Interoceptive awareness in experienced meditators

SAHIB S KHALSA; DAVID RUDRAUF; ANTONIO R DAMASIO; RICHARD J DAVIDSON; ANTOINE LUTZ; DANIEL TRANEL

doi:10.1111/j.1469-8986.2008.00666.x

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Interoceptive awareness in experienced meditators

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

Interoceptive awareness in experienced meditators

SAHIB S KHALSA, DAVID RUDRAUF, ANTONIO R DAMASIO, RICHARD J DAVIDSON, ANTOINE LUTZ and DANIEL TRANEL

Psychophysiology, Vol.45(4), pp.671-677

07/2008

DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-8986.2008.00666.x

PMCID: PMC2637372

PMID: 18503485

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https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/2637372View

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Abstract

Attention to internal body sensations is practiced inmost meditation traditions. Many traditions state that this practice results in increased awareness of internal body sensations, but scientific studies evaluating this claim are lacking. We predicted that experienced meditators would display performance superior to that of nonmeditators on heartbeat detection, a standard noninvasive measure of resting interoceptive awareness. We compared two groups of meditators (Tibetan Buddhist and Kundalini) to an age- and body mass index-matched group of nonmeditators. Contrary to our prediction, we found no evidence that meditators were superior to nonmeditators in the heartbeat detection task, across several sessions and respiratory modulation conditions. Compared to nonmeditators, however, meditators consistently rated their interoceptive performance as superior and the difficulty of the task as easier. These results provide evidence against the notion that practicing attention to internal body sensations, a core feature of meditation, enhances the ability to sense the heartbeat at rest.

Meditation

Interoception

Respiration

Heartbeat detection

Awareness

Details

Title: Subtitle: Interoceptive awareness in experienced meditators
Creators: SAHIB S KHALSA - W. M. Keck Laboratory for Functional Brain Imaging and Behavior, Waisman Center, and Laboratory for Affective Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
DAVID RUDRAUF - W. M. Keck Laboratory for Functional Brain Imaging and Behavior, Waisman Center, and Laboratory for Affective Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
ANTONIO R DAMASIO - W. M. Keck Laboratory for Functional Brain Imaging and Behavior, Waisman Center, and Laboratory for Affective Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
RICHARD J DAVIDSON - W. M. Keck Laboratory for Functional Brain Imaging and Behavior, Waisman Center, and Laboratory for Affective Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
ANTOINE LUTZ - W. M. Keck Laboratory for Functional Brain Imaging and Behavior, Waisman Center, and Laboratory for Affective Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
DANIEL TRANEL - W. M. Keck Laboratory for Functional Brain Imaging and Behavior, Waisman Center, and Laboratory for Affective Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Psychophysiology, Vol.45(4), pp.671-677
DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-8986.2008.00666.x
PMID: 18503485
PMCID: PMC2637372
NLM abbreviation: Psychophysiology
ISSN: 0048-5772
eISSN: 1540-5958
Language: English
Date published: 07/2008
Academic Unit: Neurology; Psychological and Brain Sciences; Iowa Neuroscience Institute
Record Identifier: 9984002595502771

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