Meditation

Reduce Smartphone Addiction and Improve Stress Coping in Adolescents with Meditation

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Reduce Smartphone Addiction and Improve Stress Coping in Adolescents with Meditation

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“over a third of us check our phones in the middle of the night. And a further third check our phones within five minutes of waking up. The same survey also revealed that about a third of us have argued with our partners about using their phones too much.” – Neil Tranter

 

Over the last few decades, the internet has gone from a rare curiosity to the dominant mode of electronic communications. In fact, it has become a dominant force in daily life, occupying large amounts of time and attention. The dominant mode of accessing the internet is through smartphones creating smartphone addictions. Individuals with smartphone addiction develop greater levels of “tolerance” and experience “withdrawal” and distress when deprived. This phenomenon is so new that there is little understanding of its nature, causes, and consequences and how to treat it.

 

Adolescence is a time of mental, physical, social, and emotional growth. It is during this time that higher levels of thinking, sometimes called executive function, develops. But adolescence can be a difficult time, fraught with challenges and stresses. During this time the child transitions to young adulthood; including the development of intellectual, psychological, physical, and social abilities and characteristics. There are so many changes occurring during this time that the child can feel overwhelmed and stressed and unable to cope with all that is required.

 

Mindfulness training has been shown to be helpful with addictions, decreasing cravings, impulsiveness, and psychological and physiological responses to stress, and increasing emotion regulation.  Mindfulness has also been shown to be effective for the treatment of a variety of addictions. Meditation, a core mindfulness training technique, has been shown to be effective in treating addictions. Hence, there is a need to further explore the ability of meditation training to treat smartphone addiction in adolescents.

 

In today’s Research News article “The Effect of Mind Subtraction Meditation Intervention on Smartphone Addiction and the Psychological Wellbeing among Adolescents.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7246924/), Choi and colleagues recruited High School sophomores at two different schools and provided one group with school based meditation training for 20 minutes twice a week for 12 weeks while the second group received no treatment. They were measured before and after training and 4 weeks later for smartphone addiction, self-control, perceived stress, and stress coping skills.

 

They found that after treatment the meditation but not the control group had a significant reduction in perceived stress and smartphone addiction, including decreases in daily life disturbance, tolerance, and withdrawal symptoms. They also found significant increases in self-control and stress coping strategies including problem focusing coping and social support navigation coping. They also found that theses effects were still present and significant 4 weeks after the end of training.

 

These are interesting results that would have been stronger is an active control condition such as exercise was used. Nevertheless, the results suggest that school-based meditation practice can reduce stress, improve stress coping and self-control and decrease addiction to smartphones in adolescents. This should help these young people to better deal with their school stress and be better able to perform academically and socially.

 

So, reduce smartphone addiction and improve stress coping in adolescents with meditation.

 

“These devices and capabilities do bring incredible benefits and possibilities for sharing information and creating global interaction than ever before. We simply (and yet with great difficulty) need to learn to hold our technology more lightly—with more awareness.” – Mitch Abblett

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are also available on Google+ https://plus.google.com/106784388191201299496/posts and on Twitter @MindfulResearch

 

Study Summary

 

Choi, E. H., Chun, M. Y., Lee, I., Yoo, Y. G., & Kim, M. J. (2020). The Effect of Mind Subtraction Meditation Intervention on Smartphone Addiction and the Psychological Wellbeing among Adolescents. International journal of environmental research and public health, 17(9), 3263. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17093263

 

Abstract

As the smartphone has become an indispensable device in modern lives, consequential psychosocial problems such as smartphone addiction have been getting attention worldwide, especially regarding adolescents. Based on its positive effect on young individuals’ mental health, mind subtraction meditation has been widely applied to many school-based programs in South Korea. This study aims to identify the effects of a school program based on mind subtraction on the smartphone addiction of adolescents. A total of 49 high school sophomores, 24 from the experimental group (mean age = 16), and 25 from the control group (mean age = 16) are included in this case-control study. The experimental group is given the meditation program sessions in the morning, two times a week for 20 min per session, for a total of 12 weeks. The experimental group shows improvements regarding the ‘smartphone addiction’ section (p < 0.001), for instant satisfaction (p < 0.001) and long-term satisfaction (p < 0.001). Concerning the ‘self-control’ section and decreasing stress (p < 0.001), problem focusing (p < 0.001), and social support navigation (p = 0.018), there are improvements in these ‘stress coping strategies’ sections. This study directly shows the positive effect of mind subtraction meditation on smartphone addiction in adolescents and, thus, provides guidance to the future development of smartphone addiction prevention programs for young individuals.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7246924/

 

Improve Resilience and Inner Peace to Reduce Negative Views of the Past with Mindfulness

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Improve Resilience and Inner Peace to Reduce Negative Views of the Past with Mindfulness

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“mindfulness promotes a more balanced time perspective, with a reduced focus on negative aspects of the past and negative anticipations of the future.” – Michael Rönnlund

 

Mindfulness stresses present moment awareness, minimizing focus on past memories and

future planning. Depression is characterized by a focus on the past while anxiety is characterized by focus on the future. This is representative of a past-negative time perspective which is a pessimistic negative view of what transpired in the past. Although awareness of the past and future are important, focus on the present moment generally leads to greater psychological health and well-being. This is generally characterized by inner peach which is a mild positive state with calmness and harmony in the mind. Although these concepts are well known, their interrelationships and the effect of meditation practice on them, have not been well studied.

 

In today’s Research News article “Dispositional Mindfulness and Past-Negative Time Perspective: The Differential Mediation Effects of Resilience and Inner Peace in Meditators and Non-Meditators.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7212969/), Ge and colleagues recruited adults over the internet who regularly meditated and those who did not. They completed questionnaires measuring their meditation experience, mindfulness, resilience, inner peace, and past-negative time perspective.

 

They found that mindfulness, resilience, and inner peace were all significantly and positively inter-related and negatively related to past-negative time perspective. They also found that the meditators had significantly higher levels of mindfulness and inner peace and lower levels of past-negative time perspective than the non-meditators. Structural equation modelling revealed that the negative relationship between mindfulness and past-negative time perspective was mediated by the relationships of mindfulness with resilience and inner peace. That is the higher the levels of mindfulness the higher the levels of resilience and inner peace which in turn were related to lower levels of past-negative time perspective. Non-meditators also had an additional direct negative relationship between mindfulness and past-negative time perspective.

 

It should be kept in mind that these results are correlational and causation cannot be determined. But they suggest that mindfulness is associated with greater ability to cope with difficulties, resilience, greater calmness and mental harmony, inner peace, and a less negative pessimistic perspective of past events. In addition, mindfulness’ relationship with less past-negative time perspective, in part, occurs due to mindfulness’ relationship with resilience and inner peace.

 

It can be postulated that mindfulness produces a positive state that is resistant to disruption by events and this produces a more positive assessment of what occurred in the past. This, in turn, prevents the emergence of negative emotional states such as anxiety and depression. This may represent a mechanism whereby mindfulness alters the individual’s psychological makeup resulting in greater psychological health and well-being.

 

So, improve resilience and inner peace to reduce negative views of the past with mindfulness.

 

“Mindfulness is about being fully aware of each moment in your life. Each thought, feeling, sensation and experience are accepted for what it is. There’s no battle going on in your head and heart. You are open to it ALL.” – Bev Janisch

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are also available on Google+ https://plus.google.com/106784388191201299496/posts and on Twitter @MindfulResearch

 

Study Summary

 

Ge, J., Yang, J., Song, J., Jiang, G., & Zheng, Y. (2020). Dispositional Mindfulness and Past-Negative Time Perspective: The Differential Mediation Effects of Resilience and Inner Peace in Meditators and Non-Meditators. Psychology research and behavior management, 13, 397–405. https://doi.org/10.2147/PRBM.S229705

 

Abstract

Purpose

Past-negative time perspective (PNTP) can affect our everyday lives and is associated with negative emotions, unhealthy behaviors, rumination, anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Dispositional mindfulness may be able to reduce the negative effects of PNTP; however, few studies have investigated their relationship. Thus, the purpose of this study was to explore the effect dispositional mindfulness has on PNTP, as well as the mediating role of resilience and inner peace in this regard.

Methods

This study investigated the cross-sectional relationship between self-reported mindfulness, resilience, inner peace, and PNTP. In order to further explore the relationship between mindfulness and PNTP, this study specially selected and analyzed the samples of 185 meditators and 181 non-meditators.

Results

Correlation analysis revealed that mindfulness is significantly positively correlated with resilience and inner peace. Conversely, PNTP is significantly negatively correlated with mindfulness, resilience, and inner peace. Structural equation model analysis revealed that resilience and inner peace partially mediated the relationship between mindfulness and PNTP. Furthermore, a multi-group analysis showed that the mediating effects are different between meditators and non-meditators. For meditators, the effect of mindfulness on PNTP was fully mediated by resilience and inner peace. For non-meditators, the effect of mindfulness on PNTP was only partially mediated by resilience and inner peace.

Conclusion

Based on the significant differences between the mediational models of meditators and non-meditators, we believe that dispositional mindfulness can negatively predict PNTP, and practicing meditation consistently improves dispositional mindfulness, resilience and inner peace and effectively reduces PNTP. Our findings indicate that a combination of mindfulness and PNTP could be used to design new psychological interventions to reduce the symptoms of mental health concerns such as negative bias, rumination, depression, anxiety, and PTSD.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7212969/

 

Meditation Produces Mental Emptiness by Lowering Phasic Relationships in the EEG

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Meditation Produces Mental Emptiness by Lowering Phasic Relationships in the EEG

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Meditation research explores how the brain works when we refrain from concentration, rumination and intentional thinking. Electrical brain waves suggest that mental activity during meditation is wakeful and relaxed.” – ScienceDaily

 

Meditation training has been shown to improve health and well-being. It has also been found to be effective for a large array of medical and psychiatric conditions, either stand-alone or in combination with more traditional therapies. A characterizing feature of meditation is that it can produce periods of thoughtless awareness also known as mental emptiness where thinking is minimized. Little is known, however, about the underlying brain activity during thoughtless awareness relative to cognitive processing, thinking.

 

One way to observe the effects of meditation is to measure changes in the electroencephalogram (EEG), the rhythmic electrical activity that can be recorded from the scalp. The recorded activity can be separated into frequency bands. Delta activity consists of oscillations in the 0.5-3 cycles per second band. Theta activity in the EEG consists of oscillations in the 4-8 cycles per second band. Alpha activity consists of oscillations in the 8-12 cycles per second band. Beta activity consists of oscillations in the 13-30 cycles per second band while Gamma activity occurs in the 30-100 cycles per second band.

 

In today’s Research News article “From thoughtless awareness to effortful cognition: alpha – theta cross-frequency dynamics in experienced meditators during meditation, rest and arithmetic.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7096392/), Rodriguez-Larios and colleagues recruited adult, highly experienced, meditators and recorded the electroencephalogram (EEG) while they were at rest, engaged in breath following focused meditation, and doing mental arithmetic (counting backward by 7. They analyzed the EEG signals for alpha and theta rhythms and investigated the phasic relationships between them.

 

They found that during meditation the phasic relationships between alpha and theta rhythms in the brain were at a minimum where they were at a maximum during mental arithmetic. Since during the cognitive task of mental arithmetic the phasic relationships were high, it appears that these phasic relationships between alpha and theta rhythms are associated with cognitive processes, thinking. The fact that they’re minimized during meditation suggests that during meditation cognition, thinking, is minimized. This suggests that awareness is occurring without thought; thoughtless awareness.

 

These results make sense in that the goal of breath following meditation is to relax the mind and focus it on simple sensory signals and thereby minimize thinking. Meditation focuses the mind on the present moment and the sensory experiences occurring in the moment. The deeper the focus, the less room there is for thought to occur. The present results indicate that this thoughtless awareness can be seen in the electrical activity of the brain during meditation.

 

So, meditation produces mental emptiness by lowering phasic relationships in the EEG.

 

“A theta wave cycle lasts about as long as the human eye blinks, or about 4/10 of a second! They are also associated with deep meditation. . . Theta waves are associated with dreaming sleep, super learning, creativity, daydreaming, and deep meditation. And with emotional surges, self-reprogramming, and spiritual experiences.” – Mindvalley

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are also available on Google+ https://plus.google.com/106784388191201299496/posts and on Twitter @MindfulResearch

 

Study Summary

 

Rodriguez-Larios, J., Faber, P., Achermann, P., Tei, S., & Alaerts, K. (2020). From thoughtless awareness to effortful cognition: alpha – theta cross-frequency dynamics in experienced meditators during meditation, rest and arithmetic. Scientific reports, 10(1), 5419. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-62392-2

 

Abstract

Neural activity is known to oscillate within discrete frequency bands and the synchronization between these rhythms is hypothesized to underlie information integration in the brain. Since strict synchronization is only possible for harmonic frequencies, a recent theory proposes that the interaction between different brain rhythms is facilitated by transient harmonic frequency arrangements. In this line, it has been recently shown that the transient occurrence of 2:1 harmonic cross-frequency relationships between alpha and theta rhythms (i.e. falpha ≈ 12 Hz; ftheta ≈ 6 Hz) is enhanced during effortful cognition. In this study, we tested whether achieving a state of ‘mental emptiness’ during meditation is accompanied by a relative decrease in the occurrence of 2:1 harmonic cross-frequency relationships between alpha and theta rhythms. Continuous EEG recordings (19 electrodes) were obtained from 43 highly experienced meditators during meditation practice, rest and an arithmetic task. We show that the occurrence of transient alpha:theta 2:1 harmonic relationships increased linearly from a meditative to an active cognitive processing state (i.e. meditation < rest < arithmetic task). It is argued that transient EEG cross-frequency arrangements that prevent alpha:theta cross-frequency coupling could facilitate the experience of ‘mental emptiness’ by avoiding the interaction between the memory and executive components of cognition.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7096392/

 

Lower Heart Rate and Increase its Variability with Meditation

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Lower Heart Rate and Increase its Variability with Meditation

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“If a person’s system is in more of a fight-or-flight mode, the variation between subsequent heartbeats is low. If one is in a more relaxed state, the variation between beats is high. In other words, the healthier the ANS the faster you are able to switch gears, showing more resilience and flexibility. Over the past few decades, research has shown a relationship between low HRV and worsening depression or anxiety. A low HRV is even associated with an increased risk of death and cardiovascular disease.” – Marcelo Campos

 

In our lives we are confronted with a variety of situations and environments. In order to successfully navigate these differing situations, we must be able to adapt and self-regulate. The Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) is designed to adapt physiologically to the varying demands on us. It is composed of 2 divisions; the sympathetic division underlies activation, including increases in heart rate and blood pressure, while the parasympathetic division underlies relaxation, including decreases in heart rate and blood pressure. A measure of the balance between these systems is provided by the variability of the heart rate.

 

Heart Rate Variability (HRV) refers to the change in the time intervals between consecutive heart beats. Higher levels of HRV are indicative of flexibility in the Autonomic Nervous System and are associated with adaptability to varying environments. Mindfulness has been associated with psychological flexibility and a greater ability to adapt appropriately to differing situations. It makes sense then to investigate the relationship of mindfulness to and Heart Rate Variability (HRV).

 

In today’s Research News article “Meditation Practice Improves Short-Term Changes in Heart Rate Variability.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7142551/), Chang and colleagues performed 2 experiments. In the first, they recruited healthy meditation naïve adults and presented them with a 90-minute class on meditation including practice in a face to face setting once a week for 4 weeks. In the second experiment experienced meditators were recruited and received once a week for 4 weeks the 90-minute class on meditation including practice presented on video. The participants wore wrist heart rate monitors and were measured over the course of the study for heart rate, heart rate variability, and blood pressure.

 

They found that both the meditation naïve participants with face to face instruction and the experienced meditators with video instruction had significant decreases over the course of the study in heart rate and significant increases in heart rate variability. Increased heart rate variability signals greater relaxation in the autonomic nervous system with a predominance of parasympathetic (relaxation) activity over sympathetic (activation) activity. The results make sense as parasympathetic activity tends to decrease heart rate. This all signals greater physiological relaxation

 

There was no control condition in the present study. So, the experiment is open to confounding by demand characteristics, experimenter bias, expectancy (placebo) effect etc. But prior randomized controlled studies have also observed that mindfulness training reduces heart rate and increases heart rate variability. So, the present results are likely due to the meditation practice. This increase in parasympathetic activity produced by meditation training may explain why mindfulness training is effective in treating cardiovascular diseases, in overall reducing the deleterious effects of stress and producing increased relaxation.

 

So, lower heart rate and increase its variability with meditation.

 

“meditation may improve your heart’s recovery from stress as demonstrated by improved Heart Rate Variability (HRV).” – Sam Sly

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are also available on Google+ https://plus.google.com/106784388191201299496/posts and on Twitter @MindfulResearch

 

Study Summary

 

Chang, K. M., Wu Chueh, M. T., & Lai, Y. J. (2020). Meditation Practice Improves Short-Term Changes in Heart Rate Variability. International journal of environmental research and public health, 17(6), 2128. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17062128

 

Abstract

Background: It is well known that meditation improves the physical and psychological condition of its practitioners. This study investigated the heart rate variability response of meditation practitioners in two Chan master teaching environments, namely face-to-face and video classes. Methods: Experimental sessions were conducted, one featuring face-to-face classes and the other featuring video classes. The difference in participants’ physiological parameters (blood pressure and heart rate variability) between the two experimental sessions was determined. In the first session, physiological parameters were recorded twice, before and after one teaching course, and the second session took place one month after the first. The first and second sessions had 45 and 27 participants, respectively. Those involved in the first experiment had no experience with meditation, whereas participants in the second experiment had practiced meditation for an average of 9 years (range = 1 to 27 years). Both experiments were conducted once a week, with each session lasting 1.5 h. Results: For both experiments, both heart rate and heart rate variability by age significantly decreased after one teaching course. Conclusions: Chan meditation practitioners benefit from receiving both face-to-face and video class teaching from a Chan master.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7142551/

 

Different Meditation Practices Have Specific Electrencepholographic Signatures

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Different Meditation Practices Have Specific Electrencepholographic Signatures

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“the most general and consistently observed EEG correlate of meditation is an increase in the power of lower frequencies between 4 and 10 Hz corresponding to the theta band (4-8 Hz) and the lower end of the alpha band (8-10 Hz).” – Aaron Nitzkin

 

Meditation training has been shown to improve health and well-being. It has also been found to be effective for a large array of medical and psychiatric conditions, either stand-alone or in combination with more traditional therapies. One problem with understanding meditation effects is that there are, a wide variety of meditation techniques. Classically they’ve been characterized on a continuum with the degree and type of attentional focus. In focused attention meditation, the individual practices paying attention to a single meditation object. In open monitoring meditation, the individual opens up awareness to everything that’s being experienced including thoughts regardless of its origin. In Loving Kindness Meditation the individual systematically pictures different individuals from self, to close friends, to enemies and wishes them happiness, well-being, safety, peace, and ease of well-being.

 

One way to observe the effects of meditation techniques is to measure the effects of each technique on the brain’s activity. This can be done by recording the electroencephalogram (EEG). The brain produces rhythmic electrical activity that can be recorded from the scalp. It is usually separated into frequency bands. Delta activity consists of oscillations in the 0.5-3 cycles per second band. Theta activity in the EEG consists of oscillations in the 4-8 cycles per second band. Alpha activity consists of oscillations in the 8-12 cycles per second band. Beta activity consists of oscillations in the 13-30 cycles per second band while Gamma activity occurs in the 30-100 cycles per second band.

 

In today’s Research News article “Common and distinct lateralised patterns of neural coupling during focused attention, open monitoring and loving kindness meditation.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7198563/), Yordanova and colleagues recruited Buddhist monk, nuns, and novices who practiced focused, open monitoring, and loving kindness meditation. Their electroencephalogram (EEG) was taken during 3-minute periods of rest, focused, open monitoring, and loving kindness meditations.

 

They found that during all meditation conditions there was an increase in the synchronization of Delta activity throughout the brain, in Theta activity in the left hemisphere, and slow and fast Alpha activity in the right hemisphere. Hence, all three types of meditations produce common changes in the electrical activity of the brain. In addition, they also identified specific patterns of brain activity that differentiated the three meditation types. In particular, Beta activity synchronization was greatest in the right hemisphere during focused meditation and in the left hemisphere during open monitoring meditation, while during loving kindness meditation there were reduction in fast Alpha activity in the left hemisphere.

 

These are complex but interesting results that indicate that various meditation techniques have common changes in brain activity. That shouldn’t be surprising as these different meditation techniques produce very similar physical and mental changes in the practitioner. On the other hand, there were detected different patterns of activity for each meditation type. This again should not be surprising as there are differences in the effects of the meditation types. So, the electrical activity of the brain during these techniques correlates with their similarities and differences in their effects.

 

So, different meditation practices have similar and specific electrencepholographic signatures.

 

“Connectivity measures between EEG channels are also currently being studied to measure meditation. Some connectivity evidences are the synchronisation of anterior and posterior channels or alpha phase synchronicity.” – David Ibañez

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are also available on Google+ https://plus.google.com/106784388191201299496/posts and on Twitter @MindfulResearch

 

Study Summary

 

Juliana Yordanova, Vasil Kolev, Federica Mauro, Valentina Nicolardi, Luca Simione, Lucia Calabrese, Peter Malinowski, Antonino Raffone. Common and distinct lateralised patterns of neural coupling during focused attention, open monitoring and loving kindness meditation. Sci Rep. 2020; 10: 7430. Published online 2020 May 4. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-64324-6

 

Abstract

Meditation has been integrated into different therapeutic interventions. To inform the evidence-based selection of specific meditation types it is crucial to understand the neural processes associated with different meditation practices. Here we explore commonalities and differences in electroencephalographic oscillatory spatial synchronisation patterns across three important meditation types. Highly experienced meditators engaged in focused attention, open monitoring, and loving kindness meditation. Improving on previous research, our approach avoids comparisons between groups that limited previous findings, while ensuring that the meditation states are reliably established. Employing a novel measure of neural coupling – the imaginary part of EEG coherence – the study revealed that all meditation conditions displayed a common connectivity pattern that is characterised by increased connectivity of (a) broadly distributed delta networks, (b) left-hemispheric theta networks with a local integrating posterior focus, and (c) right-hemispheric alpha networks, with a local integrating parieto-occipital focus. Furthermore, each meditation state also expressed specific synchronisation patterns differentially recruiting left- or right-lateralised beta networks. These observations provide evidence that in addition to global patterns, frequency-specific inter-hemispheric asymmetry is one major feature of meditation, and that mental processes specific to each meditation type are also supported by lateralised networks from fast-frequency bands.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7198563/

 

Improve a Biological Marker of Aging, Telomeres, with Meditation

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Improve a Biological Marker of Aging, Telomeres, with Meditation

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“While we might expect our bodies and brains to follow a shared trajectory of development and degeneration over time, by actively practicing strategies such as meditation, we might actually preserve and protect our physical body and brain structure to extend our golden years and shine even more brightly in old age.” – Sonima Wellness

 

One of the most exciting findings in molecular biology in recent years was the discovery of the telomere. This is a component of the DNA molecule that is attached to the ends of the strands. Recent genetic research has suggested that the telomere and its regulation is the biological mechanism that produces aging. As we age the tail of the DNA molecule called the telomere shortens. When it gets very short cells have a more and more difficult time reproducing and become more likely to produce defective cells. On a cellular basis, this is what produces aging. As we get older the new cells produced are more and more likely to be defective. The shortening of the telomere occurs each time the cell is replaced. So, slowly as we age it gets shorter and shorter.

 

Fortunately, there is a mechanism to protect the telomere. There is an enzyme in the body called telomerase that helps to prevent shortening of the telomere. It also promotes cell survival and enhances stress-resistance.  Research suggests that processes that increase telomerase activity tend to slow the aging process by protecting the telomere.  One activity that seems to increase telomerase activity and protect telomere length is mindfulness practice. Hence, engaging in mindfulness practices may protect the telomere and thereby slow the aging process.

 

In today’s Research News article “Telomere length correlates with subtelomeric DNA methylation in long-term mindfulness practitioners.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7067861/), and Mendioroz colleagues recruited long-term meditators (greater than 10 years of experience) and non-meditators matched for gender, ethnic group, and age. They were measured for mindfulness, anxiety, depression, resilience, happiness, self-compassion, experiential avoidance, and quality of life. They also provided blood samples that were assayed for telomere length and DNA methylation.

 

They found that the long-term meditators were significantly higher in for mindfulness, resilience, happiness, self-compassion, and quality of life and significantly lower in for anxiety, depression, and experiential avoidance.

 

They also found that the meditators had significantly longer telomeres than the matched controls. Interestingly, while in the controls the greater the age of the participant the shorter the telomeres, in the long-term meditators, telomere length was the same regardless of age. In addition, they found that in the long-term meditators, telomere length was significantly associated with DNA methylation at specific regions but not for the matched controls.

 

This study found, as have others, that long-term meditation practice is associated with longer telomeres. The fact, that the telomere length was not associated with age in the meditators suggests that meditation practice may protect the individual from age-related erosion of telomeres. The results further suggest that meditation may do so through specific methylation of DNA. Stress has been shown to results in shortening the telomeres. Hence, a potential mechanism whereby meditation may protect telomeres may be by reducing the physiological and psychological responses to stress.

 

It is suspected, but not proven, that telomere length is related to health and well-being. The findings that the long-term meditators had significantly better mental health tends to support this notion. There is evidence that meditation practice increases longevity. It can be speculated that meditation practice may do so by affecting molecular genetic mechanisms that prevent the degradation of the telomeres with age.

 

So, improve a biological marker of aging, telomeres, with meditation.

 

“Meditation also helps to protect our telomeres, the protective caps at the end of our chromosomes. Telomeres are longest when we’re young and naturally shorten as we age. Shorter telomeres are associated with stress and higher risk for many diseases including cancer, and depend on the telomerase enzyme to enable them to rebuild and repair.”- Paula Watkins

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are also available on Google+ https://plus.google.com/106784388191201299496/posts and on Twitter @MindfulResearch

 

Study Summary

 

Mendioroz, M., Puebla-Guedea, M., Montero-Marín, J., Urdánoz-Casado, A., Blanco-Luquin, I., Roldán, M., Labarga, A., & García-Campayo, J. (2020). Telomere length correlates with subtelomeric DNA methylation in long-term mindfulness practitioners. Scientific reports, 10(1), 4564. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-61241-6

 

Abstract

Mindfulness and meditation techniques have proven successful for the reduction of stress and improvement in general health. In addition, meditation is linked to longevity and longer telomere length, a proposed biomarker of human aging. Interestingly, DNA methylation changes have been described at specific subtelomeric regions in long-term meditators compared to controls. However, the molecular basis underlying these beneficial effects of meditation on human health still remains unclear. Here we show that DNA methylation levels, measured by the Infinium HumanMethylation450 BeadChip (Illumina) array, at specific subtelomeric regions containing GPR31 and SERPINB9 genes were associated with telomere length in long-term meditators with a strong statistical trend when correcting for multiple testing. Notably, age showed no association with telomere length in the group of long-term meditators. These results may suggest that long-term meditation could be related to epigenetic mechanisms, in particular gene-specific DNA methylation changes at distinct subtelomeric regions.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7067861/

 

Improve Emotion Processing by the Brain with Meditation

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Improve Emotion Processing by the Brain with Meditation

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Alterations in key brain circuits associated with emotion regulation can be produced by mindfulness meditation.” – Richard Davidson

 

There has accumulated a large amount of research demonstrating that meditation practice has significant benefits for psychological, physical, and spiritual wellbeing. It has been shown to improve emotions and their regulation. Practitioners demonstrate more positive and less negative emotions and the ability to fully sense and experience emotions, while responding to them in appropriate and adaptive ways. In other words, mindful people are better able to experience yet control their responses to emotions. The ability of mindfulness training to improve emotion regulation is thought to be the basis for a wide variety of benefits that mindfulness provides to mental health and the treatment of mental illness especially depression and anxiety disorders.

 

One way that meditation practices may produce these benefits is by altering the brain. The nervous system is a dynamic entity, constantly changing and adapting to the environment. It will change size, activity, and connectivity in response to experience. These changes in the brain are called neuroplasticity. Over the last decade neuroscience has been studying the effects of contemplative practices on the brain and has identified neuroplastic changes in widespread areas. In other words, meditation practice appears to mold and change the brain, producing psychological, physical, and spiritual benefits.

 

In today’s Research News article “Meditation-induced neuroplastic changes of the prefrontal network are associated with reduced valence perception in older people.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7058252/), Chau and colleagues recruited adults 60 years of age or greater who had no meditation or relaxation training. They were randomly assigned to receive an 8-week program of 22 sessions of 1.5 hours each of either attention-based compassion meditation training or relaxation training. The participants were instructed to also practice at home daily. Before and after training they were measured for emotional valence (the difference between the magnitudes of positive and negative emotions) and arousal (overall magnitude of emotional responses relative to neutral) with an Emotional Processing task involving emotional ratings of positive neutral and negative pictures. They were also measured for attention with a Stroop task. In addition, they received a functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) brain scan.

 

They found that emotional valence and arousal significantly decreased after training for the meditation but not the relaxation group. This suggests that emotions were less extreme after meditation training. There were no significant differences with attention. The brain scans revealed that the meditation group had significant enlargements of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, the inferior frontal sulcus, and the inferior frontal junction. Path analysis revealed the changes in the inferior frontal junction drove the changes in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and the inferior frontal sulcus.

 

These results are interesting and demonstrate neuroplastic changes in the brains of the elderly produced by attention-based compassion meditation training but not relaxation training. These changes in the brains of the elderly are associated with decrease emotional reactivity. Indeed, the ventromedial prefrontal cortex has been shown to be involved in the inhibition of emotions. This suggests that the meditation training produced improved brain processing for the regulation of emotions in the elderly. Since the elderly often suffer from extremes of anxiety, depression, and loneliness, these meditation induced changes may improve the psychological health of the elderly.

 

So, improve emotion processing by the brain with meditation.

 

“Meditation can help tame your emotions even if you’re not a mindful person.” – ScienceDaily

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are also available on Google+ https://plus.google.com/106784388191201299496/posts and on Twitter @MindfulResearch

 

Study Summary

 

Chau, B., Keuper, K., Lo, M., So, K. F., Chan, C., & Lee, T. (2018). Meditation-induced neuroplastic changes of the prefrontal network are associated with reduced valence perception in older people. Brain and Neuroscience Advances, 2, 2398212818771822. https://doi.org/10.1177/2398212818771822

 

Abstract

Background:

Neuroplastic underpinnings of meditation-induced changes in affective processing are largely unclear.

Methods:

We included healthy older participants in an active-controlled experiment. They were involved a meditation training or a control relaxation training of eight weeks. Associations between behavioral and neural morphometric changes induced by the training were examined.

Results:

The meditation group demonstrated a change in valence perception indexed by more neutral valence ratings of positive and negative affective images. These behavioral changes were associated with synchronous structural enlargements in a prefrontal network involving the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and the inferior frontal sulcus. In addition, these neuroplastic effects were modulated by the enlargement in the inferior frontal junction. In contrast, these prefrontal enlargements were absent in the active control group, which completed a relaxation training. Supported by a path analysis, we propose a model that describes how meditation may induce a series of prefrontal neuroplastic changes related to valence perception. These brain areas showing meditation-induced structural enlargements are reduced in older people with affective dysregulations.

Conclusion:

We demonstrated that a prefrontal network was enlarged after eight weeks of meditation training. Our findings yield translational insights in the endeavor to promote healthy aging by means of meditation.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7058252/

 

Improve Sleep in Insomniacs with Meditation

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Improve Sleep in Insomniacs with Meditation

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Given the absence of side effects and the positive potential benefits of mindfulness that extend beyond sleep, we encourage people with chronic insomnia, particularly those unable or unwilling to use sleep medications, to consider mindfulness training.” – Cynthia Gross

 

Modern society has become more around-the-clock and more complex producing considerable pressure and stress on the individual. The advent of the internet and smart phones has exacerbated the problem. The resultant stress can impair sleep. Indeed, it is estimated that over half of Americans sleep too little due to stress. As a result, people today sleep 20% less than they did 100 years ago. Not having a good night’s sleep has adverse effects upon the individual’s health, well-being, and happiness. It has been estimated that 30 to 35% of adults have brief symptoms of insomnia, 15 to 20% have a short-term insomnia disorder, and 10% have chronic insomnia

 

Insomnia is more than just an irritant. Sleep deprivation is associated with decreased alertness and a consequent reduction in performance of even simple tasks, decreased quality of life, increased difficulties with memory and problem solving, increased likelihood of accidental injury including automobile accidents, and increased risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. It also can lead to anxiety about sleep itself. This is stressful and can produce even more anxiety about being able to sleep. About 4% of Americans revert to sleeping pills. But these do not always produce high quality sleep and can have problematic side effects. So, there is a need to find better methods to treat insomnia. Mindfulness-based practices have been reported to improve sleep amount and quality and help with insomnia. It makes sense to explore the effectiveness of different meditation techniques for insomnia.

 

In today’s Research News article “Heartfulness meditation improves sleep in chronic insomnia.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7034439/), Thimmapuram and colleagues recruited adults who were diagnosed with chronic insomnia. They were instructed on sleep hygiene and received instruction in heartfulness meditation once per week for 8 weeks. Heartfulness meditation included relaxation and directing attention to the light in the heart and be open to any experience. They were instructed to practice the meditation in the morning for 20 minutes and in the evening for 5 minutes. They were measured before and after training for insomnia severity.

 

They found that in comparison to baseline after heartfulness meditation there was a large significant decrease in insomnia severity. Whereas all participants were taking some form of medication for insomnia before the training, afterwards 75% of the patients had ceased taking the drugs while a further 12.5% reduced dosage.

 

The study did not contain a control group and as such the results must be interpreted with caution. However, prior well-controlled studies have demonstrated that mindfulness training improves sleep and reduces insomnia. So, it is likely that the heartfulness meditation practice was responsible for the improvements in the present study. This study extends the types of mindfulness practices that are effective for insomnia with heartfulness meditation.

 

So, improve sleep in insomniacs with meditation.

 

“If insomnia is at the root of your sleepless nights, it may be worth trying meditation. The deep relaxation technique has been shown to increase sleep time, improve sleep quality, and make it easier to fall (and stay) asleep.” – SleepFoundation

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are also available on Google+ https://plus.google.com/106784388191201299496/posts and on Twitter @MindfulResearch

 

Study Summary

 

Thimmapuram, J., Yommer, D., Tudor, L., Bell, T., Dumitrescu, C., & Davis, R. (2020). Heartfulness meditation improves sleep in chronic insomnia. Journal of community hospital internal medicine perspectives, 10(1), 10–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/20009666.2019.1710948

 

ABSTRACT

Background: Chronic insomnia is characterized by disturbed sleep that occurs despite adequate opportunity and circumstances to sleep. Many patients with chronic insomnia have comorbid mental illnesses or medical illnesses that contribute and precipitate insomnia. Hallmark of chronic insomnia treatment includes non-pharmacological measures such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I). Pharmacologic treatment (sedative or hypnotic agents) has been disappointing because of poor efficacy and numerous undesirable side effects. Other new therapies including meditation have been proven to be effective.

Objective: This study investigates the effectiveness of Heartfulness meditation coupled with sleep hygiene to treat chronic insomnia. Methods: In this prospective pre-post design cohort study, 32 adult patients with chronic primary insomnia engaged in Heartfulness meditation along with appropriate sleep hygiene for eight weeks. Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) scores, usage of sedative or hypnotic agents were measured at baseline and at the end of the eight-week period.

Results: There was a significant decrease in the mean ISI scores from 20.9 to 10.4 (p < 0.001) after eight weeks of Heartfulness meditation. Twenty four of 32 patients were initially on sedative or hypnotic medications. At week eight, 21 of 24 patients (87.5%) were off these medications or the dosage was reduced (p < 0.001).

Conclusion: This study demonstrated statistical improvements in the measures of ISI in patients undergoing a Heartfulness meditation program. Heartfulness meditation may facilitate the taper and eventual cessation of sedative hypnotics in patients suffering from chronic insomnia.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7034439/

 

Reduce Alcohol-Related Choices to Alleviate Stress with Brief Meditation

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Reduce Alcohol-Related Choices to Alleviate Stress with Brief Meditation

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Meditation has a pretty long list of reputed benefits, including everything from lowered stress levels to more effective (and mood-boosting) runs. It can help curb your craving for cocktails.” –  Rachel Lapidos

 

Inappropriate use of alcohol is a major societal problem. In fact, about 25% of US adults have engaged in binge drinking in the last month and 7% have what is termed an alcohol use disorder. Alcohol abuse is very dangerous and frequently fatal. Nearly 88,000 people in the US and 3.3 million globally die from alcohol-related causes annually, making it the third leading preventable cause of death in the United States. Drunk driving accounted for over 10,000 deaths; 31% of all driving fatalities. Excessive alcohol intake has been shown to contribute to over 200 diseases including alcohol dependence, liver cirrhosis, cancers, and injuries. It is estimated that over 5% of the burden of disease and injury worldwide is attributable to alcohol consumption. These are striking and alarming statistics and indicate that controlling alcohol intake is an important priority for the individual and society

 

It has been found that mindfulness training has been successfully applied to treating alcohol abuse. It appears to increase the ability of the drinker to control alcohol intake. Stress appears to increase cravings for alcohol and mindfulness training has been shown to reduce responses to stress. Since, mindfulness appears to hold promise as a treatment for excessive alcohol intake, there is a need to examine the ability of meditation training in reducing alcohol-related choices in response to stress.

 

In today’s Research News article “Ultra-brief breath counting (mindfulness) training promotes recovery from stress-induced alcohol-seeking in student drinkers.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6959458/), Shuai and colleagues recruited university students who were not teetotalers. They viewed pairs of pictures of alcohol or food and were asked to choose one for enlargement. Then they were randomly assigned to listen to a 6-minute recording of either a passage from a book or breath counting instructions and counted their breaths. They then repeated the picture choice task but with loud and unpleasant industrial noise playing. They rated their subjective levels of happiness and annoyance before testing, after listening to the recordings, and at the end of the final picture choice session.

 

They found that the breath counting participants had a significant increase in happiness and decrease in annoyance following the breath counting while the control participants had a significant decrease in happiness and increase in annoyance. Also, the breath counting participants were significantly happier and less annoyed than the control participants after the stressful picture choice condition. Finally, they found that in the stressful condition both groups increased their choice of alcohol related pictures but the breath counting group decreased their choices of alcohol related pictures over time while the control group did not.

 

This is an interesting laboratory study. But it should be kept in mind that the findings may or may not apply to real-world alcohol seeking. But the findings suggest that a very brief session of breath counting increases happiness and decreases feelings of annoyance and makes the participants more resistant to stress reducing happiness and increasing annoyance and allows the participants to recover faster from stress effects on alcohol choices.

 

These results suggest that brief breath counting meditation improves mood and makes the participants recover faster from choosing alcohol-related following stress. These results may suggest how meditation improves drinkers’ ability to better control their intake. It does so by improving mood and decreasing the effect of stress on mood and alcohol intake.

 

So, reduce alcohol-related choices to alleviate stress with brief meditation.

 

“There are many practices and applications of meditation to stop drinking. Meditation teaches us that we don’t have to react to dispiriting thoughts and cravings. We learn that we have choices, and can choose to remain in the present moment while acknowledging the thoughts, emotions, and physical sensations that habitually trigger maladjusted behavior. We learn that letting go and self-acceptance are possible, and that they are enough.” – Mindworks

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are also available on Google+ https://plus.google.com/106784388191201299496/posts and on Twitter @MindfulResearch

 

Study Summary

 

Shuai, R., Bakou, A. E., Hardy, L., & Hogarth, L. (2020). Ultra-brief breath counting (mindfulness) training promotes recovery from stress-induced alcohol-seeking in student drinkers. Addictive behaviors, 102, 106141. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2019.106141

 

Abstract

The therapeutic effect of mindfulness interventions on problematic drinking is thought to be driven by increased resilience to the impact of stress on negative mood and alcohol-seeking behaviour, but this claim needs empirical support. To address this hypothesis, the current study tested whether brief training of one component of mindfulness – breath counting – would reduce drinkers’ sensitivity to the effect of noise stress on subjective mood and alcohol-seeking behaviour. Baseline alcohol-seeking was measured by choice to view alcohol versus food thumbnail pictures in 192 student drinkers. Participants then received a 6-minute audio file which either trained breath counting or recited a popular science extract, in separate groups. All participants were then stressed by a loud industrial noise and alcohol-seeking was measured again simultaneously to quantify the change from baseline. Subjective mood was measured after all three stages (baseline, post intervention, post stress test). The breath counting group were instructed to deploy this technique during the stress test. Results showed that the breath counting versus control intervention improved subjective mood relative to baseline, attenuated the worsening of subjective mood produced by stress induction, and accelerated recovery from a stress induced increase in alcohol-seeking behaviour. Exploratory moderation analysis showed that this accelerated recovery from stress induced alcohol-seeking by breath counting was weaker in more alcohol dependent participants. Mindfulness therapies may improve problematic drinking by increasing resilience to stress induced negative mood and alcohol-seeking, as observed in this study. The weaker therapeutic effect of breath counting in more dependent drinkers may reveal limitations to this intervention strategy.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6959458/

 

Improve Emotion Regulation and Attention with Zen Meditation

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Improve Emotion Regulation and Attention with Zen Meditation

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Meditation can give you a sense of calm, peace and balance that can benefit both your emotional well-being and your overall health. And these benefits don’t end when your meditation session ends. Meditation can help carry you more calmly through your day and may help you manage symptoms of certain medical conditions.” – Mayo Clinic

 

Over the last several decades, research and anecdotal experiences have accumulated an impressive evidential case that the development of mindfulness has positive benefits for the individual’s mental, physical, and spiritual life. Mindfulness appears to be beneficial both for healthy people and for people suffering from a myriad of mental and physical illnesses. It appears to be beneficial across ages, from children to the elderly. And it appears to be beneficial across genders, personalities, race, and ethnicity. The breadth and depth of benefits is unprecedented. There is no other treatment or practice that has been shown to come anyway near the range of mindfulness’ positive benefits.

 

There is a vast array of techniques for the development of mindfulness. They include a variety of forms of meditation, yoga, mindful movements, contemplative prayer, and combinations of practices. Zen meditation has been practiced for centuries but has only recently been studied with empirical science.

 

In today’s Research News article “Zen meditation neutralizes emotional evaluation, but not implicit affective processing of words.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7029852/), Lusnig and colleagues recruited adult experienced meditators and meditation naïve participants. The meditators engaged in a 90-minute Zen meditation session while the control group watched a neutral 90-minute documentary movie. They were measured before and after the session for attention, concentration, intelligence, and personality, and performed a lexical decision task to positive and negative emotion laden words, and neutral words varying in arousal level. They also reported the emotional valence of the words from -3 as very negative to +3 as very positive.

 

They found that in comparison to baseline and the comparison group after the single meditation session, the meditators rated the valence of the emotion laden words as more neutral and detected words significantly faster. The researchers interpreted these findings as indicative of meditation increasing attention (faster response times) and decreasing emotionality (neutralized valence ratings).

 

These findings are not surprising in that previous research has demonstrated that mindfulness practices improve attention and improve emotion regulation. They are surprising, however, in demonstrating that a single meditation session with experienced meditators is sufficient to activate these effects. It would have been interesting to also look at the effects of a meditation session on the meditation naïve participants to determine if the effects were due to meditation in general or to a difference in the effects of meditation on experienced versus naïve meditators.

 

So, improve emotion regulation and attention with Zen meditation.

 

“mindfulness meditation preaches accepting and letting go of negative emotions. Practicing this sort of behavior, scientists say, seems to improve meditators’ ability to control their emotions even when they’re not meditating. It seems to give meditators more emotional ballast, making them less easily swept up in the ups and downs of the present.” – Joseph Stromberg

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are also available on Google+ https://plus.google.com/106784388191201299496/posts and on Twitter @MindfulResearch

 

Study Summary

 

Lusnig, L., Radach, R., Mueller, C. J., & Hofmann, M. J. (2020). Zen meditation neutralizes emotional evaluation, but not implicit affective processing of words. PloS one, 15(2), e0229310. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0229310

 

Abstract

There is ample evidence that meditation can regulate emotions. It is questionable, however, whether meditation can down-regulate sensitivity to emotional experience in high-level cognitive representations such as words. The present study shows that adept Zen meditators rated the emotional valence of (low-arousal) positive and (high- and low-arousal) negative nouns significantly more neutral after a meditation session, while there was no change of valence ratings after a comparison intervention in the comparison group. Because the Zen group provided greater “openness to experience” and lower „need for achievement and performance” in the “Big Five” personality assessment, we used these scores as covariates for all analyses. We found no differential emotion effects of Zen meditation during lexical decision, but we replicated the slow-down of low-arousal negative words during lexical decision in both groups. Interestingly, Zen meditation elicited a global facilitation of all response times, which we discuss in terms of increased attentional resources after meditation.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7029852/