Neil Bailey

Accepting PhD Students

PhD projects

Title: The brain-body connection in mindfulness meditators and it's relationship to attentional function and well-being

Theories regarding how mindfulness meditation leads to improved well-being have suggested both improved body awareness and improved attentional control as factors. However, research examining both of these factors in meditators has focused on psychological measures, without addressing the physical underpinnings of changes in these factors in the brain. Previous research undertaken at our lab has suggested a model of how attentional function is improved in meditators. However, this model has yet to be empirically tested. Additionally, recent theoretical developments regarding the functional underpinnings of the brain-body connection have not yet been tested in meditators. The proposed PhD project is intended to use EEG to empirically test these two theoretical perspectives, perhaps leading to a deeper understanding of the mechanism of mindfulness meditation, and why it leads to improved mental health.