Contemplative practices are thought to modify one's experience of self and fundamentally change self-referential processing. However, few studies have examined the brain correlates of self-referential processing in long-term meditators. Here, we used the self-referential encoding task (SRET) to examine event-related potentials (ERP) during assessment of pleasant and unpleasant self-views in long-term meditators versus age-matched meditation-naïve control participants. Compared with controls, meditators endorsed significantly more pleasant and fewer unpleasant words as self-referential. We also found a between-group difference in the early component of the late-positive-potential (LPP) of the ERP characterized by a larger response to unpleasant versus pleasant words in controls and no difference in meditators. A cross-sectional design, such as the one used in the present study, has certain caveats like self-selectivity bias. If such caveats did not affect our results, these findings suggest that a long-term contemplative lifestyle, of which meditation training is an integral part, alters self-referential processing towards a more adaptive view of self and neural equivalence towards pleasant and unpleasant self-views. These findings suggest that long-term meditation training may affect brain and behavioural mechanism that support a more flexible and healthy relationship to one's self.

中文翻译：

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长期冥想者与对照者在情感自指处理中与事件相关的潜能和行为差异。

沉思实践被认为可以改变一个人的自我体验，并从根本上改变自我指涉的过程。但是，很少有研究检查长期冥想者自我参照过程与大脑的相关性。在这里，我们使用自我参照编码任务（SRET）在评估长期冥想者与年龄匹配的单纯冥想对照参与者的愉快和不愉快的自我看法时，检查事件相关电位（ERP）。与对照组相比，冥想者认可自己的自我指称要愉快得多，不愉快的词要少得多。我们还发现，ERP的后期正电位（LPP）的早期组成部分存在组间差异，其特征是控件中对不愉快和愉快的单词的反应更大，而冥想者则没有差异。横截面设计 如本研究中使用的那样，具有某些警告，例如自选择性偏差。如果这些警告不影响我们的结果，则这些发现表明，长期沉思的生活方式（冥想训练是不可或缺的一部分）会改变自我参照的处理方式，从而使自我和神经对等的适应性更强，从而使人感到愉快和不愉快。意见。这些发现表明，长期的冥想训练可能会影响大脑和行为机制，从而支持与人之间更灵活和健康的关系。改变自我参照处理，以适应更适应的自我观，而神经等效性改变为愉悦和不愉快的自我观。这些发现表明，长期的冥想训练可能会影响大脑和行为机制，从而支持与人之间更加灵活和健康的关系。改变了自我参照处理，以适应自我的看法，而神经等效性改变为愉悦和不愉快的自我看法。这些发现表明，长期的冥想训练可能会影响大脑和行为机制，从而支持与人之间更灵活和健康的关系。