Meditation

Improve Children’s Self-Esteem with Meditation in School

psyjdc Leave a comment

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“In both the public and private sector, schools have found adding mindfulness techniques into the curriculum to benefit student’s overall well-being (with the side benefit of increased student creative productivity).” – Mark W. Guay

 

Childhood is a miraculous period during which the child is dynamically absorbing information from every aspect of its environment. This occurs almost without any intervention from the adults as the child appears to be programmed to learn. It is here that behaviors, knowledge, skills, and attitudes are developed that shape the individual. But, what is absorbed depends on the environment. If it is replete with speech, the child will learn speech, if it is replete with trauma, the child will learn fear, if it is replete with academic skills the child will learn these, and if it is replete with interactions with others, the child will learn social skills. If the child’s environment, however, is replete with negativity, bullying, criticism, punishment, and failure the child will learn a negative self-image and develop a poor self-concept.

 

What is developed in childhood has a lasting impact, especially how the child views him/herself. This self-concept will be carried throughout life effecting not only how they see themselves and interact with others, but also their productivity, creativity, and happiness. This is why it is so important for adults to promote the development of a positive self-concept in children. Elementary school is an environment that has a huge effect on the development of knowledge, attitudes, skills, and importantly self-concept. Hence, it is also an excellent time for adults to intervene to insure that this development is positive.

 

Mindfulness http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/category/research-news/school/ training in school, at all levels has been shown to have very positive effects. These include academic, cognitive, psychological, and social domains. Importantly, mindfulness training in school appears to improve the student’s self-concept. http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/2016/01/20/improve-high-level-thinking-with-mindfulness/  Since, this can have such a profound, long-term effect on the child it is important to further study the impact of mindfulness training on the development of self-concept in grammar school children.

 

In today’s Research News article “.” See:

https://www.facebook.com/ContemplativeStudiesCenter/photos/a.628903887133541.1073741828.627681673922429/1241471572543433/?type=3&theater

or below or view the full text of the study at:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4776824/

Yo and Lee recruited two third grade classes in different but very similar schools, assigning one class to receive meditation training and the other class to serve as an untreated control. In the meditation classroom the students meditated for 30 minutes, twice a week, for 15 weeks. They found that the children in the meditation classroom increased their self-esteem significantly with a large effect size while the children in the control classroom did not. Similar findings were found with school adjustment but the effect size was considerably smaller. In summary, the study found that the self-esteem and school adjustment of third grade children could be significantly increased by the practice of meditation in the classroom.

 

It should be noted that this was a quasi-experimental research design and it is not clear whether the differences in the schools or their students might have been important variables. In addition, there were no controls for participant expectations, experimenter bias, placebo effects, etc. So, the conclusions must be viewed as tentative. These results need to be repeated using a much stronger research design, perhaps with the children in the control classroom napping during the equivalent time as the meditation.

 

But, with these reservations considered, the results are suggestive that meditation training has large effects on children’s self-esteem and adjustment to school. This is potentially very important as this may have profound, long-term, positive effects on the children. It can’t be overemphasized how important it is to help children feel more positive about themselves. This could be a key to the child’s well-being throughout their lifetime, their school success, and their success and happiness in life.

 

So, improve children’s self-esteem with meditation in school.

 

“Young people are incredibly stressed. There’s an explosion of mental health problems among young people and it’s going to be incredibly expensive to treat in the future. It’s much cheaper to focus on prevention and building resilience, and mindfulness is the single best tool that you could possibly give them.” – Michael Matania

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

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

 

Study Summary

Yoo, Y. G., & Lee, I. S. (2013). The Effects of School-Based Maum Meditation Program on the Self-Esteem and School Adjustment in Primary School Students. Global Journal of Health Science, 5(4), 14–27. http://doi.org/10.5539/gjhs.v5n4p14

 

Abstract

Self-esteem and school adjustment of children in the lower grades of primary school, the beginning stage of school life, have a close relationship with development of personality, mental health and characters of children. Therefore, the present study aimed to verify the effect of school-based Maum Meditation program on children in the lower grades of primary school, as a personality education program. The result showed that the experimental group with application of Maum Meditation program had significant improvements in self-esteem and school adjustment, compared to the control group without the application. In conclusion, since the study provides significant evidence that the intervention of Maum Meditation program had positive effects on self-esteem and school adjustment of children in the early stage of primary school, it is suggested to actively employ Maum Meditation as a school-based meditation program for mental health promotion of children in the early school ages, the stage of formation of personalities and habits.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4776824/

 

Relieve Depression with Mindful Meditation

psyjdc Leave a comment

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“People at risk for depression are dealing with a lot of negative thoughts, feelings and beliefs about themselves and this can easily slide into a depressive relapse. MBCT helps them to recognize that’s happening, engage with it in a different way and respond to it with equanimity and compassion.” – Willem Kuyken

 

Clinically diagnosed depression is the most common mental illness, affecting over 6% of the population. It is generally episodic, coming and going. Some people only have a single episode but most have multiple reoccurrences of depression. Major depression can be quite debilitating. It is distinguishable from everyday sadness or grief by the depth, intensity, and range of symptoms. These can include feelings of sadness, tearfulness, emptiness or hopelessness, angry outbursts, irritability or frustration, even over small matters, loss of interest or pleasure in most or all normal activities, such as sex, hobbies or sports, sleep disturbances, including insomnia or sleeping too much, tiredness and lack of energy, so even small tasks take extra effort, changes in appetite — often reduced appetite and weight loss, but increased cravings for food and weight gain in some people, anxiety, agitation or restlessness, slowed thinking, speaking or body movements, feelings of worthlessness or guilt, fixating on past failures or blaming yourself for things that aren’t your responsibility, trouble thinking, concentrating, making decisions and remembering things, frequent or recurrent thoughts of death, suicidal thoughts, suicide attempts or suicide, unexplained physical problems, such as back pain or headaches. Needless to say individuals with depression are miserable.

 

Depression appears to be the result of a change in the nervous system that can generally only be reached with drugs that alter the affected neurochemical systems. But, depression can be difficult to treat. Of patients treated initially with drugs only about a third attained remission of the depression. After repeated and varied treatments including drugs, therapy, exercise etc. only about two thirds of patients attained remission. In, addition, drugs often have troubling side effects and can lose effectiveness over time. In addition, many patients who achieve remission have relapses and recurrences of the depression. So, it is important to investigate alternative treatments for depression.

 

Mindful meditation training is a viable alternative treatment for depression. It has been shown to be an effective treatment for active depression and for the prevention of its recurrence. It can even be effective in cases where drugs fail. In today’s Research News article “Critical Analysis of the Efficacy of Meditation Therapies for Acute and Subacute Phase Treatment of Depressive Disorders: A Systematic Review.” See:

https://www.facebook.com/ContemplativeStudiesCenter/photos/a.628903887133541.1073741828.627681673922429/1232267610130496/?type=3&theater

or below or view the full text of the study at:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4383597/

Jain and colleagues investigated the state of knowledge regarding mindful meditation effectiveness for depression. They reviewed the published research literature on the application of mindful meditation training to the relief of depression and/or the prevention of relapse. Meditation occurred in a variety of different techniques, meditation, yoga, mindful movement (i.e. Tai Chi), and mantra meditation. The most frequent technique (57% of studies) was Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT). This was not a surprise as MBCT was developed specifically to treat depression.

 

They reported that the research results made a clear case that meditation therapies are effective for depression. They were effective in relieving depression when the patient was experiencing an active episode and also when the patient had recovered from major depression but was experiencing residual depressive symptoms. Thus, the published research is clear that mindful meditation is an effective treatment for depression. They caution, however, that more research is needed to unequivocally demonstrate its effectiveness under more highly controlled conditions.

 

It is not known exactly how meditation relieves depression. It can be speculated that mindful meditation by shifting attention away from the past or future to the present moment interrupts the kinds of thinking that are characteristic of and support depression. These include rumination about past events, worry about future events, and catastrophizing about potential future events. Mindfulness meditation has been shown to interrupt rumination, worry, and catastrophizing and focus the individual on what is transpiring in the present. By interrupting these forms of thinking that support depression, shifting attention to the present moment where situations are actually manageable, mindful meditation may disrupt depression.

 

Regardless of the speculations, it is clear that mindfulness meditation is a safe and effective treatment for depression.

 

“It’s been more than two years since I started that experiment. I have not missed a single day. And I’m going to tell you right now, still in half-disbelief myself: meditation worked. I don’t mean I feel a little better. I mean the Depression is gone. Completely. I still have very hard days, yes. But when issues come up, real or imagined (or a combination of both), meditation provides an awareness that helps me sort through it all, stay steady on, and understand deeply what is going on. “ – Spike Gillespie

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

Study Summary

Jain, F. A., Walsh, R. N., Eisendrath, S. J., Christensen, S., & Cahn, B. R. (2015). Critical Analysis of the Efficacy of Meditation Therapies for Acute and Subacute Phase Treatment of Depressive Disorders: A Systematic Review. Psychosomatics, 56(2), 140–152. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.psym.2014.10.007

 

Abstract

Background: Recently, the application of meditative practices to the treatment of depressive disorders has met with increasing clinical and scientific interest, due to a lower side-effect burden, potential reduction of polypharmacy, as well as theoretical considerations that such interventions may target some of the cognitive roots of depression. We aimed to determine the state of the evidence supporting this application.

Methods Randomized, controlled trials of techniques meeting the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) definition of meditation, for participants suffering from clinically diagnosed depressive disorders, not currently in remission, were selected. Meditation therapies were separated into praxis (i.e. how they were applied) components, and trial outcomes were reviewed.

Results: Eighteen studies meeting inclusionary criteria were identified, encompassing seven distinct techniques and 1173 patients, with Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy comprising the largest proportion. Studies including patients suffering from acute major depressive episodes (N = 10 studies), and those with residual subacute clinical symptoms despite initial treatment (N = 8), demonstrated moderate to large reductions in depression symptoms within group, and relative to control groups. There was significant heterogeneity of techniques and trial designs.

Conclusions: A substantial body of evidence indicates that meditation therapies may have salutary effects on patients suffering from clinical depressive disorders during the acute and subacute phases of treatment. Due to methodological deficiences and trial heterogeneity, large-scale, randomized controlled trials with well-described comparator interventions and measures of expectation are needed to clarify the role of meditation in the depression treatment armamentarium.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4383597/

Improve Thought Executive Function with Mindfulness

psyjdc 3 Comments

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“mindfulness training on focusing on the present moment may develop control of attention, or executive function. This enhances capacity for sustained attention, attention switching, and inhibition of elaborative processing, thereby increasing our mastery over the content of our thoughts and actions. . .  this amplifies our ability to self-regulate, allowing us to redirect our attention from rumination and depressogenic thoughts back to the experience of the present moment, thus decreasing negative affect and improving psychological health.” – Richard Chambers

 

Mindfulness practices such as meditation, yoga, and tai chi/qigong have been shown to have a myriad of positive benefits for the practitioner and they have been shown to alter a large variety of cognitive (thought) processes, such as attentional ability, memory, verbal fluency, critical thinking, learning, analytic thinking, mathematical ability, higher level (meta-cognitive) thinking, and cognitive reappraisal. There have not, however, been direct comparisons made between the practices to establish which may be superior for the improvement of which cognitive processes. In order to optimize the effectiveness of mindfulness practices to improve thinking it is important to determine the effective components of each practice.

 

In today’s Research News article “What Confucius practiced is good for your mind: Examining the effect of a contemplative practice in Confucian tradition on executive functions.” See:

https://www.facebook.com/ContemplativeStudiesCenter/photos/a.628903887133541.1073741828.627681673922429/1223639664326624/?type=3&theater

or see below

Teng and Lien compare the effectiveness of trainings for 4-weeks, twice a week for 90 minutes each, of mindful movements, or meditation, or a no treatment control. The mindful movement practice was termed Body-Mind Axial Awareness (BMAA) practice. It is very similar to tai chi except that the movements are not precisely choreographed and programmed. Chan meditation practice was used. It is very similar to Zen meditation and emphasizes breath following. They measured mindfulness, working memory ability, response inhibition (Stroop task), sustained attention and attentional switching ability.

They found that both the meditation and the mindful movement practices produced significant increases in mindfulness, in particular the observing and acting with awareness facets of mindfulness. They also found that the mindful movement practice produced a significant increase in working memory ability and sustained attention while the meditation training produced a significant increase in attentional switching ability. The groups did not differ in response inhibition ability. Hence, meditation practice appears to improve mindfulness and the ability to switch attention while the mindful movement practice improves mindfulness and working memory.

 

Increases in mindfulness, especially with the observing and acting with awareness facets, are routinely found with all mindfulness practices. So, these findings are not surprising and do not signal a difference between practices. The mindful movement practice requires continuous sustained attention in order to produce smooth movement sequences, so it makes sense that this practice would produce better sustained attention and therefore reduce mind wandering. This may, in turn, improve working memory ability as it improves sustained attention on the contents of memory, thereby reducing loss from working memory. It is possible that the training in focusing attention in the meditation practice that requires shifting attention back to the breath after mind wandering may be responsible for the improvements in attentional switching seen with meditation practice.

 

Although the equivalence of the mindful movement practice and the meditation practice was well maintained, one difference would be impossible to make equivalent and that is effects of the practice on the cardiovascular system. Mindful movement practice would be expected to raise heart rate, blood pressure, and metabolic rate while meditation would be expected to reduce them. In addition, the no treatment control is a weak control condition and a light exercise condition practiced over equivalent periods of time would be a much better comparison condition. So, for future research it might be useful to include a light exercise (e.g. walking) control condition.

 

Regardless improve thought executive function with mindfulness.

 

“training students in mindfulness techniques improves mental focus, increases academic performance, strengthens ability to emotionally regulate, and supports positive human qualities: kindness, empathy, compassion.” – Ready for School

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

 

Study Summary

Teng SC, Lien YW. What Confucius practiced is good for your mind: Examining the effect of a contemplative practice in Confucian tradition on executive functions. Conscious Cogn. 2016 Mar 30;42:204-215. doi: 10.1016/j.concog.2016.03.016. [Epub ahead of print]

PMID: 27038245

 

Abstract

The short-term training effects on various executive functions (EFs) by a movement-based contemplative practice (MBCP) are examined. Three aspects of EFs (working memory capacity, inhibition, switching) are assessed before and after a month-long 12-h training period using Body-Mind Axial Awareness (BMAA) principles that Confucius followers have practiced for more than 2000years. A mindfulness-based practice (Chan-meditation) and a waiting-list control group served as contrast groups. Our results showed that the BMAA group performed better on the task that measured working memory capacity than did the Chan-meditation and the waiting-list groups after training. In addition, the Chan-meditation groups outperformed the control group on attentional switching, a novel finding for this kind of practice. Our findings not only show a new effect of short-term MBCPs on EFs, but also indicate movement-based and mindfulness-based contemplative practices might benefit development of various aspects of EFs in different ways.

 

Minority and Low Education Groups are Less Likely to Practice Mindfulness

psyjdc Leave a comment

Mindfulness minority2 - Olano

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Despite increased attention to diversity issues, ethnic minorities are still underrepresented in the field of psychology. Baseline knowledge on the effectiveness of treatments for ethnic minority groups is limited.” – Janice Ya Ken Cheng

 

Mindfulness practices have gone mainstream in western culture. This has not been driven by theoretical, philosophical, or religious reasons but by pragmatic ones. Mindfulness practices have been found to be very beneficial to the practitioner of all ages from children, to adults, to the elderly. They have been shown to improve the psychological and physical health of otherwise healthy individuals and to be helpful in treating both mental and physical illnesses. A variety of mindfulness techniques have been shown to be effective including meditation, mindfulness based stress reduction (MBSR), mindfulness based cognitive therapy (MBCT), Acceptance and Commitment therapy (ACT), mindful movement practices such as tai chi and qigong, and yoga. It is no wonder that these practices have spread rapidly in modern western culture.

 

At present, it is not known whether these practices have spread uniformly through the population of have been adopted primarily by specific subgroups. For the most part, mindfulness practices require a teacher, at least initially, and thus can incur costs. This suggests that there may be socioeconomic barriers to participation. In addition, because mindfulness practices have spread through the printed media, education level may be a factor in their adoption. To help promote the adoption of these healthy techniques it is important to know which groups are not currently participating in large numbers and what might be the barriers for participation.

 

In today’s Research News article “Engagement in Mindfulness Practices by U.S. Adults: Sociodemographic Barriers.” See: https://www.facebook.com/ContemplativeStudiesCenter/photos/a.628903887133541.1073741828.627681673922429/1219971614693429/?type=3&theater

 

or below or view the full text of the study at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4326023/

Olano and colleagues studied the ethnic, educational, and socioeconomic characteristics of participants in various mindfulness practices from the responses reported in the 2002, 2007, and 2012 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS). This survey included questions regarding participant characteristics and participation in various mindfulness practices.

 

They found that over 13% of the population participated in one or more mindfulness practices. Meditation and yoga were practiced about equally being engaged in by 7.6% and 7.5% of the population of the U.S. respectively, while tai chi and qigong were much less commonly practiced, 1.2% and 0.3% of the population respectively. Gender made a difference as men were half as likely as women to engage in any of the practices and more than three times less likely to practice yoga. Education level made a large difference with education beyond high school highly predictive of engagement in mindfulness practices. Race and ethnicity was also important with white and Asian Americans much more likely to practice than black or Hispanic Americans. Interestingly, income level only made a very slight difference in participation.

 

These results are very interesting as the characteristics of participants in mindfulness practices track health statistics for these groups. Low education level and being a member of a minority group are strong predictors of poor health outcomes and males live on average 7 years less than females. These results do not demonstrate that engagement in mindfulness practices are the sole reason for health disparities, as they are still present for non-practitioners. But, it is known that mindfulness practices promote good mental and physical health. So, the lack of practice in male, minority, and low education groups suggests that they are not taking advantage of the benefits of practice which may contribute to the health disparities.

 

These results strongly suggest that greater efforts should be made to bring mindfulness practices to these vulnerable populations and thereby improve health and well-being. The results of the current study suggest that income level is not a problem. This is important as it suggests that these practices can be spread at low relative cost. Given their very positive impacts on health, mindfulness practices would appear to be a very safe and cost effective means of improving health and addressing prevalent health disparities in the population.

 

“Researchers and clinicians who are interested in ethnic minority research in general and acceptance- and mindfulness-based treat­ments in particular must face the fact that ethnic minority psycholo­gists are persistently underrepresented, despite different efforts having been made to promote the recruitment and retention of ethnic minor­ity professionals in psychology.” –  Janice Ka Yan Cheng

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

Study Summary

Olano, H. A., Kachan, D., Tannenbaum, S. L., Mehta, A., Annane, D., & Lee, D. J. (2015). Engagement in Mindfulness Practices by U.S. Adults: Sociodemographic Barriers. Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 21(2), 100–102. http://doi.org/10.1089/acm.2014.0269

 

Abstract

Objective: To examine the effect of sociodemographic factors on mindfulness practices.

Methods: National Health Interview Survey Alternative Medicine Supplement data were used to examine sociodemographic predictors of engagement in meditation, yoga, tai chi, and qigong.

Results: Greater education was associated with mindfulness practices (odds ratio [OR], 4.02 [95% confidence interval [CI], 3.50–4.61]), men were half as likely as women to engage in any practice, and lower engagement was found among non-Hispanic blacks and Hispanics.

Conclusion: Vulnerable population groups with worse health outcomes were less likely to engage in mindfulness practices.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4326023/

 

Mitigate Pain with Mindfulness

psyjdc Leave a comment

Meditation pain Meize-Grochowski

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“It turns out, the human mind does not simply feel pain, it also processes the information that it contains. It teases apart all of the different sensations to try to find their underlying causes so that you can avoid further pain or damage to the body. In effect, the mind zooms in on your pain for a closer look as it tries to find a solution to your suffering. This ‘zooming-in’ amplifies pain.” – Danny Penman

 

Postherpetic neuralgia is a complication of shingles, which is caused by the chickenpox virus, a form of herpes virus. It affects between 10%-20% of shingles sufferers. It affects nerve fibers and skin, causing burning pain that lasts long after the rash and blisters of shingles disappear. It produces pain that has been described as burning, sharp and jabbing, or deep and aching, that lasts for over 3 months. Patients report extreme sensitivity to touch such that even the feel of clothing is very uncomfortable. Sometimes it is also accompanied with itching or numbness. Postherpetic neuralgia pain is difficult to cope with and can thus lead to depression, fatigue, sleep problems, loss of appetite, and difficulty with concentration. The risk of acquiring postherpetic neuralgia increase with age and primarily afflict people over 60. There’s no cure, but treatments can ease symptoms. For most people, postherpetic neuralgia improves over time. But, it is an extremely uncomfortable and disruptive disorder and new and better treatments are needed.

 

Mindfulness training has been shown to effectively reduce pain from a number of different conditions. So, it is reasonable to explore whether mindfulness training could be an effective treatment for postherpetic neuralgia. In today’s Research News article “Mindfulness meditation in older adults with postherpetic neuralgia: a randomized controlled pilot study.” See:

https://www.facebook.com/ContemplativeStudiesCenter/photos/a.628903887133541.1073741828.627681673922429/1218626534827937/?type=3&theater

or below or view the full text of the study at:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4488325/

Meize-Grochowski and colleagues randomly assigned elderly patients (55-90 years of age) with postherpetic neuralgia to either a 6-weeks of 20-minute daily meditation or to a wait-list control condition. They found that at the end of the 6-weeks the meditation group had a significant decrease in neuropathic pain, total pain, and affective pain and improved physical functioning compared to baseline and control participants.

 

These results are encouraging. But, it should be recognized that this was a very small pilot study and needs to be replicated in a much larger clinical trial. Regardless, the results suggest that meditation may be a safe and effective treatment for postherpetic neuralgia, decreasing pain and improving functioning in life. This adds to the growing list of pain conditions that respond positively to mindfulness techniques. It suggests that mindfulness training may be a universally effective treatment for chronic pain.

 

Mindfulness training may be effective for pain by focusing attention on the present moment and thereby reduce worry and catastrophizing. Pain is increased by worry about the pain and the expectation of greater pain in the future. So, reducing worry and catastrophizing should reduce pain. In addition, negative emotions are associated with pain and amplify it. Mindfulness may ne effective for pain because it increases positive emotions and decreases negative ones. Finally, mindfulness has been shown to change how pain is processed in the brain reducing the intensity of pain signals in the nervous system.

 

Regardless of the mechanism, it is clear that meditation is a safe and effective treatment for postherpetic neuralgia. So, mitigate pain with mindfulness.

 

“What we want to do as best as we can is to engage with the pain just as it is. It’s not about achieving a certain goal – like minimizing pain – but learning to relate to your pain differently.” – Elisha Goldstein

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

 

Study Summary

Meize-Grochowski, R., Shuster, G., Boursaw, B., DuVal, M., Murray-Krezan, C., Schrader, R., … Prasad, A. (2015). Mindfulness meditation in older adults with postherpetic neuralgia: a randomized controlled pilot study. Geriatric Nursing (New York, N.Y.), 36(2), 154–160. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.gerinurse.2015.02.012

Abstract

This parallel-group, randomized controlled pilot study examined daily meditation in a diverse sample of older adults with postherpetic neuralgia. Block randomization was used to allocate participants to a treatment group (n = 13) or control group (n = 14). In addition to usual care, the treatment group practiced daily meditation for six weeks. All participants completed questionnaires at enrollment in the study, two weeks later, and six weeks after that, at the study’s end. Participants recorded daily pain and fatigue levels in a diary, and treatment participants also noted meditation practice. Results at the .10 level indicated improvement in neuropathic, affective, and total pain scores for the treatment group, whereas affective pain worsened for the control group. Participants were able to adhere to the daily diary and meditation requirements in this feasibility pilot study.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4488325/

Relieve Depression with Meditation and Exercise

psyjdc Leave a comment

Meditation Exercise Brain depression2 Alderman

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Studies have already suggested that physical activity can play a powerful role in reducing depression; newer, separate research is showing that meditation does, too. Now some exercise scientists and neuroscientists believe there may be a uniquely powerful benefit in combining the two.” – Melissa Dahl

 

Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is a severe mood disorder that includes mood dysregulation and cognitive impairment. It is estimated that 16 million adults in the U.S. (6.9% of the population suffered from major depression in the past year and affects females (8.4%) to a great extent than males (5.2%). It is second-leading cause of disability in the world following heart disease. The usual treatment of choice for MDD is drug treatment. In fact, it is estimated that 10% of the U.S. population is taking some form of antidepressant medication. But a substantial proportion of patients (~40%) do not respond to drug treatment. In addition, the drugs can have nasty side effects. So, there is need to explore other treatment options.

 

It has been shown that aerobic exercise can help to relieve depression. But, depressed individuals lack energy and motivation and it is difficult to get them to exercise regularly. As a result, aerobic exercise has not been used very often as a treatment. Recently, it has become clear that mindfulness practices are effective for the relief of major depressive disorder and as a preventative measure to discourage relapses. Mindfulness can be used as a stand-alone treatment or in combination with drugs. It is even effective when drugs fail to relieve the depression.

 

As yet there has been no attempt to combine aerobic exercise and mindfulness training for major depressive disorder. It is possible that mindfulness practice may improve depression sufficiently to energize the individual to engage in aerobic exercise. So, the combination may be uniquely beneficial. In today’s Research News article “MAP training: combining meditation and aerobic exercise reduces depression and rumination while enhancing synchronized brain activity”

https://www.facebook.com/ContemplativeStudiesCenter/photos/a.628903887133541.1073741828.627681673922429/1217959668227957/?type=3&theater

http://www.nature.com/tp/journal/v6/n2/full/tp2015225a.html

Alderman and colleagues employ a combination of 20 minutes of minutes of sitting meditation followed immediately by 10 minutes of walking meditation with 30 minutes of aerobic exercise either on a treadmill or stationary bicycle. They tested the impact of this combination on a group of adults with major depressive disorder and a group of healthy non-depressed individuals.

 

They found that the treatment reduced depression in both groups but to a much greater extent with the depressed patients, reducing it by 40%. The treatment also reduced ruminative thinking in both groups. They also found that the combined aerobic exercise and mindfulness training changed the brains response to a cognitive task. After training there was a larger N2 (negative response) observed in the brains evoked electrical activity (ERP) and a larger P3 (positive response) in the ERP in response to the cognitive task.

 

The P3 response in the evoked potential (ERP) occurs around a quarter of a second following the stimulus presentation. It is a positive change that is maximally measured over the central frontal lobe. The P3 response has been associated with the engagement of attention. So, the P3 response is often used as a measure of brain attentional processing with the larger the positive change the greater the attentional focus. The N2 response in the evoked potential (ERP) generally precedes the P3 response. It is a negative change that is maximally measured over the frontal lobe. The N2 response has been associated with the engagement of attention to a new or novel stimulus. So, the N2 response is often used as a measure of brain attentional processing with the large the negative changes an indication of greater discrimination of new stimuli.

 

The findings indicate that the combination training improves brain electrical activity indicators of attention and stimulus discrimination during a cognitive task. It was also found that the size of the N2 response was negatively related to the amount of decrease in ruminative thought. Ruminative thought which requires attention to memories of the past and attention to the present cannot occur at the same time. So, by improving attention the training appeared to improve attention to the present and thereby decrease rumination which is a major contributor to the depressed state.

 

These are interesting and exciting results that suggest that the combination of mindfulness and aerobic exercise training may be a potent and effective treatment for major depressive disorder. This is particularly important as aerobic exercise and mindfulness training both have many other physical and psychological benefits and have minimal side effects. They may, in part, be effective by improving attention and thereby decreasing rumination in depressed patients. Given the design of the present study it is not possible to determine if the combination is more effective the either component alone or the sum of their independent effectiveness. Future research should address this issue.

 

So, relieve depression with meditation and exercise.

 

“We know these therapies can be practiced over a lifetime and that they will be effective in improving mental and cognitive health. The good news is that this intervention can be practiced by anyone at any time and at no cost.” – Brandon Alderman

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

 

Study Summary

 

B L Alderman, R L Olson, C J Brush and T J Shors. MAP training: combining meditation and aerobic exercise reduces depression and rumination while enhancing synchronized brain activity. Translational Psychiatry (2016) 6, e726; doi:10.1038/tp.2015.225. Published online 2 February 2016

 

Abstract

Mental and physical (MAP) training is a novel clinical intervention that combines mental training through meditation and physical training through aerobic exercise. The intervention was translated from neuroscientific studies indicating that MAP training increases neurogenesis in the adult brain. Each session consisted of 30 min of focused-attention (FA) meditation and 30 min of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise. Fifty-two participants completed the 8-week intervention, which consisted of two sessions per week. Following the intervention, individuals with major depressive disorder (MDD; n=22) reported significantly less depressive symptoms and ruminative thoughts. Typical healthy individuals (n=30) also reported less depressive symptoms at follow-up. Behavioral and event-related potential indices of cognitive control were collected at baseline and follow-up during a modified flanker task. Following MAP training, N2 and P3 component amplitudes increased relative to baseline, especially among individuals with MDD. These data indicate enhanced neural responses during the detection and resolution of conflicting stimuli. Although previous research has supported the individual beneficial effects of aerobic exercise and meditation for depression, these findings indicate that a combination of the two may be particularly effective in increasing cognitive control processes and decreasing ruminative thought patterns.

http://www.nature.com/tp/journal/v6/n2/full/tp2015225a.html

 

Improve Alternatives to Incarceration with Mindfulness

psyjdc Leave a comment

Improve Alternatives to Incarceration with Mindfulness

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Mindfulness training helps youth consider more adaptive alternatives. It creates a gap between triggers for offending behavior and their responses. They learn to not immediately act out on impulse, but to pause and consider the consequences of a potential offending and high risk behavior.”- Bethany Casarjian

 

Alternative to Incarceration (ATI) programs attempt to, where possible, keep nonviolent criminals out of prison. The idea is that prison actually promotes repeated offending and by avoiding prison there is a better opportunity to prevent offending in the future. When arrested for nonviolent offenses the ATI provides treatment rather than punishment. In general, the courts hear the cases of nonviolent offenders who commit low-level felonies and misdemeanors and have mental health problems. Similarly, drug courts seek to address substance abuse problems in offenders commonly charged with possession and other drug-related offenses. In exchange for a guilty plea, the offenders enter treatment instead of prison. If they successfully complete treatment, authorities may remove the offense from their record, depending on the plea agreement.

 

Alternative to Incarceration (ATI) programs vary from state to state. Generally, they last from 6 to 9 months with some form of treatment or counseling occurring nearly daily. These include social services such as individual and group counseling, education placement, job readiness training, sex education, and anger management programs. In addition, ATI programs provide various types of monitoring such as drug testing, curfew enforcement, and attendance tracking at work, school, and the program. These programs have been very successful. Participants who completed the program are much less likely to offend again with recidivism rates declining by 85 percent, conviction rates by 77 percent and incarceration rates by 83 percent.

 

Many of the individuals in these ATI programs struggle with drug addiction, mental illnesses, and/or anger and impulse control issues The treatment programs are designed to help address these issues. Mindfulness training and yoga have been demonstrated to improve treatment for addictions, to improve many mental health problems, to reduce anger, and improve impulse control. So, mindfulness training may be very helpful in treatment in ATI programs. In today’s Research News article “Mindfulness and Rehabilitation: Teaching Yoga and Meditation to Young Men in an Alternative to Incarceration Program”

https://www.facebook.com/ContemplativeStudiesCenter/photos/a.628903887133541.1073741828.627681673922429/1209452369078687/?type=3&theater

Or see below

Barrett conducted semi-structured interviews of ten 18-24 year-old male offenders who were convicted of felonies and were participants in an Alternative to Incarceration (ATI) program. These young men participated in mindfulness and yoga training as a component of the program.

 

The offenders in general had very negative views about mindfulness training and yoga prior to participation, but were very favorable afterwards. They reported that participation reduced stress and anxiety, and improved stress coping responses, all of which are associated with the likelihood of reoffending. They also reported improved anger management and impulse control following the program.

 

These are encouraging findings. But, it must be kept in mind that there were no control comparison conditions such as interviews with participants in an ATI program that did not contain mindfulness and yoga practice. In addition, the interviews were conducted by the author who also taught the mindfulness and yoga classes. So, there is ample opportunities for a variety of confounds to creep in, not the least of which is experimenter bias and demand characteristics. So, there is a need to attempt to replicate these findings with a randomized controlled trial using objective measures and blinded assessors.

 

Keeping in mind these important reservations, mindfulness and yoga training is potentially and important contributor to improved success in these already successful Alternative to Incarceration Programs.

 

“It’s wrong for people’s undiagnosed and untreated mental illness to result in being incarcerated. [Providing treatment] is more humane, it’s more cost-effective and just simply the right thing to do.” – Ted Strickland

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

 

Study Summary

 

Barrett CJ. Mindfulness and Rehabilitation: Teaching Yoga and Meditation to Young Men in an Alternative to Incarceration Program. Int J Offender Ther Comp Criminol. 2016 Feb 22. [Epub ahead of print] doi:10.1177/0306624X16633667

 

Abstract

This study used participant/observation and open-ended interviews to understand how male participants (age 18-24 years) benefited from yoga and mindfulness training within an Alternative to Incarceration (ATI) program. Findings suggest that the male participants (age 18-24 years) benefited from the intervention through reductions in stress and improvements in emotion regulation. Several participants noted the importance of the development of an embodied practice for assisting them in managing anger and impulse control. The young men’s narratives suggest that mindfulness-based interventions can contribute positively to rehabilitative outcomes within alternative to incarcerations settings, providing complementary benefit to existing ATI programs, especially for clients amenable to mindfulness training. With many jurisdictions expanding rehabilitation-focused interventions for young offenders, service providers should consider the potential positive contributions that mindfulness-based interventions can have for fostering desistance and reducing recidivism among justice system–involved populations.

 

Build Altruism with Compassion Meditation

psyjdc Leave a comment

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“A compassionate city is an uncomfortable city! A city that is uncomfortable when anyone is homeless or hungry. Uncomfortable if every child isn’t loved and given rich opportunities to grow and thrive. Uncomfortable when as a community we don’t treat our neighbors as we would wish to be treated.” ~ Karen Armstrong

 

Homo Sapiens is a very successful species. In part its success has been due to it being a very social species. Members of the species form groups beyond the family unit and work together for the common good. Members also take care of one another. Individuals will sometimes sacrifice their own well-being and safety to help another. This is termed altruistic behavior. The fact that it sometimes actually reduces the likelihood of the individual’s survival appears to be a contradiction to the ideas of evolution that emphasize individual survival.

 

Altruistic behavior, however, is not rare. It is, in fact, often the rule and not the exception. Soldiers put their own lives at risk to save a buddy. Doctors and nurses risking infection, rush into ebola riddled villages to treat the sick and dying. Young adults leave their jobs and careers to tend to an elderly parent with Alzheimer’s Disease. These are rather extreme examples but altruistic behavior occurs in many simple ways on a daily basis. We routinely give to charities which benefit people on the other side of the world. We donate our time as volunteers to build houses for the disadvantaged. We roll down our car windows and hand money to a homeless person on a street corner. The list is endless.

 

So, why do we engage so freely in this behavior that contradicts evolutionary theory? One idea is that it is promoted by our compassion. This is our ability to identify with the difficulties of others, put ourselves in their shoes, and feel their suffering. Although reasonable and logical this interpretation needs scientific confirmation. A callous interpretation of this behavior is that this compassion makes us uncomfortable, makes us suffer, and we do things to reduce our own suffering and make ourselves feel better. A kinder interpretation is that we have been taught to be compassionate and this energizes altruism. This notion would predict that engaging in practices that develop compassion would increase altruism. This idea, however, needs scientific testing and evaluation.

 

In today’s Research News article “The Role of Compassion in Altruistic Helping and Punishment Behavior”

https://www.facebook.com/ContemplativeStudiesCenter/photos/a.628903887133541.1073741828.627681673922429/1208766975813893/?type=3&theater

Or see below, or for full text see

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4675554/

Weng and colleagues examine the relationship of compassion to altruism in the laboratory and test the effectiveness of a compassion amplifying practice on the likelihood of compassionate behaviors. They first measured the empathetic concern of the participants with a paper and pencil test and then had them play in the laboratory a 3-person game developed to measure altruistic behaviors, either altruistic helping, in which the participant gave to another thereby reducing their own reward, or altruistic punishment where participants took away from another resulting in an overall reduction in their own reward. They found that the higher the level of trait compassion (empathetic concern) that the participant had the more they tended to help another to their own detriment. They also found that the higher the level of trait compassion the less they tended to punish another to their own detriment.

 

In a second experiment, Weng and colleagues randomly assigned participants to either a compassion meditation group or to a reappraisal group. They were then trained for two weeks either to meditate on the suffering of others, wish them well, and visualize compassion emanating from their heart, or to a control condition involving training on reappraising situations to lower stress and emotional reactions to stress. The participants then came to the laboratory and played the 3-person altruism game. They found that the compassion meditation group provided altruistic help significantly more than the reappraisal group. In fact, they spent 87% more money to help others.

 

This experiment, although somewhat artificial, suggests that compassion is highly related to altruism and that training in compassion increases altruism. Hence, these results support the notion that altruism occurs because of trained compassion. It also shows that altruism can be encouraged and amplified with compassion training. So, we can create more compassionate people and thereby a more altruistic world by specifically educating people in compassion.

 

So, build altruism with compassion meditation.

 

“Compassion is natural; you don’t have to force it; just open to the difficulty, the struggle, the stress, the impact of events, the sorrow and strain in the other person; open your heart, let yourself be moved, and let compassion flow through you. Feel what compassion’s like in your body — in your chest, throat, and face. Sense the way it softens your thoughts, gentles your reactions. Know it so you can find your way back again.” – Rick Hanson

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

 

Study Summary

Weng, H. Y., Fox, A. S., Hessenthaler, H. C., Stodola, D. E., & Davidson, R. J. (2015). The Role of Compassion in Altruistic Helping and Punishment Behavior. PLoS ONE, 10(12), e0143794. http://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0143794

 

Abstract

Compassion, the emotional response of caring for another who is suffering and that results in motivation to relieve suffering, is thought to be an emotional antecedent to altruistic behavior. However, it remains unclear whether compassion enhances altruistic behavior in a uniform way or is specific to sub-types of behavior such as altruistic helping of a victim or altruistic punishment of a transgressor. We investigated the relationship between compassion and subtypes of altruistic behavior using third-party paradigms where participants 1) witnessed an unfair economic exchange between a transgressor and a victim, and 2) had the opportunity to either spend personal funds to either economically a) help the victim or b) punish the transgressor. In Study 1, we examined whether individual differences in self-reported empathic concern (the emotional component of compassion) was associated with greater altruistic helping or punishment behavior in two independent samples. For participants who witnessed an unfair transaction, trait empathic concern was associated with greater helping of a victim and had no relationship to punishment. However, in those who decided to punish the transgressor, participants who reported greater empathic concern decided to punish less. In Study 2, we directly enhanced compassion using short-term online compassion meditation training to examine whether altruistic helping and punishment were increased after two weeks of training. Compared to an active reappraisal training control group, the compassion training group gave more to help the victim and did not differ in punishment of the transgressor. Together, these two studies suggest that compassion is related to greater altruistic helping of victims and is not associated with or may mitigate altruistic punishment of transgressors.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4675554/

 

 

Expand the Brain with Meditation

psyjdc Leave a comment

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“You have the capacity to heal the emotional dysfunctionality of your own brain. When you increase your awareness with mindfulness, you can transform your brain, create new circuits or change the way neurons talk to each other.”  – Bhavika

 

There has accumulated a large amount of research demonstrating that meditation has significant benefits for psychological, physical, and spiritual wellbeing. Its positive effects are so widespread that it is difficult to find any other treatment of any kind with such broad beneficial effects on everything from mood and happiness to severe mental and physical illnesses. This raises the question of how meditation could do this.

 

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. For example, the brain area that controls the right index finger has been found to be larger in blind subjects who use braille than in sighted individuals.  Similarly, cab drivers in London who navigate the twisting streets of the city, have a larger hippocampus, which is involved in spatial navigation, than predefined route bus drivers. 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.

 

The seemingly simple behavior of meditation is actually quite complex. Adding to the complexity is that there are a variety of different meditation techniques. To begin to understand exactly how meditation works to produce its benefit, it is important to determine what works best and what doesn’t. So, there is a need to test and compare the effects of a variety of techniques and variations. There has been some work investigating the neuroplastic changes resulting from a number of different types of meditation techniques. But more work is needed.

 

In today’s Research News article “Increased Grey Matter Associated with Long-Term Sahaja Yoga Meditation: A Voxel-Based Morphometry Study”

https://www.facebook.com/ContemplativeStudiesCenter/photos/a.628903887133541.1073741828.627681673922429/1208010452556212/?type=3&theater

Or see below, or for the complete text see:

http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0150757

Hernández and colleagues investigate the neuroplastic effects of “Sahaja Yoga Meditation (SYM). They state that SYM “shares some goals with some other meditation techniques such as Mindfulness meditation, Loving-kindness meditation or other Buddhist meditations i.e., to be fully conscious on the present moment, to reduce the wandering mind and to increase compassion and love.” However, in SYM the practitioner regularly experiences the state of mental silence or “thoughtless awareness.” This allows for an examination of the neural changes accompanying the unique state of thoughtless awareness. To investigate the neuroplastic changes produced by SYM, they compared MRI scans of the brains of expert meditators with 5 to 26 years of experience to non-meditator controls.

 

They found that the meditators had significantly more grey matter (cortex) in their brains than controls. Areas that were particularly enlarged were the ventral lateral prefrontal cortex, the right anterior insula, the right inferior temporal gyrus, and the right inferior parietal lobe. These size increases suggest functional improvements. The insula is known to be involved in sensing internal states and emotions. The inferior temporal gyrus has been shown to be involved in alertness. The ventral lateral prefrontal cortex has been shown to be involved in emotional intelligence and attention. Hence, the expanded brain areas reflect expanded attention and alertness and regulation of emotions produced by Sahaja Yoga Meditation.

 

This makes sense as the mindfulness meditation component of SYM would be expected to develop alertness and attention while the Loving-kindness meditation component of SYM would be expected to develop emotional sensitivity and regulation. The results clearly demonstrate that extensive practice of Sahaja Yoga Meditation, like other meditation practices expands the brains processing power particularly in regard to attention, alertness, and emotions. With these improvements in these important functions that are involved in virtually everything that a person does, it is no wonder that meditation has such widespread beneficial effects.

 

So, expand the brain with meditation.

 

“We can intentionally shape the direction of plasticity changes in our brain. By focusing on wholesome thoughts, for example, and directing our intentions in those ways, we can potentially influence the plasticity of our brains and shape them in ways that can be beneficial. That leads us to the inevitable conclusion that qualities like warm-heartedness and well-being should best be regarded as skills.” – Richie Davidson

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

 

Study Summary

Hernández SE, Suero J, Barros A, González-Mora JL, Rubia K (2016) Increased Grey Matter Associated with Long-Term Sahaja Yoga Meditation: A Voxel-Based Morphometry Study. PLoS ONE 11(3): e0150757. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0150757

 

Abstract

Objectives: To investigate regional differences in grey matter volume associated with the practice of Sahaja Yoga Meditation.

Design: Twenty three experienced practitioners of Sahaja Yoga Meditation and twenty three non-meditators matched on age, gender and education level, were scanned using structural Magnetic Resonance Imaging and their grey matter volume were compared using Voxel-Based Morphometry.

Results: Grey matter volume was larger in meditators relative to non-meditators across the whole brain. In addition, grey matter volume was larger in several predominantly right hemispheric regions: in insula, ventromedial orbitofrontal cortex, inferior temporal and parietal cortices as well as in left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex and left insula. No areas with larger grey matter volume were found in non-meditators relative to meditators.

Conclusions: The study shows that long-term practice of Sahaja Yoga Meditation is associated with larger grey matter volume overall, and with regional enlargement in several right hemispheric cortical and subcortical brain regions that are associated with sustained attention, self-control, compassion and interoceptive perception. The increased grey matter volume in these attention and self-control mediating regions suggests use-dependent enlargement with regular practice of this meditation.

http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0150757

 

Alter the Brains Self-Related Processing with Mindfulness

psyjdc Leave a comment

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Mindfulness and meditation are the two most effective brain trainers to support optimal prefrontal cortex functioning. The more you incorporate them into your daily experience, the more you will be training your brain to recalibrate, balance, and control.” – Michele Rosenthal

 

The nervous system is constantly changing and adapting to the environment. It will change size, activity, and connectivity in response to experience. For example, the brain area that controls the right index finger has been found to be larger in blind subjects who use braille than in sighted individuals.  Similarly, cab drivers in London who navigate the twisting streets of the city, have a larger hippocampus, which is involved in spatial navigation, than predefined route bus drivers. 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.

 

There are two primary brain areas that appear to be altered by mindfulness training, the prefrontal cortex, including the orbitofrontal cortex, and what is termed the default mode network, which includes the medial prefrontal cortex, anterior and posterior cingulate cortices, precuneus, inferior parietal cortex, and lateral temporal cortex. The prefrontal cortex is involved in attention, decision making, and cognitive processes while the default mode network is involved in mind wandering and self-referential thinking.

 

Self-referential thinking is an important process that I prevalent when the mind is wandering and appears to be reduced by mindfulness training. In today’s Research News article “Medial orbital gyrus modulation during spatial perspective changes: Pre- vs. post-8 weeks mindfulness meditation.” See

https://www.facebook.com/ContemplativeStudiesCenter/photos/a.628903887133541.1073741828.627681673922429/1204026446287946/?type=3&theater

or see below.

Tomasino and colleagues further investigate the neural process in self-referential thinking and the area of the brain that underlie them. They studied the effects of 8-weeks of meditation training on the brain responses to tasks that involve referencing the self or involve non self-referenced thinking. Brian activity was measured with functional Magnetic Imaging (f-MRI). They found that when processing the self-referential thinking task, there was significant activations of the left and right medial orbital gyrus. This activation was greater after the meditation training than before. In addition, after training response speeds increased on the self-referential thinking task. They also found that the magnitude of the signal change was negatively related to Self-Directedness, such that the higher the level of self-directed thinking the lower the activation.

 

The orbitofrontal cortex area is normally activated in high level thinking and with attention. It is thus not surprising that the orbitofrontal cortex would be activated by processing information necessary to make decisions. It is, however, surprising that the response would be greater for self-related tasks than for non self-related tasks. Meditation training is known to reduce self-referential thinking. So, it would make sense that that this intensified activation of the orbitofrontal cortex to self-referential thinking would be negatively related to self-directedness after meditation training.  But, it is surprising that the activation of this area by self-referential thinking would be intensified after meditation. It will remain for future research to disentangle these puzzling responses.

 

Regardless, alter the brains self-related processing with mindfulness.

 

“Meditation practice appears to have an amazing variety of neurological benefits – from changes in grey matter volume to reduced activity in the “me” centers of the brain to enhanced connectivity between brain regions.” – Alice Walton

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

 

Study Summary

Tomasino B, Campanella F, Fabbro F. Medial orbital gyrus modulation during spatial perspective changes: Pre- vs. post-8 weeks mindfulness meditation. Conscious Cogn. 2016 Feb;40:147-58. doi: 10.1016/j.concog.2016.01.006. Epub 2016 Jan 25.

 

Highlights

  • We used fMRI pre and following a 8-weeks mindfulness training (MT).
  • During fMRI subjects solved a own-body mental transformation task.
  • The own-body mental transformation task (vs. non-bodily) in the post (vs. Pre-MT) significantly increased activations in the left and right middle orbital gyrus.
  • The signal change correlated with changes in a self-maturity scale.
  • A brief mindfulness training caused increased activation in areas involved in self related processing.

Abstract

Mindfulness meditation exercises the ability to shift to an “observer perspective”. That means learning to observe internally and externally arising stimulations in a detached perspective. Both before and after attending a 8-weeks mindfulness training (MT) participants underwent an fMRI experiment (serving as their own internal control) and solved a own-body mental transformation task, which is used to investigate embodiment and perspective taking (and an non-bodily mental transformation task as control).

We found a stimulus × time-points interaction: the own-body mental transformation task (vs. non-bodily) in the post (vs. pre-MT) significantly increased activations in the medial orbital gyrus. The signal change in the right medial orbital gyrus significantly correlated with changes in a self-maturity personality scale.

A brief MT caused increased activation in areas involved in self related processing and person perspective changes, together with an increase in self-maturity, consistently with the aim of mindfulness meditation that is exercising change in self perspective.