We focus here on mindfulness meditation practices and have excluded studies on other types of meditation. We discuss what has been learned so far from this research and suggest new research strategies for the field. Within this framework, we describe research that has revealed changes in behaviour, brain activity and brain structure following mindfulness meditation training. Taking into account some important theoretical considerations, we then discuss behavioural and neuroscientific findings in light of what we think are the core components of meditation practice: attention control, emotion regulation and self-awareness (BOX 1). We discuss the methodological challenges that the field faces and point to several shortcomings in existing studies. In this Review, we consider the current state of research on mindfulness meditation. These studies have reported changes in multiple aspects of mental function in beginner and advanced meditators, healthy individuals and patient populations 9–14.
Although meditation research is in its infancy, a number of studies have investigated changes in brain activation (at rest and during specific tasks) that are associated with the practice of, or that follow, training in mindfulness meditation. Of these practices, mindfulness meditation - often described as non-judgemental attention to present-moment experiences (BOX 1) - has received most attention in neuroscience research over the past two decades 2–8. Meditation encompasses a family of complex practices that include mindfulness meditation, mantra meditation, yoga, tai chi and chi gong 1. Meditation can be defined as a form of mental training that aims to improve an individual's core psychological capacities, such as attentional and emotional self-regulation.
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