小結

當不進行任何腦力勞動時，大腦中的默認模式神經網絡便開始工作，我們的思緒開始遊離，在腦海中回顧那些專注於自己的、不愉快的想法和感覺，同時以“自我”為中心視角來構建個人的經歷。當進行正念練習和慈愛冥想時，默認模式神經網絡就趨於平靜。在冥想的早期階段，“自我體系”的這種平靜需要大腦神經迴路來抑制默認模式所在區域，而隨著練習的深入，構成默認模式的區域間的連通性和活性逐漸減弱。

自我回路平靜下來，這是冥想過程中或冥想之後立馬產生的階段性效果。然而，經過長時間的冥想練習，默認模式自身的活性減弱，階段性的效果也就成為一種特質。由此促使情感的黏滯性減弱，這意味著就算聚焦於自我的思緒和感覺在腦海中浮現，它們“滯留”的可能也變得小之又小，也無法再牽制過多的注意力。

[1] Marcus Raichle et al., “A Default Mode of Brain Function,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 98 (2001): 676-82.

[2] M. F. Mason et al., “Wandering Minds: The Default Network and Stimulus Independent Thought,” Science 315:581 (2007): 393-95; doi:10.1126/science.1131295.

[3] Judson Brewer et al., “Meditation Experience Is Associated with Differences in Default Mode Network Activity and Connectivity,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 108:50 (2011): 1-6; doi:10.1073/pnas.1112029108.

[4] Fakhruddin Iraqi, a thirteenth century Sufi poet, quoted in James Fadiman and Robert Frager, Essential Sufis (New York: Harper Collins, 1997).

[5] Abu Said of Mineh, quoted in P. Rice, The Persian Sufis (London: Allen &Unwin, 1964), p.34.

[6] David Creswell et al., “Alterations in Resting-State Functional Connectivity Link Mindfulness Meditation with Reduced Interleukin-6: A Randomized Controlled Trial,” Biological Psychiatry 80 (2016): 53-61.

[7] Brewer et al., “Meditation Experience Is Associated with Differences in Default Mode Network Activity and Connectivity.”

[8] Kathleen A. Garrison et al., “BOLD Signals and Functional Connectivity Associated with Loving Kindness Meditation,” Brain and Behavior 4:3 (2014):337-47.

[9] Aviva Berkovich-Ohana et al., “Alterations in Task-Induced Activity and Resting-State Fluctuations in Visual and DMN Areas Revealed in Long-Term Meditators,” NeuroImage 135 (2016): 125-34.

[10] Giuseppe Pagnoni, “Dynamical Properties of BOLD Activity from the Ventral Posteromedial Cortex Associated with Meditation and Attentional Skills,”Journal of Neuroscience 32:15 (2012): 5242-49.

[11] V. A. Taylor et al., “Impact of Meditation Training on the Default Mode Network during a Restful State,” Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience 8 (2013): 4-14.

[12] D. B. Levinson et al., “A Mind You Can Count On: Validating Breath Counting as a Behavioral Measure of Mindfulness,” Frontiers in Psychology 5 (2014); http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/110196/abstract.

[13] Cole Koparnay, Center for Healthy Minds, University of Wisconsin, in preparation. 這項研究採用了比先前的一些研究更嚴格的標準來衡量大腦的變化。先前的一些研究結果顯示冥想者大腦各項指標均有上升。

[14] 但是，也許還有一小部分冥想者走上了一條不同的道路，變得既冷酷又漠然。也許是為了阻止這種趨勢發展下去，許多冥想傳統才著重強調同情心和奉獻，因為這兩者是“頂好的”。

[15] Arthur Zajonc, personal communication.

[16] Kathleen Garrison et al., “Effortless Awareness: Using Real Time Neurofeedback to Investigate Correlates of Posterior Cingulate Cortex Activity in Meditators’ Self-Report,” Frontiers in Human Neuroscience7:440 (August 2013): 1-9.

[17] Anna-Lena Lumma et al., “Is Meditation Always Relaxing? Investigating Heart Rate, Heart Rate Variability, Experienced Effort and Likeability During Training of Three Types of Meditation,” International Journal of Psychophysiology 97 (2015): 38-45.