Figure 1.

Summary of predictions on the effects of Standardized Mindfulness Training (ST-Mindfulness) on cognitive and clinical conditions through top–down alpha modulation. Green arrows—enhanced functions A → B: ST-Mindfulness enhances working memory (WM) (e.g., Jha et al., 2010; Van Vugt and Jha, 2011) and cued selective attention (e.g., Jha et al., 2007; for a related task, see also Jensen et al., 2012a,b). α → B: Top–down alpha modulation is associated with enhanced WM performance (e.g., Tuladhar et al., 2007; Jensen and Mazaheri, 2010; Van Dijk et al., 2010) and enhanced sensory perception in selective attention tasks (Kelly et al., 2009; Jones et al., 2010; Foxe and Snyder, 2011) with TMS studies suggesting alpha is causally implicated in memory (Sauseng et al., 2009) and perceptual tasks (Romei et al., 2010) A → α: ST-Mindfulness enhances attentional modulation of alpha rhythms in SI (Kerr et al., 2011a,b). Red arrows—reduced functions A → C: ST-Mindfulness reduces distress in chronic pain (e.g., Sephton et al., 2007; Gaylord et al., 2011; Schmidt et al., 2011) and reduces risk of depression relapse (e.g., Teasdale et al., 2000a,b; Segal et al., 2010). C → B: WM and selective attention performance are reduced in chronic pain (e.g., Gijsen et al., 2011; Moore et al., 2012) and depression (e.g., Goeleven et al., 2006; Roiser et al., 2012). Blue arrows—hypothesized mechanisms of ST-Mindfulness. Primary: A → α → C: We predict that 8-week ST-Mindfulness training elicits enhanced top–down alpha modulation in sensory cortex that corresponds to improved clinical conditions including chronic pain and depression. Secondary: A → α → B → C: We further predict that top–down alpa modulation after ST-Mindfulness for clinical conditions will be correlated with performance on cognitive measures including selective attention and working memory.