Contemplative practices involve meditation, mindfulness, prayer, visualization, and similar techniques that are designed to bring about changes in one's mental state and increase focus and calmness. They have been found to be effective in reducing stress and anxiety, improving attention and concentration, increasing feelings of wellbeing and happiness, and promoting physical health. One area of research that has received much attention is the impact of contemplative practices on cognitive control and embodied sensory awareness. Cognitive control refers to the ability to regulate thoughts and behaviors, while embodied sensory awareness involves the integration of body sensations, emotions, and external stimuli into conscious experience. The neural balance between these two systems can be altered through contemplative practices, which may lead to improved performance and enhanced experiences in daily life.
The prefrontal cortex is responsible for cognitive control and executive functioning, including attention, working memory, planning, decision making, and problem solving. Contemplative practices such as mindfulness meditation have been shown to increase activity in the prefrontal cortex, particularly in the anterior cingulate cortex, a region associated with attentional control and conflict monitoring. This increased activation may help to enhance cognitive flexibility and reduce distractibility, leading to better performance on tasks requiring cognitive control.
Contemplative practices also promote greater awareness of bodily sensations and emotions, which can contribute to enhanced embodied sensory awareness.
Practices such as yoga and tai chi involve paying attention to physical movements and sensations, which can increase bodily awareness and improve coordination. Research has found that practitioners of these activities show increased activity in regions of the brain involved in processing touch and movement, such as the somatosensory cortex and premotor cortex. In addition, some studies suggest that contemplative practices may increase connectivity between cortical regions involved in emotional processing and regions associated with self-awareness, which could potentially lead to greater empathy and emotional regulation.
Contemplative practices appear to shift the balance between cognitive control and embodied sensory awareness towards greater integration and coherence. This may result in improved mental health, wellbeing, and overall quality of life, by promoting greater resilience, creativity, and social connection.
More research is needed to understand exactly how these changes occur at the neural level and what implications they have for daily behavior.
Contemplative practices appear to alter the neural balance between cognitive control and embodied sensory awareness, increasing activity in areas related to executive functioning while also promoting greater awareness of bodily sensations and emotions. These changes may have significant benefits for mental and physical health, leading to improvements in mood, stress reduction, and enhanced performance on a wide range of tasks.
How do contemplative practices alter the neural balance between cognitive control and embodied sensory awareness?
Contemplative practices such as meditation have been shown to increase activation of brain areas associated with attention regulation and decreased activity in default mode networks, which are involved in self-referential processing and rumination (Rubia et al. , 2009).