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Transcript
From mindfulness to
compassion – a
neuroscientific perspective
Marieke van Vugt
Dept of Artificial Intelligence & Cognitive
Engineering, University of Groningen
http://www.ai.rug.nl/~mkvanvugt @mvugt
artificial
intelligence
cognitive
modeling
Take-away
Compassion changes the way we feel
 Compassion can be trained through
mindfulness
 Mindfulness works by increasing mental
clarity & flexibility

artificial
intelligence
cognitive
modeling
What is compassion?

Klimecki & Singer (2014): compassion is
characterized by feelings of warmth,
concern and care for the other, as well as
a strong motivation to improve the other’s
well-being
artificial
intelligence
cognitive
modeling
Compassion in the brain
• Compassion activates a unique set of brain
areas associated with reward, cognitive
control – and different from empathy (i.e.,
resonating with another’s feeling)
• Empathy activates the pain network
artificial
intelligence
cognitive
modeling
Klimecki et al. (2013)
Compassion related to well-being
artificial
intelligence
cognitive
modeling
Singer & Klimecki (2014)
Cultivating compassion
If compassion makes us feel good, then
how can we cultivate it?
 One way: mindfulness

artificial
intelligence
cognitive
modeling
Mindfulness has compassion as side
effect
Condon et al. (2013)
artificial
intelligence
cognitive
modeling
What is mindfulness?


Jon Kabat-Zinn: “paying attention, in a
particular way, non-judgmentally”
Sogyal Rinpoche: getting to know your
own mind, being non-distracted
artificial
intelligence
cognitive
modeling
Let’s try it!
Make yourself comfortable
 Bring your attention gently to your
breath, and observe what occurs in your
mind
 When a thought arises, gently bring
your attention back to your breath

artificial
intelligence
cognitive
modeling
What do you think?
Could mindfulness increase compassion?
 How would it do that?


Let’s consider some scientific studies on
how mindfulness changes your mind:
• Clarity of mind
• Mental flexibility

Both required to switch focus from self to
others
artificial
intelligence
cognitive
modeling
Mindfulness increases mental
clarity
29 experienced meditators vs 29 inactive
controls
 One-month retreat at Shambhala
Mountain Centre, Colorado
 Task: remembering detailed face
pictures

artificial
intelligence
cognitive
modeling
Mindfulness increases mental
clarity
Meditators showed increase in quality of
remembered information -> “clarity”
van Vugt & Jha (2011)
artificial
intelligence
cognitive
modeling
Mindfulness increases mental
flexibility
Free recall with emotional words as a measure of
“being stuck”)
artificial
intelligence
cognitive
modeling
van Vugt et al (2012)
Mindfulness increases mental
flexibility
MBCT associated with increased ability to continue
recalling positive memories, decrease in continuing
to recall negative memories
artificial
intelligence
cognitive
modeling
van Vugt et al (2012)
Being stuck in self-related worry
decreases working memory
artificial
intelligence
cognitive
modeling
Daamen, Taatgen & van Vugt (in prep)
Summary
Compassion associated with well-being
& specific brain activity patterns
 One way to train compassion:
mindfulness
 Mindfulness helps to take charge of
your mind

• Increased clarity
• Improved mental flexibility
artificial
intelligence
cognitive
modeling
Acknowledgements
Mind & Life Institute
 Niels Taatgen
 Jérome Sackur & Mikaël Bastian
 Heleen Slagter
 Willoughby Britton
 Amishi Jha
 Henk Barendregt

artificial
intelligence
cognitive
modeling