title: Mechanisms of mindfulness: The dynamics of affective adaptation during open monitoring.
abstract: Mindfulness - the nonjudgmental awareness of the present experience - is thought to facilitate affective adaptation through increased exposure to emotions and faster extinction of habitual responses. To test this framework, the amplification of the Late Positive Potential (LPP) by negative relative to neutral images was analyzed across stimulus repetitions while 37 novices performed an open monitoring mindfulness exercise. Compared to two active control conditions where attention was either diverted to a distracting task or the stimuli were attended without mindfulness instructions, open monitoring enhanced the initial LPP response to negative stimuli, indicating increased emotional exposure. Across successive repetitions, mindfulness reduced and ultimately removed the affective LPP amplification, suggesting extinction of habitual emotional reactions. This effect arose from reduced negative as well enlarged neutral LPPs. Unlike stimuli from control conditions, the images previously viewed with mindfulness instructions did not elicit affective LPP amplification during subsequent re-exposure, suggesting reconsolidation of stimulus meaning.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Psychology, University of Tartu, Näituse 2, 50409 Tartu, Estonia. Electronic address: helen.uusberg@ut.ee.
authors.forename: Helen
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Uusberg
authors.affiliation: Institute of Psychology, University of Tartu, Näituse 2, 50409 Tartu, Estonia; Department of Psychology, Stanford University, 450 Serra Mall, Stanford, 94305 CA, USA.
authors.forename: Andero
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Uusberg
authors.affiliation: Institute of Psychology, University of Tartu, Näituse 2, 50409 Tartu, Estonia; School of Natural Sciences and Health, Tallinn University, Narva mnt 25, 10120 Tallinn, Estonia.
authors.forename: Teri
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Talpsep
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Tartu, Raja 31, 50417 Tartu, Estonia. Electronic address: marika.paaver@ut.ee.
authors.forename: Marika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Paaver
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological / Q000502:physiology*; D000328:Adult; D001364:Awareness / Q000502:physiology; D004569:Electroencephalography; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology*; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D064866:Mindfulness
keywords: Acceptance; Affective adaptation; Distraction; Emotion regulation; Event-related potentials; Exposure to emotions; LPP; Late positive potential; Mindfulness