The Effects of Well-being Interventions on Affect, Attention, Sleep, Social Stress and Pain Regulation

This study is focused on the brain mechanisms and peripheral biological correlates of two different forms of meditation--mindfulness-based and compassion/loving-kindness. Project 1 is focused on the impact of compassion/loving-kindness meditation on emotional reactivity and emotion regulation. Project 2 is focused on the neural and behavioral correlates of mindfulness meditation and attention and pain regulation. In addition, Project 2 will examine the relations between changes in oscillatory rhythms during meditation and attention and pain processing. Project 3 will examine the impact of meditation on spontaneous brain activity during sleep. This project will also examine the impact of intensive meditation on regional changes in slow wave activity during subsequent sleep. Each of these projects will be conducted on the same participants so that interrelations among the various measures collected in the different projects can be examined. We believe that this study will dramatically advance the understanding of the mechanisms by which meditation produces changes in behavioral and biological processes.