Contemplative Psychophysiology Lab
Mindfulness can be understood as an open and receptive awareness of experience as it occurs in the present. At the broadest level, an aim of the NAU Contemplative Psychophysiology Lab is to extend the scientific understanding of mindfulness by examining several constituent processes that facilitate mindfulness and influence basic emotion and memory processes. These lines of research extend into applied domains, including geriatric care and education. Accordingly, the research conducted in the Contemplative Psychophysiology Lab explores two intersecting lines of research. First, we examine the relation between mindful awareness and the regulation and experience of emotions, particularly under conditions of threat. Second, we examine the relation between mindfulness and memory-related processes, such as the content and accuracy of memory, and the subjective experience of remembering.
Mindfulness and Emotion Regulation
Regulating emotional experience adaptively is a hallmark of psychological health, and evidence suggests mindfulness influences this process in a number of important ways. Our research examines the relation between mindfulness and neural activity that unfolds quickly after exposure to a variety of distinct threats. This line of research also examines how mindfulness influences emotional experience during more benign situations. Together with our collaborators, we have provided converging evidence across multiple levels of analysis – from neural markers to subjective reports during daily living -- that suggest mindfulness profoundly influences a wide array of outcomes that lead to healthier emotional living.
Mindfulness and Memory
Attention and memory are tightly intertwined, and sometimes the line between them is not well-defined. For example, we are better at remembering the things we pay attention to, yet our memories determine what we attend to and allow into awareness. Several theoretical frameworks suggest mindfulness may facilitate memory function. To help better understand the constituent processes involved in mindfulness, our program of research explores the interplay between attention and memory during states of mindful awareness. We have started exploring how mindfulness influences a host of memory-related processes, including episodic and prospective memory function, and the subjective experience of remembering. An extension of this research was awarded the Francisco J. Varela Research Award for Contemplative Science to examine mindfulness training as a way to slow cognitive decline among aging adults.
A Note on Research Ethics. This research is conducted with approval from an Institutional Review Board and in accordance with the “Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct” (American Psychological Association, 2010). Please see the link below for more information.