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.