Special issue on mindfulness neuroscience

Mindfulness neuroscience is a new, interdisciplinary field of mindfulness practice and neuroscientific research; it applies neuroimaging techniques, physiological measures and behavioral tests to explore the underlying mechanisms of different types, stages and states of mindfulness practice over the lifespan. Mindfulness-based meditation (MBM) or mindfulness-based intervention (MBI) has been a hot topic in psychology, neuroscience, health care and education in recent years (Chiesa and Serretti, 2010; Holzel et al., 2011), and publications have been rapidly growing from only 28 in 2001 to 397 papers listed in ISI during 2011. Many studies indicate the positive effects of MBM or MBI and researchers explore the mechanisms (Lutz et al., 2008; Tang and Posner, 2009; Chiesa and Serretti, 2010; Holzel et al., 2011; Tang et al., 2012a). However, the mechanisms of mindfulness practice are still poorly understood.