can adjust its emotional reactivity, leading to a new and more adaptive response pattern
(reconsolidation) or even to extinction of the response. The proliferation of the negative emotion
and its distressing effects may be further attenuated when the care system of the organism (see
above) is activated and directed towards oneself, serving as a safety signal while processing the
negative stimulus (as in self-compassion, see Neff & Germer,
.
Prosocial Motivation
The care system
entails pathways that are directly linked to action: Besides the opioids
that induce feelings of warmth and quiescence in the care-giver, particularly after care has been
given, it also uses the neurotransmitter dopamine (e.g., through release in the ventral tegmental
area and connections to the seeking system
, which is the hallmark of goal-directed motivation
and behavior
. In line with the affective and motivational tone of the care system, these actions
will be directed towards nurturing others. Accordingly, after one week of daily loving-kindness
meditation, subjects have been shown to exhibit more prosocial behavior in a standardized game
situation that allows the measurement of different types of helping behavior (see
).
When experienced meditators engage in loving-kindness meditation
it has been shown that
this leads to activation in motor areas (pre-central gyri and posterior medial frontal cortex), which is
indicative of action preparation. This speaks to the idea that prosocial motivations and a readiness
to act are integral features of compassion, coming as part and parcel of a general attitude towards
life that seeks to alleviate suffering.
Perspective
This more cognitive domain of the ReSource model could be related to the “wisdom”, “insight” or
“view” aspects of Buddhist philosophy (see
). We call this part “perspective” because all
subcomponents essentially require the individual to take perspectives on the internal or external
world. Specifically, we conceptualize the part as comprised of three subprocesses, namely
metacognition (taking a specific perspective on one’s own mental processes and thoughts),
perspective-taking on self, and taking the perspectives of others. A common underlying
characteristic of these subprocesses is that they require the ability to gain a certain distance to
events and add “fluidity” to the cognitive system: they require the individual to detach from what
seems to be reality at a given moment and assume an alternative perspective.
Metacognition
Metacognition, in cognitive psychology, is generally understood as “knowing about knowing” or
“thinking about thinking” or as being aware of our cognitive processes and states
. Our
understanding of metacognition in the context of the ReSource model includes this skill, but goes
beyond it. When we speak of metacognition we mean being aware of the process of thinking itself
and assuming a certain perspective on it. Thoughts are observed as “natural events” within
ourselves, contextualized among other inner or outer events (e.g., feelings, body sensations,
people around us). Thoughts are not seen as identical with “who we are”, but rather as fleeting
mental events (de-identification). This way of relating to thoughts has also been termed “cognitive
defusion”
because it breaks up the fusion, or automatic coupling, between the arising of a
thought and its consequences within the organism (e.g., successive thoughts, emotions, action
preparation). It has been linked to symptom reduction in a variety of psychological disorder
.
The neural basis of monitoring thoughts involves, among others, the anterior prefrontal
cortex/BA10[8]. Metacognition in the sense of cognitive defusion, contextualization and de-
identification from thoughts will probably involve the same areas but also additional activation
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