Effects of mindfulness meditation on conscious and non-conscious components of the mind

The aim of the present review is to investigate previous studies concerning the effects of meditation and dispositional mindfulness on conscious and implicit or non-conscious attitudes. First we present a brief perspective on conscious and non-conscious states of mind. Then we introducethefundamentalbasesofmindfulnessmeditation. Third we review studies on dispositional mindfulness and meditation that employed either direct or indirect measures to assess explicit and implicit attitudes. Finally, we briefly present how meditation has been associated with the psychotherapeutic practice of psychoanalysis and, hence, as a therapeutic technique to access the unconscious. Until now, few studies have investigated the impact of meditation on non-conscious states of mind and personality; nevertheless, both scientific studies involving implicit measures and reflections from psychotherapy have underlined the importance of meditation in promoting psychological well-being, leading to de-automatization of automatic patterns of responding and to higher levels of self-awareness

Editorial: Neuroimaging and neuropsychology of meditation states

2noopenopenTomasino, Barbara; Fabbro, FrancoTomasino, Barbara; Fabbro, Franc

Contributions of Neuropsychology to the Study of Ancient Literature

The present work introduces the neuropsychological paradigm as a new approach to studying ancient literature. In the first part of the article, an epistemological framework for the proper use of neuropsychology in relation to ancient literature is presented. The article then discusses neuropsychological methods of studying different human experiences and dimensions already addressed by ancient literatures. The experiences of human encounters with gods among ancient cultures are first considered, through the contributions of Julian Jaynes and Eric R. Dodds. The concepts of right and left in the Bible, and that of soul are then discussed. Ecstatic experience in Paul of Tarsus is also presented, with a particular focus on glossolalia. Neuroscientific differences between mindful and unitive meditative practices are then described referring to ancient Buddhist literature, and finally a brief description of dreams in ancient Greek literature is proposed. Neuropsychology variously enables a more profound understanding of themes characterizing human experiences that ancient literature has already explored; these investigations prove that the collaboration of neuroscience and humanistic studies can return fruitful and interesting results

Language Brain Representation in Bilinguals With Different Age of Appropriation and Proficiency of the Second Language: A Meta-Analysis of Functional Imaging Studies

Language representation in the bilingual brain is the result of many factors, of which age of appropriation (AoA) and proficiency of the second language (L2) are probably the most studied. Many studies indeed compare early and late bilinguals, although it is not yet clear what the role of the so-called critical period in L2 appropriation is. In this study, we carried out coordinate-based meta-analyses to address this issue and to inspect the role of proficiency in addition to that of AoA. After the preliminary inspection of the early (also very early) and late bilinguals’ language networks, we explored the specific activations associated with each language and compared them within and between the groups. Results confirmed that the L2 language brain representation was wider than that associated with L1. This was observed regardless of AoA, although differences were more relevant in the late bilinguals’ group. In particular, L2 entailed a greater enrollment of the brain areas devoted to the executive functions, and this was also observed in proficient bilinguals. The early bilinguals displayed many activation clusters as well, which also included the areas involved in cognitive control. Interestingly, these regions activated even in L1 of both early and late bilingual groups, although less consistently. Overall, these findings suggest that bilinguals in general are constantly subjected to cognitive effort to monitor and regulate the language use, although early AoA and high proficiency are likely to reduce this

Spontaneous eye movements during focused-attention mindfulness meditation

Oculometric measures have been proven to be useful markers of mind-wandering during visual tasks such as reading. However, little is known about ocular activity during mindfulness meditation, a mental practice naturally involving mind-wandering episodes. In order to explore this issue, we extracted closed-eyes ocular movement measurements via a covert technique (EEG recordings) from expert meditators during two repetitions of a 7-minute mindfulness meditation session, focusing on the breath, and two repetitions of a 7-minute instructed mind-wandering task. Power spectral density was estimated on both the vertical and horizontal components of eye movements. The results show a significantly smaller average amplitude of eye movements in the delta band (1\u20134 Hz) during mindfulness meditation than instructed mind-wandering. Moreover, participants\u2019 meditation expertise correlated significantly with this average amplitude during both tasks, with more experienced meditators generally moving their eyes less than less experienced meditators. These findings suggest the potential use of this measure to detect mind-wandering episodes during mindfulness meditation and to assess meditation performance

Temperament and Character Effects on Late Adolescents' Well-Being and Emotional-Behavioural Difficulties

Background. Research on adults points to personality as a crucial determinant of well- being. The present study investigates the question of personality's relation to well-being and psychosocial adjustment in adolescence. Methods. We assessed the role of temperament and character (Temperament and Character Inventory, TCI-125), on psychological well-being (PWB; Psychological Well- Being scales), subjective well-being (SWB; Positive and Negative Affect, PA and NA, respectively), and psychosocial adjustment (emotional-behavioural problems measured by the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire for Adolescents, SDQ-A), in 72 Italian late adolescents (aged 17.5 0.75). Multiple regressions were conducted to predict PWB, SWB, and SDQ-A scores using TCI-125 scales as predictors. Results. Character maturity, and in particular Self-Directedness, had a widespread protective effect on well-being and psychosocial adjustment, while different strengths and emotional-behavioural difficulties were associated to specific temperamental and character traits. For example, Harm-Avoidance and Novelty-Seeking positively predicted internalized and externalized problems, respectively. Discussion. The present results suggest the usefulness of continuing to evaluate temperament and, in particular, character dimensions in investigations focused on adolescents' well-being and psychosocial functioning, especially in the contexts of potential interventions aimed at enhancing development of adolescents' character dimensions at the intrapersonal, interpersonal, and transpersonal levels

Acute effects of surgery on emotion and personality of brain tumor patients: Surgery impact, histological aspects, and recovery

Background. Cognitive effects of brain surgery for the removal of intracranial tumors are still under investigation. For many basic sensory/motor or language-based functions, focal, albeit transient, cognitive deficits have been reported low-grade gliomas (LGGs); however, the effects of surgery on higher-level cognitive functions are still largely unknown. It has recently been shown that, following brain tumors, damage to different brain regions causes a variety of deficits at different levels in the perception and interpretation of emotions and intentions. However, the effects of different tumor histologies and, more importantly, the effects of surgery on these functions have not been examined. Methods. The performance of 66 patients affected by high-grade glioma (HGG), LGG, and meningioma on 4 tasks tapping different levels of perception and interpretations of emotion and intentions was assessed before, immediately after, and (for LGG patients) 4 months following surgery. Results. Results showed that HGG patients were generally already impaired in the more perceptual tasks before surgery and did not show surgery effects. Conversely, LGG patients, who were unimpaired before surgery, showed a significant deficit in perceptual tasks immediately after surgery that was recovered within few months. Meningioma patients were substantially unimpaired in all tasks. Conclusions. These results show that surgery can be relatively safe for LGG patients with regard to the higher-level, more complex cognitive functions and can provide further useful information to the neurosurgeon and improve communication with both the patient and the relatives about possible changes that can occur immediately after surgery

Age-dependent changes of thinking about verbs

We investigated the knowledge of emotional and motor verbs in children andadolescents from three age ranges (8\u201311, 12\u201315, 16\u201319 years). Participants estimatedthe verbs familiarity, age of acquisition, valence, arousal, imageability, and motor- andemotion-relatedness. Participants were familiar with theverbs in our dataset. The younger(8\u201311) attributed an emotional character to the verbs less frequently than the middle(12\u201315) and the older (16\u201319) groups. In the 8\u201311 group malesrated the verbs asemotion-related less frequently than females. Results indicate that processing verbalconcepts as emotion-related develops gradually, and after12\u201315 is rather stable. The ageof acquisition (AoA) develops late: the older (16\u201319) had a higher awareness in reportingthat they learnt the verbs earlier as compared to the estimations made by the younger(8\u201311 and 12\u201315). AoA positively correlated with attribution of emotion relatednessmeaning that emotion-related verbs were learned later. Arousal was comparable acrossages. Also it increased when attributing motor relatednessto verbs and decreasedwhen attributing emotion relatedness. Reporting the verbs\u2019 affective valence (happy vs.unhappy) changes with age: younger (8\u201311) judged the verbs generally more \u201chappy\u201dthan both the older groups. Instead the middle and the older group did not showdifferences. Happiness increased when processing the verbs as motor related anddecreased when processing the verbs as emotion related. Ageaffected imageability:the younger (8\u201311) considered the verbs easier to be imagined than the two oldergroups, suggesting that at this age vividness estimation isstill rough, while after 12\u201315 isstable as the 12\u201315 and 15\u201319 group did not differ. Imageability predicted arousal, AoA,emotion- and motor-relatedness indicating that this indexinfluences the way verbs areprocessed. Imageability was positively correlated to emotion relatedness, indicating thatsuch verbs were harder to be imagined, and negatively to motor relatedness. Imageablitypositively correlated with valence meaning that verbs receiving positive valence were alsothose that were hard to be imagined, and negatively correlated with arousal, meaning thatverbs that were harder to be imagined elicited low physiological activation. Our resultsgive an insight in the development of emotional and motor-related verbs representations

Acquired Language Disorders in Bilinguals

The literature reports an increased number of aphasias involving bilingual people. Dealing with bilingual aphasia requires particular attention from the diagnostic to the therapeutic phase. In this review, the authors describe the possible impairment patterns, which could be different between the two languages and be characterised by specific deficits and sometimes unexpected profiles. The role of some crucial factors in determining the observed deficits and impairment patterns is illustrated, for instance age of appropriation and proficiency. An early versus late language appropriation recruits different brain processes and hence different brain structures. In general, a greater vulnerability is observed for the late-learned languages, although a high proficiency or use and exposure appear to prevent language impairment even in the case of late appropriation. The authors also discussed the role of other intervening factors, such as emotional–motivational aspects, which could explain unusual profiles. Furthermore, language deficits specific to bilingualism, such as pathological mixing and switching and translation problems were described. In this respect, the authors underlined the fundamental involvement of cognitive control mechanisms and of the role of the brain structures associated with this. Lastly, the clinical practice issues in bilingual aphasia were outlined, underlining the need for a careful diagnosis. This should take into account the patient's language history in order to avoid biased assessments and instead promote the setup of effective intervention programmes

The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Affect, Fear, and Personality of Primary School Children Measured During the Second Wave of Infections in 2020

In relation to the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, a large body of research has identified a negative impact on individuals' affectivity, frequently documented by increased prevalence of anxiety and depression symptoms. For children, this research was less extensive, was mainly based on caregivers' reports and neglected personality assessment. In order to measure the impact of the pandemic, and the fears it caused, on primary school children's affect and personality, 323 (180 boys and 143 girls) Italian third, fourth and fifth graders were assessed between October and November 2020, namely during the second wave of COVID-19 infections in Italy, with validated self-reports of affect (Positive and Negative Affect Scale for Children, PANAS-C), fear of COVID-19 (Fear of COVID-19 Scale, FCV-19S) and personality (junior Temperament and Character Inventory, jTCI). In comparison with PANAS-C and jTCI normative scores collected prior to the pandemic, data obtained from children in 2020 showed unchanged affect scores in the overall sample, a decrease of Positive Affect in girls, and a decrease in the Harm Avoidance and an increase in the Self-Transcendence scales of personality. Fear of COVID-19 scores were positively correlated with Negative Affect scores and negatively predicted by children's personality profile of resilience (calculated using scores on the Harm Avoidance and the Self-Directedness scales of personality). These results suggested that Italian primary school children, especially boys, maintained their pre-pandemic levels of affect (or restored them after the first COVID-19 wave) and partially diverged from the typical development of personality in an apparently positive sense, namely toward more courageous/optimistic and spiritual profiles. This sort of children's post-traumatic growth might also be attributed to children's family and education systems, which should continue to be supported to promote and maintain community mental health