Dispositional Mindfulness and Neural Correlates of Affect Regulation

Mindfulness meditation and mindfulness-based interventions offer numerous clinical benefits related to improved affect regulation and emotional functioning. Psychological and emotional benefits of dispositional mindfulness, conceptualized as an individual difference trait found among the meditation-naïve, also have been demonstrated. This literature review article describes five specific research investigations examining potential neurocognitive emotion regulation mechanisms associated with dispositional mindfulness. Higher dispositional mindfulness may allow for enhanced top-down prefrontal control of limbic activity when coping with negative emotional stimuli, and individuals with greater trait mindfulness also may experience lower levels of neural activity in response to such stimuli. These patterns of improved affect regulation with increased dispositional mindfulness may reflect lower resting activity in key brain areas such as the amygdala.