

taskandtheotherrepresentingcompletelyoff-task).Participantsoftenanswersomewhere

inthemiddle(e.g.,Allenetal.,2013;Christoffetal.,2009;Jhaetal.,2016;M.Mrazek,

4AnfMRIscanneracquiresanimageofbrainactivitydataonceeveryfewsecondsdependingontheparametersofthescan;thetimeittakestocollectafullpassofdataiscalledaTR.5Itshouldbenotedthatevena3-secondwindowofanalysisisrelativelylongwhencomparedtothesubjectiveexperienceoftransientstates(e.g.,amomentofmeta-awareness,orshiftingattentionbetweentwoobjects),andouranalysismaywellhaveincludeddatafromnon-mindwanderingstates,asdiscussedinHasenkampetal.(2012).


personalcommunication),suggestingthatthetransitionfromfocusedattentionintomind

wanderingisnotadichotomousexperience,butratheroccursinagradedway—atleast

phenomenologically.6Thisresultsinakindof“hybrid”subjectiveexperienceofbeing

partiallyfocusedandpartiallydistracted(Figure3C).7Splittingofattentionhasbeen

6Interestingly,Buddhistpsychologytheorizesthateventhoughfromaphenomenologicalperspectiveitmayseemlikeattentioncanbeplacedontwoobjectssimultaneously,inrealityattentionisrapidlyshiftingfromoneobjecttoanotherandbackagain.Thishappensmorequicklythanourconsciousawarenesscanprocess,sothemindblursmomentstogether,creatinganillusionthatweareattendingtomultiplethingsatonce(Wallace,2006).7Inpilotingourexperimentdescribedabove,manyparticipantsreportedthiskindofparallelorhybridattention,withsomepercentageofattentionretainedonthebreath,andsomeportionengagedinthought.In

Figure3:Definingthetemporalwindowofanalysis.Thisschematicdepictsthreehypotheticalcognitivescenariosandrelatedwindowofanalysisforaneuroimagingstudyofself-caughtmindwandering.TickmarksdenoteTRs(thefMRIscanner’ssamplingrate,here2secondseach),andtheyellowbarrepresentsananalyticalwindowof10secondspriortothebuttonpress.A)Ascenariowherethewindowofanalysisisaccurateandonlyincludesmindwanderingstates.B)Ascenariowherethewindowistoolong,andincludescontaminatingfocusedstates.C)Agradedtransitionbetweenfocusedattentionandmindwandering,showingahybridstatewheresomeportionoftheattentionremainsontheobjectforatime,butspontaneousthoughtstilloccurs.Inthiscase,thewindowcontainsallthreementalstates,againconfoundingtheanalysis.


examinedinstudiesofvisualattention(Awh&Pashler,2000;Kramer&Hahn,1995;

Müller,Malinowski,Gruber,&Hillyard,2003),buthasrarelybeenconsideredinstudiesof

spontaneousthought(seeDixon,Fox,&Christoff,2014).Asitseemslikelythatthiskindof

parallelattentionisacommonphenomenologicalexperiencethatwouldhaveimportant

implicationsfortheaccurateidentificationofneuralcorrelates,itwarrantsfurtherstudyin

cognitivescienceandrepresentsanotherareaformoredetailedsubjectivereporting.

Regardlessofthedurationofthetemporalwindowofanalysis,itisnotablethatall

studiestodatehavecalculatedthestarttimeofamindwanderingoroff-taskepisode

relativetotheendpoint(eitherself-caughtorprobe-caught),andnotbasedonanyother

subjectiveinput.Thisintroducesanobviouslackofprecisioninanalysis,whichmayhinder

ourabilitytoaccuratelyunderstandtheneurophysiologicalunderpinningsofspontaneous

thought.

PotentialutilityofsubjectivereportduringFAmeditation

TheFAmeditationparadigmoutlinedhereiswellsuitedtohighlighttheunfolding

ofspontaneousthoughtinthemindoftheparticipant,andcouldbeleveragedinnumerous

waystoobtainmoredetailedandaccuratesubjectiveinformationabouttheonset,

contents,andterminationofmindwanderingepisodes.ItisalsolikelythatexperiencedFA

meditationpractitionerswouldbeabletoprovideveryfine-grainedreportsonboththe

temporalandphenomenalunfoldingofspontaneousthought,therebyenablinga

heretoforeunavailablelevelofanalysisincognitiveresearch(Lutz&Thompson,2003).

lightofthis,ourtaskinstructionsweretopressthebuttononlywhentheynoticedtheirattentionwascompletelyofftheobjectandtheywereimmersedinthought—inthisway,wehopedtoidentifythemostrobustperiodsofmindwanderingforanalysis.


Previousstudieshaveleveragedexperiencedmeditators’heightenedcognitiveand

emotionalcontrolaswellasnuancedreportingabilitytoexamineexperiencessuchasnon-

referentialcompassion(Lutz,Greischar,Rawlings,Ricard,&Davidson,2004),non-dual

awareness(Josipovic,2014),specificdegreesofintensityofcompassiongeneratedduring

meditation(Klimecki,Leiberg,Lamm,&Singer,2013),andmindwandering(Ellamiletal.,

2016;Hasenkampetal.,2012).Themotivationforsuchanapproachisinformedbythe

projectofneurophenomenologyputforthbyFranciscoVarela(Varela,Thompson,&Rosch,

1992;Varela,1996).AsexplainedbyLutzandThompson(2003),withinthisframework,

“phenomenologicallyprecisefirst-persondataproducedbyemployingfirst-person

methodsprovidestrongconstraintsontheanalysisandinterpretationofthephysiological

processesrelevanttoconsciousness.”Below,Iexaminethepotentialutilityof

incorporatingsuchsubjectively-derivedconstraintsinthestudyofspontaneousthought.

Fromatemporalperspective,itisnotablethatmeditationpractitionersmaybeable

todetectmindwanderingrelativelyquicklyafteritsonset.Evidencetosupportthisclaim

comesfromarecentstudy(Zanescoetal.,2016)inwhichexperiencedmeditators

performingareadingtaskidentifiedgibberishtextmorequicklythannon-meditatorsin

otherstudiesusingthesameparadigm(Smallwood,Fishman,&Schooler,2007;Zedelius,

Broadway,&Schooler,2015),suggestingfasterdetectionofcognitivetargets.Indeed,a

recentstudywasbasedonthisassumption,usinganFAmeditationparadigmwith

experiencedVipassanapractitioners,askingthemtoindicatethearisingofathoughtwitha

buttonpressassoonastheywereawareofit(Ellamiletal.,2016).Presumingthatthe

buttonpressinfactoccurredveryshortlyafterthoughtonsetbasedontheheightened

introspectiveabilityoftheseparticipants,theysetthewindowofanalysisat4seconds(2


TRs)priortothebuttonpress.Contrastingbrainactivityassociatedwithdetectionof

thoughtsvs.words(whichwerepresentedatthesamefrequencyasdetectedthoughtsvia

onlinestimulusmatching),andsubsequentlymodelinghemodynamicresponsefunctions,

theyidentifieddistinctbrainareasrelatedtothegenerationofthoughts.Thisstudyoffers

anexcellentexampleofcarefulneurophenomenology,couplingtheintrospectiveabilityof

meditators,anFAparadigm,andthird-personbrainimagingmeasurestoadvanceour

knowledgeoftheneuralcorrelatesofspontaneousthought.

Therearemanypossiblenextstepstocontinueleveragingthiskindofunique

methodologicalmarriage.Onepromisingavenueinvolvesfurthercustomizationofthought

regressors,withtheaimofestimatingindividualparametersonatrial-by-trialbasis.Itis

readilyapparentthateachexperienceofspontaneousthoughtisdistinctinbothduration

andcontent,butourmethodologicalapproachestodatehave“flattened”thembyaveraging

acrossepisodes,assumingsimilaritieswherenonemayinfactexist.Thiskindof

experimentaldesign,whileunderstandablefromaresearchperspective,isfarfromideal,

andmaybesignificantlylimitingourabilitytounderstandthesubtletyandcomplexityof

themind’snaturalactivity.

Figure4depictsseveralexamplesofreportingoptionsthatcouldbeusedaloneorin

variouscombinationstocharacterizeindividualepisodesofspontaneousthoughtthat

occurwithinanFAmeditationparadigm.Ofcourse,itisimportanttorememberthat

requiringmultiplesubjectivereportswillinterferewiththenaturalisticflowofmeditation;

however,iftheaimistoenablemoredetailedcharacterizationofeachspontaneous

thoughtepisode,someinterruptionofthenormalmeditationprocessseemsacceptable.

Indeed,asnotedbyEllamilandcolleagues,thistypeof“noting”strategywherethe


practitionerquicklycategorizesthoughtsastheyariseisacommonvariantofFA

meditation(Ellamiletal.,2016;Sayadaw,2002).Evenso,careshouldbetakentoavoid

employingtoomanymeasuressimultaneously,assuch“over-characterization”maybegin

toreduceaccuracyandwouldalsolimitstatisticalpower.

Onsetandterminationofmindwandering.Assumingthoughtscouldbedetected

withinseveralsecondsofonset,advancedmeditatorscouldlikelyprovidefairlyaccurate

estimatesofthedurationofeachmindwanderingepisodeupondetection,thusenablinga

roughestimationofstarttime(Figure4A).Usingatrial-by-trialapproachwiththehelpof

Figure4:Possiblecharacterizationofindividualthoughtepisodesthroughfirst-personreportsduringFAmeditation.ThisschematicshowstwotemporallyandphenomenallydifferentepisodesofmindwanderingthatcouldoccurduringthecourseofFAmeditation.Inthiskindofdesign,eachtimethepractitionerbecomesawareofmindwandering,s/hewouldpressabutton,andthenprovidesubjectivereportonanynumberofvariables,including:A)theestimateddurationoftheepisode(basedonunitsofanalysis,suchasTRs),B)percentageofoff-taskattention,andC)variousdimensionsofthoughtcontent.Theseandothermeasurescouldbegatheredaloneorincombination,dependingontheresearchquestion.Subjectivedatacouldthenbeusedtodriveanalysesofphysiologicalcorrelatesbyprovidingbothtemporalandphenomenologicalconstraints.Forexample,thewindowofanalysisformindwanderingcouldbecustomizedforeachepisode,asshownbytheyellowbars.Otherapproachescouldcombineepisodeswithsimilarcharacterizations(e.g.,percentattention,thoughtcontent,etc.)todeterminespecificneuralcorrelates.


suchskilledparticipants,researchersmaythusbeabletoconstructveryfine-grainedand

alsocustomizedmapsofthetemporalunfoldingofspontaneousthoughtinanindividual.

Suchmapscouldthenbecorrelatedwithphysiologicalmeasurestoallowforamore

detailedunderstandingofboththearisingandcessationofspontaneousthought.Inother

words,eachepisodecouldbeascribeditsownuniqueduration,andstatisticalaveraging

wouldbeappliedonlyacrossepisodeswithsimilardurations,therebyconstraining

analysisandincreasingprecision.

Asimilarapproachcouldbetakentoestimatetheproportionofattentionremaining

ontheobjectforeachmindwanderingepisode,thusbeginningtoaddresstheneural

underpinningsofahybridorsplitattentiondiscussedabove(Figure4B).Froma

qualitativeperspective,participantscouldalsoprovidephenomenologicaldataonthe

experienceofperceptualdecoupling(Schooleretal.,2011)—theprocessofdisengaging

attentionfromcurrentperceptionsthatinitiatesspontaneousthought—aswellasthe

arisingofmeta-awarenessthatenablesself-catching.Furtherrefinementsofthe

phenomenologyofmindwanderingcouldalsobeexplored.Forexample,Metzinger(2013)

hasproposedthata“self-representationalblink”occursatthemomentofperceptual

decoupling,whichhedefinesasthesubjectivelossofattentionalcontrolandthesudden

appearanceofunintentionalmentalbehavior.Hefurthersuggeststhatatthesame

moment,theremaybeashiftinthe“unitofidentification”—thephenomenalcontentwith

whichoneidentifiesasanautonomousself.Allofthesesubtlesubjectivestatescouldbe

illuminatedwithprecisefirst-personreportsatthemomentoftheiroccurrenceinthe

contextofFAmeditation.

Phenomenalqualitiesofthoughtcontent.Anotherchallengeinstudyingspontaneous


thoughtisthesheervarietyofcontentthatcanbeexperienced.Significantadvanceshave

recentlybeenmadeindistinguishingphenomenalqualitiesofmindwanderingepisodes.

Commondimensionsincludepast–future,positive–negative,andself–other(e.g.,Andrews-

Hannaetal.,2013;Hoffmann,Banzhaf,Kanske,Bermpohl,&Singer,2016;Jazaierietal.,

2015;Killingsworth&Gilbert,2010;Ruby,Smallwood,Engen,&Singer,2013).One

intriguingaspectofspontaneousthoughtthatisbeginningtobestudiedisthedifficulty

withwhichonedisengagesfromit,alsoreferredtoasthe“stickiness”ofthoughts(vanVugt

&Broers,2016).Thesequalitieshavebeenfoundtoinfluencemood,taskperformance,

caringbehavior,andconstructssuchasdepression,rumination,andmindfulness

(Andrews-Hannaetal.,2013;Hoffmannetal.,2016;Jazaierietal.,2015;Killingsworth&

Gilbert,2010;Rubyetal.,2013;vanVugt&Broers,2016).Usingtheapproachdescribed

here,trial-by-trialreportingcouldalsobeemployedtolearnmoreabouttheneural

correlatesofspecificthoughtcontent.Forexample,upondetectionofmindwandering

withinanFAparadigm,participantscouldcategorizethoughtcontentalongtheseorother

dimensions.Customizedregressorscouldthenbecreatedforeachepisode,andthosewith

similarcharacterizationscouldbecombinedtoidentifybrainactivityunderlyingdistinct

typesorqualitiesofspontaneousthoughts(Figure4C).

Participantselection.Whilethissuggestedapproachassumesparticipantsare

experiencedmeditators,itshouldbenotedthatcarefulphenomenologicalinterviewshave

alsobeenusedsuccessfullywithnon-meditatorstogatherrichlydetailedaccountsofvery

narrowwindowsofexperience(LeVanQuyen&Petitmengin,2002;Petitmengin,2006).In

addition,non-meditatinggroupsofparticipantshaveoftenbeenusedtogatherdataonthe

contentofspontaneousthoughts(Andrews-Hannaetal.,2013;Jazaierietal.,2015;


Killingsworth&Gilbert,2010;Rubyetal.,2013;vanVugt&Broers,2016).Moreover,in

pilotingourstudy,wefoundthatnoviceswereeasilyabletoperformFAmeditationand

reportawarenessofmindwanderingepisodes.Thus,itmaybethattheapproaches

outlinedaboveneednotberestrictedtoexperiencedmeditators.However,itislikelythat

beginnerswillhavelowerlevelsofmeta-awareness,andthereforeexperiencemore

frequentmindwanderingand/orlongerperiodsofmindwanderingbeforedetection

occurs.Ifthisistrue,novicesmaynotbeidealforprovidinghighlyfine-grainedsubjective

reporting,particularlywithrespecttoprecisetemporalestimationsofmindwandering.

Whileexperiencedmeditatorsarepreferableasparticipantsforthiscarefulwork,

studyingnovicesastheyengageinmeditationovertimemayofferanotherunique

opportunitytogainnewinsightsintothelandscapeofspontaneousthought.Forexample,

longitudinalstudiescouldexaminethetimecourseandtrajectoryofchangesinmeta-

awarenessandself-caughtmindwanderinginagroupofnovicesastheytraininFA

meditation.Frequencyandperiodicityofspontaneousthoughtcouldbetrackedeven

duringhomepractice,yieldingbehavioralinformationatalevelthathasnotbeenexplored

previously.Participantscouldalsobestudiedinlab-basedparadigmsdesignedtoprobe

meta-awareness,thusincreasingourunderstandingofhowthiscapacitycanbetrained

andfostered.Neuroimagingstudiescouldinvestigatewhetherandhowrepeated

meditationinfluencesactivitywithinbrainnetworksrelatedtocognitivecontrol.Finally,

changesinthecontentofspecificmindwanderingepisodesmaybedetectableovertime;it

istemptingtospeculatethatshiftstowardmorepositiveorother-focusedthoughtsmay

occuraspracticeproceeds(e.g.,Jazaierietal.,2015),althoughthisremainsanopen

questionforfutureresearch.


Conclusions

Thestudyofspontaneousthoughthasadvancedrapidlyinrecentyears.Asweseek

tofurtherrefineourunderstandingofboththephenomenologyandneuralunderpinnings

ofthisubiquitousmentalexperience,wewillneednovelmethodsofgatheringand

integratingfirst-personsubjectiveinformationintoexperimentaldesignandanalysis.In

thischapter,I’veexaminedthepracticeofFAmeditationasakindofself-caughtmind

wanderingparadigm,involvingrepeatedfluctuationsbetweenfocusedattentionandmind

wandering.Byconsideringthiscommoncontemplativepracticethroughthelensof

cognitiveresearch,numerousopportunitiesarisethatmayfurtherthestudyof

spontaneousthought.

Specifically,byleveragingtheenhancedabilityofexperiencedmeditatorstodetect

episodesofmindwanderingduringFAmeditation,researcherscouldobtainrichlydetailed

informationaboutthedurationandcontentofindividualepisodes.Thismaysubstantially

increaseanalyticalprecisioninthesearchforneuralcorrelatesofspontaneousthought,

allowingforaveragingacrossonlythoseepisodeswithsimilarcharacteristics.Suchatrial-

by-trialapproach,dovetailedwiththereportingabilitiesofexperiencedmeditators,may

holdgreatpromiseforadvancingourunderstandingofthemind’snaturalfluctuations.

Onabroaderscale,relyingmoreheavilyonsubjectiveinputtodriveanalysismay

helpusshifttowardamorenuancedapproachtothescientificstudyofconsciousness.Asit

becomesincreasinglyclearthatthemindisever-changingandstronglyinfluencedby

multiplecontexts,wemustfindalternativestotraditional,reductivemethodsthatassume

similaritiesacrossindividualsandevenacrossasingleindividual’svariedmental


experiences.Theintegrationoffirst-personinformationintoourresearchparadigmswill

beessentialifwearetodeeplyunderstandandhonorthetruecomplexityofhuman

thought.


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