ORCID

Abstract

Meditation practice has been associated with benefits but also adverse experiences from anxiety to psychotic-like experiences (PLEs) and even psychosis. The overarching aim was to identify how different types of meditation techniques (varying in bodily focus) differentially relate to psychotic-like experiences and cognitive abilities, including interoceptive awareness, affective awareness and decision-making. For this, I conducted two correlational studies and an intervention study.Different systems have been proposed for classifying meditation techniques. Nash et al’s (2013) approach categorises techniques by goal: Null Directed Methods (NDM), which aim for an “empty” state; Cognitive Directed Methods (CDM), aimed at an enhanced cognitive state; and Affective Directed Methods (ADM), aimed at an enhanced affective state. Matko and Sedlmeier’s (2020) system classifies techniques by body orientation (low vs. high bodily sensory focus) and activation (stillness vs. movement). In two large-scale (n=613 and n=333) online surveys (Chapters 2–3), I examined associations between meditation types, PLEs, and related psychological factors. I found that NDM techniques were positively associated with PLEs and mystical experiences. In contrast, CDM techniques were negatively associated with PLEs and mystical experiences and positively associated with self-reported interoceptive awareness. I also found the reasons people meditate linked to PLEs, mystical experiences and to meditation technique choice.Based on the results of the surveys, I next wanted to test the causal effect of CDM vs NDM on PLEs, mystical experiences, interoception (measured through self-reports and objectively). For this (Chapters 4 and 5), I used a counterbalanced within-subject design in which 26 participants underwent two weeks of a CDM and NDM meditation intervention before completing an fMRI scan with cognitive tasks and questionnaires. This measured decision making (go no go task), affect awareness, and interoceptive accuracy. This addressed the survey’s limitation of correlational inference. The fMRI results partly supported predictions: compared to CDM, NDM reduced alignment between normative and subjective ratings of the negative affect produced by negatively valanced images, aligning with expectations from the survey based on the self-reported interoceptive awareness results. However, task-based measure of heartbeat interoceptive accuracy was higher after NDM, and participants performed better on the Go No Go task, accompanied by increased activity in the orbitofrontal cortex (reward/salience), anterior cingulate (salience/cognitive control), and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (inhibitory control).In summary, in contrast to predictions, there was only weak agreement between results from a correlational survey and an intervention study. While the survey suggested that NDM vs. CDM related to PLEs and weakened interoceptive awareness, the intervention study did not reveal the same pattern. I discuss these findings with respect to the wider literature on the relationship between the salience network and attention to internal and external stimuli.

Awarding Institution(s)

University of Plymouth

Supervisor

Elsa Fouragnan, Sam Hughes

Keywords

Meditation, Psychosis, Mystical Experiences, Interoception

Document Type

Thesis

Publication Date

2025

Embargo Period

2025-12-16

Deposit Date

December 2025

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

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