Meditation

Improve Sleep in Resident Physicians with Meditation

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Improve Sleep in Resident Physicians with Meditation

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“residents. . . are on the move, working rotations in different clinics and even different hospitals. “Life in the hospital can be very stressful for residents. They aren’t just working long hours, they’re also geographic orphans.”- Chandra Are

 

Resident physicians have long tense shifts. The resultant stress can impair sleep. Not having adequate sleep has adverse effects upon the individual’s health, well-being, and happiness. 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, and increased likelihood of accidental injury including automobile accidents. So, it is important that methods be found to improve sleep in resident physicians. Contemplative practices have been shown to reduce the psychological and physiological responses to stress and improve well-being. Indeed, mindfulness has been shown to be helpful in treating and preventing burnout, increasing resilience, and improving sleep. So, meditation may be able to improve sleep in resident physicians.

 

In today’s Research News article “Sleep Patterns of Resident Physicians and the Effect of Heartfulness Meditation.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8558985/ ) Thimmapuram and colleagues recruited medical residents and had them record sleep for a week including objective measurement with actigraphy. They received heartfulness meditation training for 20 minutes per day for one week and practiced this meditation for 6 minutes each night before sleep. After the weeks training sleep was measured again for 1 week.

 

They found that in comparison to baseline after meditation training there was a significant reduction in self-report and actigraphy measures of mean sleep onset time and sleep fragmentation and a significant increase in sleep quality and restfulness. There were no significant changes in caffeine or alcohol intake or naps.

 

It should be kept in mind that there wasn’t a comparison (control) condition leaving open many confounding alternative explanations including expectancy (placebo) effects, attentional and Hawthorne effects, experimenter bias etc. In addition, there were no follow-up measures to determine if the effects were lasting. So, conclusions must be limited and tempered. Nevertheless, the present study provides evidence that meditation training may result in improved sleep for medical residents. This may result in reduced stress and better health and performance.

 

So, improve sleep in resident physicians with meditation.

 

“Sleep deficiency impairs performance and patient safety, adversely affects the mental and physical health of resident physicians, and increases their risk of occupational injury and motor vehicle crashes,” – Charles Czeisler

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are available on Twitter @MindfulResearch

 

Study Summary

 

Thimmapuram, J., Pargament, R., Tredici, S. D., Bell, T., Yommer, D., Daoud, D., Powell, F., & Madhusudhan, D. K. (2021). Sleep Patterns of Resident Physicians and the Effect of Heartfulness Meditation. Annals of neurosciences, 28(1-2), 47–54. https://doi.org/10.1177/09727531211039070

 

Abstract

Background:

Medical residents are vulnerable to poor sleep quality due to intense work shifts and academic load. Studies objectively quantified with sleep quantity and quality among resident physicians are limited. Meditation techniques have been shown to improve sleep but are rarely studied in this population. The aim of the present study is to evaluate sleep patterns of internal medicine residents and the effect of a structured Heartfulness meditation program to improve sleep quality.

Methods:

A total of 36 residents participated in a pre–post cohort study from January 2019 through April 2019. Sleep was monitored during a one-week outpatient rotation with two validated assessment tools, namely consensus sleep diary and actigraphy. After four intervening weeks, when the residents returned to the same rotation, Heartfulness meditation was practiced and the same parameters were measured. At the end of the study period, an anonymous qualitative feedback survey was collected to assess the feasibility of the intervention.

Results:

All 36 residents participated in the study (mean age 31.09 years, SD 4.87); 34 residents (94.4%) had complete pre–post data. Consensus sleep diary data showed decreased sleep onset time from 21.03 to 14.84 min (P = .01); sleep quality and restfulness scores increased from 3.32 to 3.89 and 3.08 to 3.54, respectively (P < .001 for both). Actigraphy showed a change in sleep onset time from 20.9 min to 14.5 min (P = .003). Sleep efficiency improved from 83.5% to 85.6% (P = .019). Wakefulness after initial sleep onset changed from 38.8 to 39.9 min (P = .682). Sleep fragmentation index and the number of awakenings decreased from 6.16 to 5.46 (P = .004) and 41.71 to 36.37 (P = .013), respectively.

Conclusions:

Residents obtained nearly 7 h of sleep during outpatient rotation. Findings suggest a structured Heartfulness meditation practice to be a feasible program to improve subjective sleep onset time and several objective measures among resident physicians.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8558985/

 

Protect the Brain from Dementia-Related Deterioration with Meditation

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Protect the Brain from Dementia-Related Deterioration with Meditation

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“the group who performed meditation and yoga at least two hours per week had less atrophy in parts of the brain and better brain connectivity than the control group.

This finding gives them hope that the practice of meditation and yoga may slow the progression of Alzheimer’s.” – Alissa Sauer

 

The aging process involves a systematic progressive decline in every system in the body, the brain included. The elderly frequently have problems with attention, thinking, and memory, known as mild cognitive impairment. An encouraging new development is that mindfulness practices such as meditation training and mindful movement practices can significantly reduce these declines in cognitive ability. In addition, it has been found that mindfulness practices reduce the deterioration of the brain that occurs with aging restraining the loss of neural tissue.

 

In today’s Research News article “Effects of Meditation on Structural Changes of the Brain in Patients With Mild Cognitive Impairment or Alzheimer’s Disease Dementia.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8633496/ ) Dwivedi and colleagues recruited patients between the ages of 45 and 70 years of age who were diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment or probable Alzheimer’s disease. They were assigned to usual care or to receive 6 months of daily 30-minutes sessions of either meditation practice or non-meditation focused task. Before and after the 6-month intervention they underwent detailed clinical and neuropsychological assessment and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) of the brain.

 

They found that in comparison to baseline and the control groups the meditation group had significantly higher cortical thickness and gray matter volume in the left caudal and rostral middle frontal areas and significantly higher gray matter volume in left lateral occipital, right inferior parietal, and right superior frontal cortices and significantly lower cortical thickness and gray matter volume in the entorhinal cortex and posterior parts of the brain. On the subcortical level they found increased volume in the right thalamus and the hippocampus. There were no significant differences between groups in clinical and neuropsychological measures.

 

The results suggest that 6-months of meditation practice protects the brain from deterioration in patients diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment or probable Alzheimer’s disease. This suggests that meditation may help to prevent the cognitive decline that occurs with these diseases. It is unfortunate, though, that no significant differences were found in the clinical and neuropsychological measures. The scores, however, did not appear to change significantly between baseline and the follow up assessments. So, there simply may not have been enough time for cognitive decline to be detectable in the patients. Regardless, it is clear that meditation has neuroprotective effects in patients showing early signs of dementia.

 

So, protect the brain from dementia-related deterioration with meditation.

 

“ indicators of Alzheimer’s disease. Results showed that those who practiced meditation saw major changes in the biological markers that would put them at a higher risk for Alzheimer’s disease by the end of the study, with the same participants reporting improvements in cognitive function, sleep, mood, and quality of life.” – Kim Innes

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are available on Twitter @MindfulResearch

 

Study Summary

 

Dwivedi, M., Dubey, N., Pansari, A. J., Bapi, R. S., Das, M., Guha, M., Banerjee, R., Pramanick, G., Basu, J., & Ghosh, A. (2021). Effects of Meditation on Structural Changes of the Brain in Patients With Mild Cognitive Impairment or Alzheimer’s Disease Dementia. Frontiers in human neuroscience, 15, 728993. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2021.728993

 

Abstract

Previous cross-sectional studies reported positive effects of meditation on the brain areas related to attention and executive function in the healthy elderly population. Effects of long-term regular meditation in persons with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer’s disease dementia (AD) have rarely been studied. In this study, we explored changes in cortical thickness and gray matter volume in meditation-naïve persons with MCI or mild AD after long-term meditation intervention. MCI or mild AD patients underwent detailed clinical and neuropsychological assessment and were assigned into meditation or non-meditation groups. High resolution T1-weighted magnetic resonance images (MRI) were acquired at baseline and after 6 months. Longitudinal symmetrized percentage changes (SPC) in cortical thickness and gray matter volume were estimated. Left caudal middle frontal, left rostral middle frontal, left superior parietal, right lateral orbitofrontal, and right superior frontal cortices showed changes in both cortical thickness and gray matter volume; the left paracentral cortex showed changes in cortical thickness; the left lateral occipital, left superior frontal, left banks of the superior temporal sulcus (bankssts), and left medial orbitofrontal cortices showed changes in gray matter volume. All these areas exhibited significantly higher SPC values in meditators as compared to non-meditators. Conversely, the left lateral occipital, and right posterior cingulate cortices showed significantly lower SPC values for cortical thickness in the meditators. In hippocampal subfields analysis, we observed significantly higher SPC in gray matter volume of the left CA1, molecular layer HP, and CA3 with a trend for increased gray matter volume in most other areas. No significant changes were found for the hippocampal subfields in the right hemisphere. Analysis of the subcortical structures revealed significantly increased volume in the right thalamus in the meditation group. The results of the study point out that long-term meditation practice in persons with MCI or mild AD leads to salutary changes in cortical thickness and gray matter volumes. Most of these changes were observed in the brain areas related to executive control and memory that are prominently at risk in neurodegenerative diseases.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8633496/

 

Depth of Meditation is Associated with Different Levels of Brain Electrical Activity

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Depth of Meditation is Associated with Different Levels of Brain Electrical Activity

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Neuroscientific studies, particularly EEG, are revealing much about the neural correlates of meditation in the hopes of understanding why it has therapeutic value, and as a way to probe the nature of self and consciousness.” – 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. There are a number of ways that meditation practices produce these benefits, including changes to the brain and physiology. One way to observe the effects of meditation on neural activity 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 15-25 cycles per second band while Gamma activity occurs in the 35-45 cycles per second band. Changes in these brain activities can be compared during different depths of meditation.

 

In today’s Research News article “Alpha and theta oscillations are inversely related to progressive levels of meditation depth.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8633885/ ) Katyal and Goldin recruited healthy adult participants who were long-term meditators and demographically matched meditation naïve participants. They had their electroencephalogram (EEG) recorded during 4 blocks of either listening to a story, listening to music, or 2 6-minute blocks of meditation. They self-reported their depth of meditation after each block.

 

They found, not surprisingly, that in comparison to the meditation naïve participants, the experienced meditators had significantly greater depth of meditation. They also found that as the depth of meditation increased the alpha rhythm in the EEG significantly increased while the theta rhythm significantly decreased. This was true for both groups.

 

The alpha rhythm has been associated with relaxation and a suppression of mind wandering and distraction. Similarly, the greater the depth of meditation the less distraction and mind wandering. Thus, the increase in the alpha rhythm with increasing depth of meditation is reasonable and completely predictable. The theta rhythm is associated with dreaminess and sleep. That the theta rhythm is lowest with higher depths of meditation makes sense as depth is associated with alert awareness. Hence, the brain wave patterns seen during meditation are reflective of the depth of meditation.

 

So, depth of meditation is associated with different levels of brain electrical activity

 

“neurocognitive mechanisms that are present during both self-generated thought and controlled cognitive processes (i.e. the integration between the memory and executive components of cognition via alpha:theta cross-frequency coupling) are minimized during meditative practices.” – Julio Rodriguez-Larios

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are available on Twitter @MindfulResearch

 

Study Summary

 

Katyal, S., & Goldin, P. (2021). Alpha and theta oscillations are inversely related to progressive levels of meditation depth. Neuroscience of consciousness, 2021(1), niab042. https://doi.org/10.1093/nc/niab042

 

Highlights

  • Our study reveals neurophysiological changes that occur as meditation experiences become deeper.
  • Alpha and theta brainwaves are two reliable neurophysiological signatures of meditation.
  • Theta activity increased with more distractions and was suppressed during deeper experiences.
  • Increased alpha activity was related to fewer distractions and more deeper meditation experiences.
  • Deeper meditation experiences appear to involve a suppression of executive neural processing.

Abstract

Meditation training is proposed to enhance mental well-being by modulating neural activity, particularly alpha and theta brain oscillations, and autonomic activity. Although such enhancement also depends on the quality of meditation, little is known about how these neural and physiological changes relate to meditation quality. One model characterizes meditation quality as five increasing levels of ‘depth’: hindrances, relaxation, concentration, transpersonal qualities and nonduality. We investigated the neural oscillatory (theta, alpha, beta and gamma) and physiological (respiration rate, heart rate and heart rate variability) correlates of the self-reported meditation depth in long-term meditators (LTMs) and meditation-naïve controls (CTLs). To determine the neural and physiological correlates of meditation depth, we modelled the change in the slope of the relationship between self-reported experiential degree at each of the five depth levels and the multiple neural and physiological measures. CTLs reported experiencing more ‘hindrances’ than LTMs, while LTMs reported more ‘transpersonal qualities’ and ‘nonduality’ compared to CTLs, confirming the experiential manipulation of meditation depth. We found that in both groups, theta (4–6 Hz) and alpha (7–13 Hz) oscillations were related to meditation depth in a precisely opposite manner. The theta amplitude positively correlated with ‘hindrances’ and increasingly negatively correlated with increasing meditation depth levels. Alpha amplitude negatively correlated with ‘hindrances’ and increasingly positively with increasing depth levels. The increase in the inverse association between theta and meditation depth occurred over different scalp locations in the two groups—frontal midline in LTMs and frontal lateral in CTLs—possibly reflecting the downregulation of two different aspects of executive processing—monitoring and attention regulation, respectively—during deep meditation. These results suggest a functional dissociation of the two classical neural signatures of meditation training, namely, alpha and theta oscillations. Moreover, while essential for overcoming ‘hindrances’, executive neural processing appears to be downregulated during deeper meditation experiences.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8633885/

 

Change the Brain to Increase Sustained Attention with Meditation

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Change the Brain to Increase Sustained Attention with Meditation

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“as the popularity of mindfulness grows, brain imaging techniques are revealing that this ancient practice can profoundly change the way different regions of the brain communicate with each other – and therefore how we think – permanently.” – Tom Ireland

 

There has accumulated a large amount of research demonstrating that meditation practice has significant benefits for psychological, physical, and spiritual wellbeing. 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 structures and connectivity, producing psychological, physical, and spiritual benefits, especially mindfulness.

 

In today’s Research News article “Advanced Meditation Alters Resting-State Brain Network Connectivity Correlating With Improved Mindfulness.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.745344/full?utm_source=F-AAE&utm_medium=EMLF&utm_campaign=MRK_1778822_a0P58000000G0YfEAK_Psycho_20211123_arts_A ) Vishnubhotla and colleagues recruited experienced meditators participating in an 8-day silent residential meditation retreat and a control group who were not participating in the retreat. They were measured before and after the retreat for anxiety, depression, mindfulness, joy, vitality, and resilience and had their brains scanned with functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), at rest and also during focused meditation. They examined the interconnectivity between the default mode network (DMN), salience network (SN), frontoparietal network (FPN), and dorsal attention network (DAN) of the brain.

 

They found that in comparison to pre-retreat and the control group following the meditation retreat during focused meditation there was a significant reduction in the functional connectivity between the salience network and the default mode network and also between the default mode network, the dorsal attention network, and the frontoparietal network. In addition, they found that after the retreat the greater the increase in the connectivity within the salience network the greater the increase in mindfulness.

 

The salience network has been shown to direct attention to significant aspects of the environment, dorsal attention network has been shown to be involved in sustained attention, and the frontoparietal network has been shown to be involved in high level thinking, executive function, and also sustained attention while the default mode network has been shown to be involved in self-referential thinking and mind wandering. The reduced functional connectivity between the default mode network and the other 3 suggests that self-referential thinking and mind wandering are less likely to affect the attentional responses and the ability to sustain attention. Hence the results suggest that meditation practice improves the ability to sustain attention in the face of the brains tendency to wander and this becomes stronger after a meditation retreat. These brain network changes appear to parallel the experiential aspects of meditation.

 

So, change the brain to increase sustained attention with meditation.

 

“The practice [meditation] 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.” – Aloce Walton

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are available on Twitter @MindfulResearch

 

Study Summary

 

Vishnubhotla RV, Radhakrishnan R, Kveraga K, Deardorff R, Ram C, Pawale D, Wu Y-C, Renschler J, Subramaniam B and Sadhasivam S (2021) Advanced Meditation Alters Resting-State Brain Network Connectivity Correlating With Improved Mindfulness. Front. Psychol. 12:745344. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.745344

 

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of an intensive 8-day Samyama meditation program on the brain functional connectivity using resting-state functional MRI (rs-fMRI).

Methods: Thirteen Samyama program participants (meditators) and 4 controls underwent fMRI brain scans before and after the 8-day residential meditation program. Subjects underwent fMRI with a blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) contrast at rest and during focused breathing. Changes in network connectivity before and after Samyama program were evaluated. In addition, validated psychological metrics were correlated with changes in functional connectivity.

Results: Meditators showed significantly increased network connectivity between the salience network (SN) and default mode network (DMN) after the Samyama program (p < 0.01). Increased connectivity within the SN correlated with an improvement in self-reported mindfulness scores (p < 0.01).

Conclusion: Samyama, an intensive silent meditation program, favorably increased the resting-state functional connectivity between the salience and default mode networks. During focused breath watching, meditators had lower intra-network connectivity in specific networks. Furthermore, increased intra-network connectivity correlated with improved self-reported mindfulness after Samyama.

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.745344/full?utm_source=F-AAE&utm_medium=EMLF&utm_campaign=MRK_1778822_a0P58000000G0YfEAK_Psycho_20211123_arts_A

 

Increase Brain Grey Matter with Mindfulness

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Increase Brain Grey Matter with Mindfulness

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“meditating can give you the brain of a 25-year-old. Too bad it can’t also give you the body of one.” – Melanie Curtain

 

Mindfulness training has been shown through extensive research to be effective in improving physical and psychological health and particularly with reducing the physical and psychological reactions to stress. There are a number of ways that meditation practices produce these benefits, including changes to the brain and physiology. The nervous system changes in response to how it is used and how it is stimulated in a process called neuroplasticity. Highly used areas grow in size, metabolism, and connectivity. Mindfulness practices in general are known to produce these kinds of changes in the structure and activity of the brain. The research has been accumulating and there is a need to summarize what has been learned.

 

In today’s Research News article “Mindfulness related changes in grey matter: a systematic review and meta-analysis.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8500886/ ) Pernet and colleagues review, summarize, and perform a meta-analysis of the published research on the effects of mindfulness practices on the amount of grey matter in the brain and brain structures.

 

They identified 25 published research studies that included a total of 1406 participants. They report that the published research found that meditation practice produced an enlargement of the insular cortex. There was also increased functional connectivity between the insular cortex and the cingulate cortex and the paracingulate gyrus. They note that there was great variation in the studies in terms of other structures showing increases in size and connectivity but little commonality. The studies, however, very greatly in procedure, meditation practice and experience, participant types, and numbers, etc. So, they recommend that future studies be more standardized and with larger numbers of participants.

 

With this heterogeneity of studies, finding that the insular cortex is expanded in most highlights its importance in meditation effects on the brain. The insular cortex is a highly connected structure of the brain that is so interconnected with multiple other brain areas that it has been thought of as a hub. It has been implicated in interoception, multimodal sensory processing, autonomic control, perceptual self-awareness, and emotional guidance of social behavior. This makes sense as meditation practice involves the perception of the internal state derived from multiple sensory experiences and, of course, self-awareness. The research findings suggest that meditation produces neuroplastic changes in the brain that are reflective of the mental states occurring in meditation. This, in turn, likely makes the practitioner more sensitive to these mental states.

 

So, increase brain grey matter with mindfulness.

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are available on Twitter @MindfulResearch

 

“mindfulness meditation induces gray matter plasticity, suggesting that structural changes in ventral PCC—a key hub associated with self-awareness, emotion, cognition, and aging—may have important implications for protecting against mood-related disorders and aging-related cognitive declines.” – Rongxiang Tang,

 

Study Summary

 

Pernet, C. R., Belov, N., Delorme, A., & Zammit, A. (2021). Mindfulness related changes in grey matter: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Brain imaging and behavior, 15(5), 2720–2730. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11682-021-00453-4

 

Abstract

Knowing target regions undergoing strfuncti changes caused by behavioural interventions is paramount in evaluating the effectiveness of such practices. Here, using a systematic review approach, we identified 25 peer-reviewed magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies demonstrating grey matter changes related to mindfulness meditation. An activation likelihood estimation (ALE) analysis (n = 16) revealed the right anterior ventral insula as the only significant region with consistent effect across studies, whilst an additional functional connectivity analysis indicates that both left and right insulae, and the anterior cingulate gyrus with adjacent paracingulate gyri should also be considered in future studies. Statistical meta-analyses suggest medium to strong effect sizes from Cohen’s d ~ 0.8 in the right insula to ~ 1 using maxima across the whole brain. The systematic review revealed design issues with selection, information, attrition and confirmation biases, in addition to weak statistical power. In conclusion, our analyses show that mindfulness meditation practice does induce grey matter changes but also that improvements in methodology are needed to establish mindfulness as a therapeutic intervention.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8500886/

Focused Meditation Changes Brain Activity Differently Then Open Monitoring Meditation

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Focused Meditation Changes Brain Activity Differently Then Open Monitoring Meditation

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“It’s like asking a sport expert ‘what does sport do to your body’. The expert would say, do you mean swimming or horse-riding? You can imagine mental training being as complex.” – Tanya

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. One problem with understanding meditation effects is that there are a number of different types of meditation. 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, often the breath. In open monitoring meditation, the individual opens up awareness to everything that’s being experienced including thoughts regardless of their origin.

 

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 Magnetoencephalography (MEG). It measures the magnetic fields associate with the brain’s electrical activity. This produces a mapping of structures that are active moment to moment. Whether these different meditation types produce different patterns of activity in the brain has not been extensively studied.

 

In today’s Research News article “Mining the Mind: Linear Discriminant Analysis of MEG Source Reconstruction Time Series Supports Dynamic Changes in Deep Brain Regions During Meditation Sessions.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8556220/ ) Calvetti and colleagues recruited 2 Buddhist monks who were highly experienced meditators and recorded their brain activity with Magnetoencephalography (MEG) over 6-minute periods while at rest, during focused attention meditation, and during open monitoring meditation.

 

They found that different brain area activities occurred during the two types of meditation particularly in the anterior and posterior cingulate cortex and insular cortex. They also found differences in the activities of core structures in the limbic system including the amygdala, accumbens, putamen, thalamus, and caudate.

 

That the two meditation styles produce different brain activity patterns is not surprising as they differ considerably in cognitive contents, particularly the involvement in attentional processes. The structures involved, however, are interesting as they are in general associated with emotional processing (limbic system and cortical areas) and motor movements (Caudate and Putamen). During neither meditation style are there either high emotions or motor movements. So, there is no clear reason why these structures should differ between focused attention meditation and open monitoring meditation. It should be kept in mind that the participants are unusual in the amount of practice and the number of years of practice and do not represent the general meditation population.

 

It is clear, however, that focused meditation changes brain activity differently than open monitoring meditation in highly experienced meditators.

 

“Many meditation techniques are available today. Contrary to common belief there are distinct differences between techniques, such as the effort involved, their impact on the brain, and whether or not they result in verifiable benefits.” – Transcendental Meditation

 

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

 

Calvetti, D., Johnson, B., Pascarella, A., Pitolli, F., Somersalo, E., & Vantaggi, B. (2021). Mining the Mind: Linear Discriminant Analysis of MEG Source Reconstruction Time Series Supports Dynamic Changes in Deep Brain Regions During Meditation Sessions. Brain topography, 34(6), 840–862. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10548-021-00874-w

 

Abstract

Meditation practices have been claimed to have a positive effect on the regulation of mood and emotions for quite some time by practitioners, and in recent times there has been a sustained effort to provide a more precise description of the influence of meditation on the human brain. Longitudinal studies have reported morphological changes in cortical thickness and volume in selected brain regions due to meditation practice, which is interpreted as an evidence its effectiveness beyond the subjective self reporting. Using magnetoencephalography (MEG) or electroencephalography to quantify the changes in brain activity during meditation practice represents a challenge, as no clear hypothesis about the spatial or temporal pattern of such changes is available to date. In this article we consider MEG data collected during meditation sessions of experienced Buddhist monks practicing focused attention (Samatha) and open monitoring (Vipassana) meditation, contrasted by resting state with eyes closed. The MEG data are first mapped to time series of brain activity averaged over brain regions corresponding to a standard Destrieux brain atlas. Next, by bootstrapping and spectral analysis, the data are mapped to matrices representing random samples of power spectral densities in α, β, γ, and θ frequency bands. We use linear discriminant analysis to demonstrate that the samples corresponding to different meditative or resting states contain enough fingerprints of the brain state to allow a separation between different states, and we identify the brain regions that appear to contribute to the separation. Our findings suggest that the cingulate cortex, insular cortex and some of the internal structures, most notably the accumbens, the caudate and the putamen nuclei, the thalamus and the amygdalae stand out as separating regions, which seems to correlate well with earlier findings based on longitudinal studies.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8556220/

 

Decrease Anxiety and Improve Test Performance with Virtual Reality Meditation

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Decrease Anxiety and Improve Test Performance with Virtual Reality Meditation

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“VR based meditation interventions have the potential to play an important role in anxiety management and stress reduction.” – Jeff Tarrant

 

In the modern world education is a key for success. But there is a lot of pressure on university students to excel. The pressure can lead to anxiety which can impede the student’s well-being and school performance. It is, for the most part, beyond the ability of the students to change the environment to reduce anxiety. There are, however, a number of psychological therapies for anxiety. Recently, it has been found that mindfulness training can be effective for anxiety disorders.

 

Technology has recently been applied to training in mindfulness. Indeed, mindfulness training carried out completely on-line has been shown to be effective for as number of conditions including anxiety. Virtual reality (VR) devices are improving and becoming readily available. Previously it has been shown the virtual reality (VR) can be helpful in treating phobias. and Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). But, it is not known if VR can enhance the effectiveness of mindfulness training in the treatment of anxiety in college students.

 

In today’s Research News article “The impact of virtual reality meditation on college students’ exam performance.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8520331/ ) Kaplan-Rakowski and colleagues recruited university students and randomly assigned them to receive a 15-minute meditation either with an “animated, slow-paced, calming visualizations of forest scenes” accompanied by music presented in virtual reality or on a video screen. They were measured before and after the meditation for anxiety. They also completed a 30-minute series of computer science tasks.

 

They found that in comparison to baseline both groups had decreased anxiety and improved performance on the computer science tasks, but the virtual reality group had significantly better test performance.

 

This study looked only at the immediate effects of a single 15-minute meditation in the laboratory. So, no conclusions can be reached on whether the benefits are sustained or what would be the effects of long-term meditation practice and whether these interventions would work in real-world applications. Nevertheless, the results are clear, brief meditation with videos produces immediate relief of anxiety and better test performance. In addition, adding virtual reality presentation to a brief meditation practice increases the improvement in test performance.

 

So, decrease anxiety and improve test performance with virtual reality meditation.

 

“I see virtual reality as a tool that helps me bridge the gap between that ideal and my reality. Some people might call it “cheating” at meditation. I simply call it relief.” – Sarah Garone

 

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

 

Kaplan-Rakowski, R., Johnson, K. R., & Wojdynski, T. (2021). The impact of virtual reality meditation on college students’ exam performance. Smart Learning Environments, 8(1), 21. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40561-021-00166-7

 

Abstract

Advocates of meditation claim that it can improve various aspects of life, including health, attention, thinking, and learning. The purpose of this empirical, quantitative, between-subject study was twofold. First, it compared the effectiveness of meditation delivered through virtual reality versus video, as measured by students’ test scores. Second, the study provided insights on the use of meditation, whether via virtual reality or video, as a way to positively affect well-being. T-test analysis showed virtual reality meditation to be significantly more beneficial than video meditation. Students reported that meditation techniques delivered using either medium to be helpful in decreasing their pre-exam anxiety. This study has practical implications and offers evidence on the beneficial impact of VR meditation on students’ exam performance and anxiety levels.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8520331/

 

Mindfulness Traits May Affect the Ability of Brief Meditation to Improve Attention

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Mindfulness Traits May Affect the Ability of Brief Meditation to Improve Attention

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“even relatively short daily meditation practice can have similar behavioral effects as longer duration and higher-intensity mediation practices.” – Julia Basso

 

One of the primary effects of mindfulness training is an improvement in the ability to pay attention to the task at hand and ignore interfering stimuli. This is an important consequence of mindfulness training and produces improvements in thinking, reasoning, and creativity. The importance of heightened attentional ability to the individual’s ability to navigate the demands of complex modern life cannot be overstated. It helps in school, at work, in relationships, or simply driving a car. As important as attention is, it’s surprising that little is known about the how much meditation and what types of meditation work best to improve attention

 

In today’s Research News article “Individual Differences in the Change of Attentional Functions With Brief One-Time Focused Attention and Open Monitoring Meditations.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.716138/full?utm_source=F-AAE&utm_medium=EMLF&utm_campaign=MRK_1765474_a0P58000000G0YfEAK_Psycho_20211102_arts_A ) Tanaka and colleagues recruited university students and randomly assigned them to no-meditation, focused meditation, or open monitoring meditation. The participants were measured for mindfulness, and attentional functions (alerting, orienting, and conflict monitoring). They then spent 30 minutes either listening to music, focused meditation, or open monitoring meditation followed by measurement of attentional functions.

 

They found that before and after the 30-minute interventions there were no significant differences in attentional functions or mindfulness between the groups. But they found that individual differences in mindfulness affected the effects of the interventions on the alerting attentional function. In particular, employing stepwise multiple regressions, that for participants who practiced focused meditation the higher the nonreactivity mindfulness score the smaller the change in the alerting score. In addition, for participants who practiced open monitoring meditation the higher the describing mindfulness score the larger the change in the alerting score.

 

It has been previously demonstrated that mindfulness training over a period of time improves attention. The present findings, though, show that a brief, one-time meditation, regardless of type, is not sufficient to improve attention. This suggests that attentional improvement requires repeated meditation practices. The results also suggest that people with different levels of mindfulness may respond differently to meditation affecting attention. There were, however, multiple comparisons (45) involved here and only 2 were significantly different. This could occur be chance. So, caution must be exercised in reaching conclusions about these relationships until they can be replicated.

 

So, mindfulness traits may affect the ability of brief meditation to improve attention.

 

“Mindfulness and meditation can have a tangible effect on the way your brain processes and stores information, reducing your stress, increasing your ability to respond flexibly to change, and can improve your ability to focus on tasks and pay attention over a period of time.“ – Maren Hunsberger

 

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

 

Tanaka M, Nakashima R, Hiromitsu K and Imamizu H (2021) Individual Differences in the Change of Attentional Functions With Brief One-Time Focused Attention and Open Monitoring Meditations. Front. Psychol. 12:716138. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.716138

 

Mindfulness meditation is increasingly used for clinical treatment and to improve well-being. One of the most fundamental benefits of mindfulness meditation is now considered as enhanced attentional control. Mindfulness meditation is a complex technique but most of its variants consist of a combination of two types of basic meditation practice: focused attention meditation (FAM) and open monitoring meditation (OMM). Although many studies have examined the effect of relatively long-term meditation on attention, some recent studies have focused on the effect of a brief one-time meditation on cognitive processing, including attentional functions. Furthermore, it is necessary to discuss the relationship between the effect of mindfulness meditation on attentional functions and personality traits (especially traits related to mindfulness). This study investigated whether attentional control is improved by a single 30-min FAM or OMM and whether the degree of improvement in attentional functions – alerting, orienting, and conflict monitoring – induced by the meditation varies according to the participant’s trait scores related to mindfulness measured by the Five Facets Mindfulness Questionnaire. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three groups, i.e., FAM, OMM, and no-meditation (noM) groups, and given an Attentional Network Test before and after each 30-min meditation session. Compared with the noM group, there was no overall improvement in attentional functions with either type of meditation. However, there were associations between the change of the alerting function’s score and the personality traits: in the FAM group, alerting scores were negatively associated with the nonreactivity facet of the FFMQ, and in the OMM group, alerting scores were positively associated with describing facet scores of the FFMQ. The results indicate that the effects of meditation methods on attentional functions could depend on the individual’s traits related to mindfulness and that mindfulness meditation could sometimes appear to have no impact on attentional functions.

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.716138/full?utm_source=F-AAE&utm_medium=EMLF&utm_campaign=MRK_1765474_a0P58000000G0YfEAK_Psycho_20211102_arts_A

 

Reduce Opioid Dosage in Chronic Pain Patients with Mindfulness

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Reduce Opioid Dosage in Chronic Pain Patients with Mindfulness

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“It’s clear that when it comes to tackling pain, it takes all of the tools in the toolkit. And when it comes to opioids, the approach needn’t be all or nothing. . .  the combination of medicine plus mind-body therapies works best.” – Allison Aubrey

 

We all have to deal with pain. It’s inevitable, but hopefully it’s mild and short lived. For a wide swath of humanity, however, pain is a constant in their lives. At least 100 million adult Americans have chronic pain conditions. The most common treatment for chronic pain is drugs. These include over-the-counter analgesics and opioids. But opioids are dangerous and highly addictive. Prescription opioid overdoses kill more than 14,000 people annually. So, there is a great need to find safe and effective ways to improve the individual’s ability to cope with the pain. There is an accumulating volume of research findings that demonstrate that mindfulness practices, in general, are effective in treating pain and reducing opioid use. How mindfulness works to produce these benefits is not known.

 

In today’s Research News article “Endogenous theta stimulation during meditation predicts reduced opioid dosing following treatment with Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8026958/ ) Hudak and colleagues recruited veterans with chronic pain and at least 30 days of opioid use and randomly assigned them to receive 8 weekly 2-hour sessions of either supportive group psychotherapy or Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement (MORE) involving mindful breathing and body scan meditations, cognitive reappraisal to decrease negative emotions and craving, and savoring to augment natural reward processing and positive emotion. All participants completed a lab-based mindfulness session while simultaneously having their Electroencephalogram (EEG) recorded. During the programs and for 4 months after they reported their daily opioid use.

 

They found in comparison to baseline and the supportive group psychotherapy group that during the meditation the Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement (MORE) group had significantly greater power in the EEG of the frontal cortex in the alpha (9-13 cycles per second) and theta (4-8 cycles per second) bands and also theta spectral coherence. They also found that the MORE group had significantly greater reductions in opioid use over the treatment period. In addition. They found that the greater the increase in theta band power in the EEG the greater the reduction in opioid use and this continued for 4 months after the program. Finally, they found that MORE was associated with reduced opioid use both directly and also indirectly by being associated with increased frontal theta power.

 

These findings suggest that Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement (MORE) is effective in reducing opioid dosage in chronic pain patients. This is in line with previous findings that mindfulness training produces reductions in opioid dependence. Mindfulness training has also been shown to alter brain activity and the present findings indicate that theta power in the frontal lobe is a marker of these changes. Finally, the results suggest that MORE directly reduces opioid dependence and at the same time increase brain activity which is associated with further reductions in opioid use.

 

So, reduce opioid dosage in chronic pain patients with mindfulness.

 

“We also teach people how to use mindfulness to reclaim a sense of healthy pleasures, joy, and meaning in life, in spite of pain.” – Eric Garland

 

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

 

Hudak, J., Hanley, A. W., Marchand, W. R., Nakamura, Y., Yabko, B., & Garland, E. L. (2021). Endogenous theta stimulation during meditation predicts reduced opioid dosing following treatment with Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement. Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, 46(4), 836–843. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41386-020-00831-4

 

Abstract

Veterans experience chronic pain at greater rates than the rest of society and are more likely to receive long-term opioid therapy (LTOT), which, at high doses, is theorized to induce maladaptive neuroplastic changes that attenuate self-regulatory capacity and exacerbate opioid dose escalation. Mindfulness meditation has been shown to modulate frontal midline theta (FMT) and alpha oscillations that are linked with marked alterations in self-referential processing. These adaptive neural oscillatory changes may promote reduced opioid use and remediate the neural dysfunction occasioned by LTOT. In this study, we used electroencephalography (EEG) to assess the effects of a mindfulness-based, cognitive training intervention for opioid misuse, Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement (MORE), on alpha and theta power and FMT coherence during meditation. We then examined whether these neural effects were associated with reduced opioid dosing and changes in self-referential processing. Before and after 8 weeks of MORE or a supportive psychotherapy control, veterans receiving LTOT (N = 62) practiced mindfulness meditation while EEG was recorded. Participants treated with MORE demonstrated significantly increased alpha and theta power (with larger theta power effect sizes) as well as increased FMT coherence relative to those in the control condition—neural changes that were associated with altered self-referential processing. Crucially, MORE significantly reduced opioid dose over time, and this dose reduction was partially statistically mediated by changes in frontal theta power. Study results suggest that mindfulness meditation practice may produce endogenous theta stimulation in the prefrontal cortex, thereby enhancing inhibitory control over opioid dose escalation behaviors.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8026958/

 

Improve Adolescent Psychological Well-Being with Meditation

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Improve Adolescent Psychological Well-Being with Meditation

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“with all the uncertainty in the world right now, teens can definitely benefit from taking time to quiet the noise and meditate. It’s a handy practice that can help them through all kinds of confusing and stressful situations in life.” – Cleveland Clinic

 

Adolescence is a time of mental, physical, social, and emotional growth. But it can be a difficult time, fraught with challenges. 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 unable to cope with all that is required. This can lead to emotional and behavioral problems. Indeed, up to a quarter of adolescents suffer from depression or anxiety disorders, and an even larger proportion struggle with subclinical symptoms. Mindfulness training has been shown to improve emotion regulation and to benefit the psychological and emotional health of adolescents

 

In today’s Research News article “Using Heartfulness Meditation and Brainwave Entrainment to Improve Teenage Mental Wellbeing.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.742892/full?utm_source=F-AAE&utm_medium=EMLF&utm_campaign=MRK_1757290_a0P58000000G0YfEAK_Psycho_20211021_arts_A ) Yadav and colleagues recruited high school students and randomly assigned them to one of 4 groups; audio brainwave entrainment group, heartfulness meditation group, meditation and audio entrainment group, and a no-treatment control group. The interventions lasted for 4 weeks. The heartfulness meditation group had 3 weekly training sessions and meditated at home for 30 minutes per day three times per week. The audio brainwave entrainment group listened to an audio tape 3 times per week for 15 minutes of audio beats 13–30 HZ in the first 2 min; 8–12 HZ from minute 3–12; and 13–30 Hz from minute 12–15. All participants were measured before and after training for depression, perceived stress, sleep quality, mood, anger, confusion, fatigue, tension, vigor, episodic memory, visuospatial processing, verbal short-term memory, and attention.

 

They found that following the intervention the meditation group had a significant increase in mood, including decreases in anger and depression, and a decrease in perceived stress, while the combination group had a significant increase in sleep quality and a decrease in perceived stress. The combination group in comparison to the meditation group had greater improvements in mood and perceived stress.

 

The results suggest that meditation practice improves the psychological well-being of adolescents while audio brainwave entrainment alone does not. But when they were combined there was some degree of greater improvement. Like adults, adolescents benefit from meditation in improved mood, including decreased anger and depression, and decreased perceived stress. This suggests that meditation may be particularly useful during the turbulent times of adolescence.

 

So, improve adolescent psychological well-being with meditation.

 

“[Mindfulness Meditation] appears to have positive effects on adolescent psychological health including reduced depression, anxiety, and stress, increased overall well-being, self and emotion regulation, positive affect, and resilience.” – Ryan Erbe

 

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

 

Yadav GS, Cidral-Filho FJ and Iyer RB (2021) Using Heartfulness Meditation and Brainwave Entrainment to Improve Teenage Mental Wellbeing. Front. Psychol. 12:742892. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.742892

 

Teenagers are highly susceptible to mental health issues and this problem has been exacerbated by the quarantine restrictions of COVID-19. This study evaluated the use of Heartfulness Meditation and Audio Brainwave Entrainment to help teenagers cope with mental health issues. It used 30-min Heartfulness meditation and 15-min brainwave entrainment sessions with binaural beats and isochronic tones three times a week for 4 weeks. Using a pretest-posttest methodology, participants were asked to complete a survey battery including the Pittsburgh Quality of Sleep Index, Perceived Stress Scale, Patient Health Question-9, Profile of Mood States, and Cambridge Brain Health assessment. Participants (n = 40) were divided into four experimental groups: the control group (n = 9), Audio Brainwave Entrainment group (n = 9), Heartfulness Meditation group (n = 10), and a combined group (n = 12), for a 4-week intervention. Data were analyzed with paired t-tests. The singular Audio Brainwave Entrainment group did not see statistically significant improvements, nor did any of the intervention groups for brain health (p > 0.05). This study, however, proved the efficacy of a 4-week Heartfulness Meditation program to regulate overall mood (p = 0.00132), stress levels (p = 0.0089), state depression (POMS; p = 0.0037), and anger (p = 0.002). Results also suggest adding Audio Brainwave Entrainment to Heartfulness Meditation may improve sleep quality (p = 0.0377) and stress levels (p = 0.00016).

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.742892/full?utm_source=F-AAE&utm_medium=EMLF&utm_campaign=MRK_1757290_a0P58000000G0YfEAK_Psycho_20211021_arts_A