Mindfulness from the perspective of social cognitive neuroscience and its therapeutic implications

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to characterize of mindfulness from the point of view of social cognitive neuroscience being a combination of cognitive neuroscience centred on the examination of the brain functioning and social psychology focused on the analysis of social behavior.

The article describes the neurobiology of mindfulness from the perspective of the existence of two different and co-operating circuits – the “narrative” and the “direct experience” one. The first one gets activated when something worth attention appears around a person and when they think of themselves or other people, while the other appears when the person experiences the influx of information reaching them at a given moment through their senses.

The author enumerates measurable benefits resulting from practicing mindfulness training in, among others, fighting stress, depression and/or anxiety, increasing the control of emotions, improving psychophysical well-being and increasing a positive attitude. He also cites the results of the research obtained by using neuroimagining techniques indicating that mindfulness training leads to visible changes in the structure and working of the brain.