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From Distraction to Mindfulness: Psychological and Neural Mechanisms of Attention Strategies in Self-Regulation

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Abstract

The current chapter examines attention strategies that may facilitate self-regulation. In particular, we focus on the attention strategies of distraction and mindfulness. By distraction, we mean shifting attention from the original object of attention onto a different focal object. Mindfulness, on the other hand, implies regulating the focus and the quality of one’s attention. This implies paying attention to the focal object, but at the same time observing one’s own thoughts and experiences and seeing them as mere mental events. We discuss evidence that distraction and mindfulness modulate the impact of affective information on thoughts, feelings, and behavior. Whereas the two strategies are seemingly opposing in nature, we have found that both distraction and mindfulness can undermine intrusive thinking patterns in response to affective information that normally result in more impulsive behavior. We show how the effectiveness of these strategies is reflected not only in behavioral measures of self-regulation success but in neurophysiological indices as well. Distraction seems to involve the increased engagement of prefrontal brain regions for task-related processing, whereas mindfulness training may affect the connectivity between control and affective brain regions. More broadly speaking, the present chapter shows that combining behavioral and neuroscience measures can be a particularly fruitful approach in understanding how attention strategies impact self-regulation.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    For a discussion of the use of the term in Buddhhism, see Lutz, Dunne, & Davidson, 2007.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Leiden University, P.O. Box 9555, 2300RB, Leiden, The Netherlands

    Lotte F. van Dillen

  2. Department of Psychology, Utrecht University, Postbus 80140, 3508TC, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Esther K. Papies

Authors
  1. Lotte F. van Dillen
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  2. Esther K. Papies
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Correspondence to Lotte F. van Dillen .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Geneva Motivation Lab, FPSE Department of Psychology, University of Geneva, Geneva, Geneve, Switzerland

    Guido H.E. Gendolla

  2. Department of Clinical Psychology, VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Mattie Tops

  3. Department of Clinical Psychology, VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Sander L. Koole

Conclusion

Conclusion

Integrating insights from psychology and neuroscience , in this chapter, we investigated attention strategies that may facilitate self-regulation, namely distraction, training attention regulation (through mindfulness meditation), and mindful attention . We presented evidence that these strategies affect both the focus and the quality of attention, and as a result, the impact of affective information on thoughts, feelings , and behavior. Whereas seemingly opposing in nature, we have found that both distraction and mindfulness can undermine intrusive thinking patterns in response to affective information that normally result in more impulsive behavior.

We have seen, moreover, that the effectiveness of these strategies is reflected not only in behavioral measures of self-regulation success but in neurophysiological indices as well, and how combining these behavioral and neuroscience measures can help to understand underlying mechanisms of attention strategies. For example, neuroscience studies of both distraction and mindfulness point to the involvement of prefrontal control regions along with brain regions engaged in processing of threat and reward, suggesting that these self-regulation strategies may affect (at least in part) the same neural network. These strategies may, however, engage this network in different ways, as distraction seems to involve the increased engagement of prefrontal brain regions for task-related processing, whereas training attention regulation may affect the connectivity between control and affective brain regions. Preliminary evidence, moreover, points to the possibility that specifically mindful attention affects the reactivity of affective and primary sensory regions, even in the absence of top-down prefrontal control. Examining these attention strategies further, especially their neuropsychological signatures and their long-term effects, may provide new insights in what makes them effective for particular self-regulation situations.

At any moment in time, humans can only keep a few things in their minds. Ironically, this fundamental limitation of human information processing may also have some beneficial consequences. Because processing both affective and non-affective information requires the use of limited attention resources, people can control affective processes via the allocation of attention. By either intentionally directing attention away from affective information or by mindfully observing one’s own reactions to it, the impact of this information on subsequent thought and behavior can be regulated to facilitate long-term goal pursuit and well-being.

Acknowledgment

The preparation of this chapter was partly supported by a grant (VENI-451 − 10-027) from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research to Esther K. Papies.

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van Dillen, L., Papies, E. (2015). From Distraction to Mindfulness: Psychological and Neural Mechanisms of Attention Strategies in Self-Regulation. In: Gendolla, G., Tops, M., Koole, S. (eds) Handbook of Biobehavioral Approaches to Self-Regulation. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-1236-0_10

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