Cognition

Mindfulness is Associated with Less Relapse and Recurrence of Major Depressive Disorder

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Mindfulness is Associated with Less Relapse and Recurrence of Major Depressive Disorder

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Fall seven times, stand up eight.” – Japanese Proverb

 

Clinically diagnosed depression is the most common mental illness, affecting over 6% of the population. Major depression can be quite debilitating. Depression can be difficult to treat and is usually treated with anti-depressive medication. But, 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. But 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.

 

Relapsing into depression is a terribly difficult situation. The patients are suffering, and nothing appears to work to relieve their intense depression. Suicide becomes a real possibility. So, it is imperative to study the factors that lead to relapse and recurrence. Mindfulness training is an alternative treatment for depression. It has been shown to be an effective treatment for depression and its recurrence and even in the cases where drugs fail. So, it makes sense to study the relationship of mindfulness with relapse and recurrence of Major Depressive Disorder.

 

In today’s Research News article “Factors associated with relapse and recurrence of major depressive disorder in patients starting mindfulness-based cognitive therapy.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at:  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9298927/ ) de Klerk-Sluis and colleagues studied patients who were in remission for Major Depressive Disorder and the factors that predicted relapse and recurrence.

 

They found that the higher the levels of mindfulness the lower the risk of relapse and recurrence. They also found that the greater the ability of mild emotions to reactivate negative thinking patterns (cognitive reactivity) the greater the likelihood of relapse and recurrence. Finally, they found that rumination was associated with relapse and recurrence in patients who were not taking antidepressant drugs but not in patients on the drugs.

 

It appears that thought processes have large effects on relapse and recurrence of Major Depressive Disorder. But mindful thinking is helpful in preventing relapse. This suggests that mindfulness training should be recommended for patients in remission from Major Depressive Disorder. Indeed, mindfulness training has been shown to reduce the likelihood of relapse.

 

“But if you’ve fought depression or know somebody who has, you know that no amount of money can fix it. No amount of fame. No logic. The continuing stigma around suicide and mental illness tells me that not enough people truly understand it. I don’t really blame them—its impossible unless you’ve lived it.”-  David Chang

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

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

 

Study Summary

 

de Klerk-Sluis JM, Huijbers MJ, Löcke S, Spijker J, Spinhoven P, Speckens AEM, Ruhe HG. Factors associated with relapse and recurrence of major depressive disorder in patients starting mindfulness-based cognitive therapy. Depress Anxiety. 2022 Feb;39(2):113-122. doi: 10.1002/da.23220. Epub 2021 Nov 9. PMID: 34752681; PMCID: PMC9298927.

 

Abstract

Background

Mindfulness‐based cognitive therapy (MBCT) is effective for relapse prevention in major depressive disorder (MDD). It reduces cognitive reactivity (CR) and rumination, and enhances self‐compassion and mindfulness. Although rumination and mindfulness after MBCT are associated with relapse, the association of CR, rumination, self‐compassion, and mindfulness with relapse before initiation of MBCT has never been investigated.

Methods

Data were drawn from two randomized controlled trials, including a total of 282 remitted MDD participants (≥3 depressive episodes) who had been using maintenance antidepressant medication (mADM) for at least 6 months before baseline. All participants were offered MBCT while either their mADM was maintained or discontinued after MBCT. CR, rumination, self‐compassion, and mindfulness were assessed at baseline by self‐rated questionnaires and were used in Cox proportional hazards regression models to investigate their association with relapse.

Results

CR and mindfulness were associated with relapse, independent of residual symptoms, previous depressive episodes, and mADM‐use. Higher CR and lower mindfulness increased the risk of relapse. Self‐compassion was not associated with relapse. For rumination, a significant interaction with mADM‐use was found. Rumination was associated with relapse in patients who discontinued their mADM, while this effect was absent if patients continued mADM.

Conclusions

These results show that CR, rumination, and mindfulness are associated with relapse in remitted MDD‐patients before initiation of MBCT, independent of residual symptoms and previous depressive episodes. This information could improve decisions in treatment planning in remitted individuals with a history of depression.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9298927/

 

Priming Improves the Effectiveness of Mindfulness to Reduce Stress and Improve Attention

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Priming Improves the Effectiveness of Mindfulness to Reduce Stress and Improve Attention

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Mindfulness is the awareness that arises from paying attention on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally.” – Jon Kabat-Zinn

 

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.  Priming occurs when information about a stimulus is presented beforehand. It is not known if priming regarding mindfulness will enhance its effectiveness.

 

In today’s Research News article “The Effect of a Brief Mindfulness Practice on Perceived Stress and Sustained Attention: Does Priming Matter?” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9167905/) Ueberholz and Fiocco

Recruited undergraduate students for an online experiment. They were randomly assigned to either prime pus 10-minute meditation, 10-minute meditation only, or prime only conditions. The prime consisted of a mindfulness infographic including information on mindfulness, brain changes with mindfulness, and behavioral changes with mindfulness. The 10-minute audio guided meditation consisted in breath following and body scan meditations. They were measured before and after training for mindfulness, perceived stress, and sustained attention with a go/no go task.

 

They found that after training both the primed and no-prime meditation groups had significantly lower levels of perceived stress and fewer omission errors than the prime only group. On the other hand only the primed group had improved sustained attention as measured by commission errors and correct responses.

 

The results suggest that as seen in many studies meditation practice reduces perceived stress and improves attention. The results also suggest that priming with mindfulness information prior to meditation increases the impact of meditation on sustained attention.

 

So, potentiate the effects of meditation with priming.

 

“Research indicates mindfulness and meditation can help us allocate cognitive resources more efficiently. Sustained attention in particular appears to be enhanced in those who practice.” – William Stafford

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

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

 

Study Summary

 

Ueberholz, R. Y., & Fiocco, A. J. (2022). The Effect of a Brief Mindfulness Practice on Perceived Stress and Sustained Attention: Does Priming Matter?. Mindfulness, 1–12. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-022-01913-8

 

Abstract

Objectives

The objective of the current study was to investigate the effect of a brief mindfulness practice on perceived stress and sustained attention, and to determine whether priming the benefits of mindfulness meditation enhances this effect.

Methods

Two hundred and twenty undergraduate students were randomly assigned to a control condition (CC), a meditation condition (MC), or a priming + meditation condition (PMC). Baseline and post-treatment measures included subjective stress ratings on a visual analog scale (VAS) and performance on a Sustained Attention to Response Task (SART), determined by reaction time coefficient of variability (RTCV) and three measures of accuracy: correct responses, errors of commission, and errors of omission.

Results

Repeated measures analyses revealed that both the MC and the PMC displayed a decline in perceived stress relative to the CC. Analyses further revelated that the MC and PMC displayed fewer errors of omission relative to the CC. However, only the PMC displayed better performance relative to the CC with respect to total correct response and errors of commission. There were no significant between-group differences for RTCV.

Conclusions

These findings are novel and provide a foundation to further investigate the effect of priming on mindfulness engagement and its potential benefits.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9167905/

Virtual Mindfulness Training Improves Well-Being

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Virtual Mindfulness Training Improves Well-Being

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Spending too much time planning, problem solving, daydreaming, or thinking negative or random thoughts can be draining. It also can make you more likely to experience stress, anxiety and symptoms of depression. Practicing mindfulness exercises, on the other hand, can help you direct your attention away from this kind of thinking and engage with the world around you.” – Mayo Clinic

 

Mindfulness 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. As a result, mindfulness training has been called the third wave of therapies. But the vast majority of the mindfulness training techniques require a trained teacher. The participants must be available to attend multiple sessions at scheduled times that may or may not be compatible with their schedules and at locations that may not be convenient.

 

As an alternative, training over the internet has been developed. This has tremendous advantages in decreasing costs, making training schedules much more flexible, and eliminating the need to go repeatedly to specific locations. But the question arises as to the effectiveness of internet training in improving psychological well-being. The evidence is accumulating. So, it makes sense to review what has been learned.

 

In today’s Research News article “Virtual mindfulness interventions to promote well-being in adults: A mixed-methods systematic review.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8765070/ ) Xu and colleagues review and summarize the published research studies on the effectiveness of mindfulness training over the internet to improve psychological well-being. They identified 32 published studies.

 

They report that the published studies found that internet-based mindfulness training produced significant improvements in well-being and mental health including reductions in anxiety and depression, perceived stress, sleep disruptions, and negative emotions and significant increases in academic performance and cognition, including reduced mind-wandering.

 

The published research indicates that on-line mindfulness training improves the well-being, mental health, and cognitive performance of students.

 

“Even though the app we evaluate is vastly less expensive than in-person psychotherapy, it leads to comparable short-run improvements in mental health.” – Advik Shreekumar

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

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

 

Study Summary

 

Xu, J., Jo, H., Noorbhai, L., Patel, A., & Li, A. (2022). Virtual mindfulness interventions to promote well-being in adults: A mixed-methods systematic review. Journal of affective disorders, 300, 571–585. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2022.01.027

 

Abstract

Background

With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, many have experienced drastic changes in their academic and social lives with ensuing consequences towards their physical and mental well-being. The purpose of this systematic review is to identify virtual mindfulness-based interventions for the well-being of adults aged 19 to 40 years in developed countries and examine the efficacy of these techniques/exercises.

Methods

This mixed-methods systematic review follows the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines with a registered PROSPERO protocol. With a convergent integrated synthesis approach, IEEE Xplore, PsychInfo, Web of Science and OVID were searched with a predetermined criteria and search strategy employing booleans and filters for peer-reviewed and gray literature. Data screening and extraction were independently performed by two authors, with a third author settling disagreements after reconciliation. Study quality of selected articles was assessed with two independent authors using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT). Studies were analyzed qualitatively (precluding meta and statistical analysis) due to the heterogeneous study results from diverse study designs in present literature.

Results

Common mindfulness-based interventions used in the appraised studies included practicing basic mindfulness, Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) programs, Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy programs (MBCT) and the Learning 2 BREATHE (L2B) program.

Conclusion

Studies implementing mindfulness interventions demonstrated an overall improvement in well-being. Modified versions of these interventions can be implemented in a virtual context, so adults can improve their well-being through an accessible format.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8765070/

 

Improve Cognition at Work with Mindfulness

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Improve Cognition at Work with Mindfulness

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“mindfulness has a variety of benefits — many of which can positively impact an individual’s job performance.” –  Headspace

 

Work is very important for our health and well-being. We spend approximately 25% of our adult lives at work. Indeed, the work environment has even become an important part of our social lives, with friendships and leisure time activities often attached to the people we work with. But work-related stress is epidemic in the western workplace. Almost two thirds of workers reporting high levels of stress at work. This stress can result in impaired health and can result in burnout; producing fatigue, cynicism, and professional inefficacy. To help overcome unhappiness, stress, and burnout, mindfulness practices have been implemented in the workplace.

 

In today’s Research News article “Mindfulness and music interventions in the workplace: assessment of sustained attention and working memory using a crowdsourcing approach.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9044827/ ) Axelsen and colleagues recruited adult workers online and randomly assigned them to a wait-list control condition, or to receive 10 minutes daily for 30 days of mindfulness training with the “Headspace” smartphone app, or to listen to music with a smartphone app.  Before and after the interventions the participants completed a measure of perceived stress and also engaged in playing cognitive games on their smartphones which were designed to measure sustained attention and working memory.

 

They found that in comparison to baseline and the wait-list control group, both the mindfulness and music groups had significant reductions in perceived stress. Only the mindfulness group had significant increases in sustained attention and working memory. Hence, feelings of being stressed can be reduced by either mindfulness or listening to music. But mindfulness training also improves cognitive performance in workers. It is assumed but not measured that increased sustained attention in particular would produce improvements in work performance.

 

So, mindfulness training on smartphones can improve workers memory and attention.

 

“Meditating at work can reduce stress and frustration, while also boosting focus, compassion, energy, and productivity.” – Headspace

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

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

 

Study Summary

 

Axelsen, J. L., Meline, J., Staiano, W., & Kirk, U. (2022). Mindfulness and music interventions in the workplace: assessment of sustained attention and working memory using a crowdsourcing approach. BMC psychology, 10(1), 108. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-022-00810-y

 

Abstract

Background

Occupational stress has huge financial as well as human costs. Application of crowdsourcing might be a way to strengthen the investigation of occupational mental health. Therefore, the aim of the study was to assess Danish employees’ stress and cognition by relying on a crowdsourcing approach, as well as investigating the effect of a 30-day mindfulness and music intervention.

Methods

We translated well-validated neuropsychological laboratory- and task-based paradigms into an app-based platform using cognitive games measuring sustained attention and working memory and measuring stress via. Cohen’s Perceived Stress Scale. A total of 623 healthy volunteers from Danish companies participated in the study and were randomized into three groups, which consisted of a 30-day intervention of either mindfulness or music, or a non-intervention control group.

Results

Participants in the mindfulness group showed a significant improvement in the coefficient of sustained attention, working memory capacity and perceived stress (p < .001). The music group showed a 38% decrease of self-perceived stress. The control group showed no difference from pre to post in the survey or cognitive outcome measures. Furthermore, there was a significant correlation between usage of the mindfulness and music app and elevated score on both the cognitive games and the perceived stress scale.

Conclusion

The study supports the nascent field of crowdsourcing by being able to replicate data collected in previous well-controlled laboratory studies from a range of experimental cognitive tasks, making it an effective alternative. It also supports mindfulness as an effective intervention in improving mental health in the workplace.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9044827/

Improve Worker Psychological Well-Being with Mindfulness

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Improve Worker Psychological Well-Being with Mindfulness

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Mindful working means applying focus and awareness to everything you do from the moment you enter the office. Focus on the task at hand and recognize and release internal and external distractions as they arise. In this way, mindfulness helps increase effectiveness, decrease mistakes, and even enhance creativity.” – Rasmus Hougaard

 

Work is very important for our health and well-being. We spend approximately 25% of our adult lives at work. Indeed, the work environment has even become an important part of our social lives, with friendships and leisure time activities often attached to the people we work with. But work-related stress is epidemic in the western workplace. Almost two thirds of workers reporting high levels of stress at work. This stress can result in impaired health and can result in burnout; producing fatigue, cynicism, and professional inefficacy. To help overcome unhappiness, stress, and burnout, mindfulness practices have been implemented in the workplace. These mindfulness practices have been shown to markedly reduce the physiological and psychological responses to stress.

 

In today’s Research News article “Calm Down and Enjoy It: Influence of Leader-Employee Mindfulness on Flow Experience.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9005140/ ) Feng recruited workers and leaders from Chinese companies and had them complete measures of mindfulness, rumination, problem solving pondering and flow.

 

They found that the higher the levels of both worker and leader mindfulness the lower the levels of rumination and the higher the levels of and flow. The higher the levels of flow the lower the levels of rumination and the higher the levels of problem-solving pondering problem-solving pondering. The higher the levels of leader mindfulness the stronger the relationship of worker mindfulness and rumination.

 

Flow refers to a state of mind that is characterized by a complete absorption with the task at hand, often resulting in enhanced performance. It appears that this experience in the workplace is positively associated with mindfulness of both the worker and the leader, with problem-solving pondering, and negatively with rumination. These results are correlative and future research should manipulate the variables to establish causation.

 

Mindfulness appears to be associated with greater psychological well-being at work.

 

“One way mindfulness can help is simply by allowing us to improve our focus. When we constantly flit from one task to another, the quality of our work can suffer. By practicing mindfulness — simply coming back to the present moment over and over again — we can train ourselves to become more focused.” – David Gelles

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

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

 

Study Summary

 

Feng X. (2022). Calm Down and Enjoy It: Influence of Leader-Employee Mindfulness on Flow Experience. Psychology research and behavior management, 15, 839–854. https://doi.org/10.2147/PRBM.S360880

 

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to investigate the effect of mindfulness on flow at the organizational and individual levels. Based on perseverative cognition theory, we introduced work-related rumination (affective rumination and problem-solving pondering) as the transmitter in these processes.

Methods

This study conducted a three-wave longitudinal survey. The data of 458 employees and 114 leaders were collected from three software parks in China. Multilevel structural equation modeling and the Markov Chain Monte Carlo method were adopted to test all hypotheses.

Results

Employee mindfulness and leader mindfulness help reduce affective rumination by employees and increase their problem-solving pondering and flow experiences. Affective rumination and problem-solving pondering partially mediate the relationship between leader and employee mindfulness and flow. Leader mindfulness moderates the effects of employees’ mindfulness on their affective rumination and problem-solving pondering.

Conclusion

Our findings contribute to the current literature on mindfulness, work-related rumination and flow experience and extend the understanding of the effect boundary of mindfulness. This study also helps guide organizations to better design and carry out mindfulness and flow interventions.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9005140/

 

Meditation Improves Word Recognition

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Meditation Improves Word Recognition

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Meditative practice changes a perception of emotional coloring of written speech.” – Alexander Savostyanov

 

Mindfulness training has been shown to be effective in improving physical and psychological health and also improves cognition. In today’s Research News article “Meditation affects word recognition of meditation novices.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8942899/ ) Lusnig and colleagues recruited online healthy college students and randomly assigned them to receive 8 weeks of 1.5 hour weekly practice of mindfulness meditation, loving kindness meditation, or silent study for a class. The participant groups did not differ in mood states, personality, sustained attention, or intelligence. Before and after training they also performed a lexical decision task on a computer where they had to decide as quickly as possible whether a set of letters presented was a word or not and rated their feelings toward the word.

 

They found that after either meditation but not the control condition the participants found the words to be more neutral while after loving kindness meditation the participants found the positive words as more positive than prior the intervention. They also found that after either meditation but not the control condition the participants responded faster in detection words or non-words (lexical )decision) while loving kindness meditation participants had the fastest overall responses. These results suggest that meditation reduces emotional responses to words and improves word recognition.

 

These results suggest that meditation can help people think better. This may well be because meditation improves attention and reduces mind wandering and improves the regulation of emotions. Thus, meditation improves thinking (cognition) by making people calmer and more attentive.

 

“By training my mind to concentrate solely on what I am reading . . . I am better able to not only more fully enjoy the experience of reading again, but to really delve into what a book is saying, and making connections to other things I have read or knowledge I already possess.” – Kerri Jarema

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

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

 

Study Summary

 

Lusnig, L., Radach, R., & Hofmann, M. J. (2022). Meditation affects word recognition of meditation novices. Psychological research, 86(3), 723–736. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-021-01522-5

 

Abstract

This work represents one of the first attempts to examine the effects of meditation on the processing of written single words. In the present longitudinal study, participants conducted a lexical decision task and rated the affective valence of nouns before and after a 7-week class in mindfulness meditation, loving-kindness meditation, or a control intervention. Both meditation groups rated the emotional valence of nouns more neutral after the interventions, suggesting a general down-regulation of emotions. In the loving-kindness group, positive words were rated more positively after the intervention, suggesting a specific intensification of positive feelings. After both meditation interventions, response times in the lexical decision task accelerated significantly, with the largest facilitation occurring in the loving-kindness group. We assume that meditation might have led to increased attention, better visual discrimination, a broadened attentional focus, and reduced mind-wandering, which in turn enabled accelerated word recognition. These results extend findings from a previous study with expert Zen meditators, in which we found that one session of advanced meditation can affect word recognition in a very similar way.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8942899/

 

Improve Education Students Psychological Well-Being with Mindfulness

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Improve Education Students Psychological Well-Being with Mindfulness

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Mindfulness practices help anchor the mind, creating space to become aware of our thoughts and feelings, and keeps us in the present moment, all of which helps reduce stress and anxiety and boosts levels of attention and concentration.” – Rebecca Enderby 

 

In the modern world education is a key for success. There is a lot of pressure on university students to excel so that they can get the best jobs after graduation. The pressure can lead to stress, anxiety, and depression which can impede the student’s mental health, well-being, and school performance. But it is, for the most part, beyond the ability of the individual to change the environment to reduce stress, so it is important that methods be found to reduce the college students’ responses to stress; to make them more resilient when high levels of stress occur. Contemplative practices including meditation, mindfulness training, exercise, Tai Chi and Qigong, and yoga practice have been shown to reduce the psychological and physiological responses to stress, relieve anxiety, and reduce depression 

 

In today’s Research News article “The Effects of a Mindfulness Program on Mental Health in Students at an Undergraduate Program for Teacher Education: A Randomized Controlled Trial in Real-Life.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.722771/full?utm_source=F-AAE&utm_medium=EMLF&utm_campaign=MRK_1790561_a0P58000000G0YfEAK_Psycho_20211214_arts_A ) Juul and colleagues recruited teacher education college students and randomly assigned them to a wait-list control condition or to receive 8 weekly 2.5 hour sessions of the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program. The program consists of training in meditation, body scan, and yoga, group discussion, and daily home practice. They were measured before and after training and 3 months later for perceived stress, anxiety, depression, well-being, resilience, mindfulness, and resting state cognitive activity.

 

They found that in comparison to baseline and the wait-list control group, the group that received Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) had significantly higher well-being and significantly lower levels of perceived stress, anxiety, depression, and resting state cognitive activity of distracting thoughts, thoughts of self and comfort. In addition, they found that the effect of MBSR on perceived stress was in part mediated by resting state cognitive activity of distracting thoughts and comfort and by thoughts of self on anxiety and depression. These effects were still present at the 3-month follow-up measurement.

 

The study demonstrates that mindfulness training improves the mental health of stresses teacher education college students. It has been routinely shown in previous research with a variety of groups that mindfulness training produces reduced levels of perceived stress, anxiety, and depression and increased levels of well-being. The new finding is that these improvements in mental health produced by the mindfulness training appear to be in part mediated by changes in the students’ resting state cognitive activity. In other words, the training appears to alter the mental contents of the students which in turn improves their mental health. The mindfulness trained students appear to have fewer distracting thoughts, thoughts of self and comfort and these reductions appear to improve their psychological well-being.

 

So, improve education students psychological well-being with mindfulness.

 

“It’s no secret that college can quickly become a major stressor for many students. Balancing multiple classes on top of work, a social life, and a million other things is a lot to take on at once. Don’t let yourself become too overwhelmed with everything. Instead, try . . . mindfulness.” – Savannah Byers

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

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

 

Study Summary

 

Juul L, Brorsen E, Gøtzsche K, Nielsen BL and Fjorback LO (2021) The Effects of a Mindfulness Program on Mental Health in Students at an Undergraduate Program for Teacher Education: A Randomized Controlled Trial in Real-Life. Front. Psychol. 12:722771. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.722771

 

Background: In this study, we aimed to investigate the effects of a mindfulness program including Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) on the mental health of student teachers when offered at their educational institution in a real-life context.

Methods: A parallel randomized controlled trial (RCT) was conducted among self-selected student teachers at a Danish undergraduate program for teacher education in the autumns of 2019 and 2020. Participation was not recommended in case of (1) clinical depression or a diagnosis of psychosis or schizophrenia, (2) abuse of alcohol, drugs, and/or medicine. Randomization was performed by a Statistician who was blinded to the identity of the students. Data was collected using self-reported questionnaires. The primary outcome was a change in perceived stress 3 months from baseline. Secondary outcome measures were symptoms of anxiety and depression, well-being, resilience, mindfulness, and thoughts and feelings during rest. The effects were analyzed according to the intention-to-treat principle using mixed-effect linear regression models. Mediating effects of mindfulness skills on the mental health outcomes were explored using structural equation modeling.

Results: The study group included 67 student teachers with 34 allocated to the intervention group (median age: 25 years; women: n = 24, 71%); and 33 students (median age: 25 years; women: n = 25, 76%) allocated to a waiting list control group. At baseline, mean Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) scores were 18.88 (SD: 5.75) in the intervention group and 17.91 (SD: 6.36) in the waiting list control group. A total of 56 students completed the questionnaire at a 3-month follow-up (28 in both the intervention- and the control group). Statistically significant effects of the intervention were found on perceived stress, symptoms of anxiety and depression, well-being, and on three of seven resting-state dimensions. No effects were found on resilience or mindfulness. Statistically significant mediated effects via resting-state dimensions were found.

Conclusion The findings suggested that offering a mindfulness program at an undergraduate program for teacher education could significantly improve the mental health among self-selected students within 3 months. Results of mediation analysis supported the hypothesis that some of the effects might be explained by reduced distracting thoughts.

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.722771/full?utm_source=F-AAE&utm_medium=EMLF&utm_campaign=MRK_1790561_a0P58000000G0YfEAK_Psycho_20211214_arts_A

 

Improve Cognitive and Socio-Emotional Skills in Children with Mindfulness

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Improve Cognitive and Socio-Emotional Skills in Children with Mindfulness

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Teaching mindfulness to kids can also help shape three critical skills developed in early childhood: paying attention and remembering information, shifting back and forth between tasks, and behaving appropriately with others.” – Christopher Willard

 

Childhood is a miraculous period during which the child is dynamically absorbing information from every aspect of its environment. This is particularly evident during the elementary school years. Mindfulness training in school has been shown to have very positive effects. These include improvements in the cognitive, psychological, emotional and social domains. Importantly, mindfulness training in school appears to improve attentional ability which is fundamental to success in all aspects of academic performance. The research evidence has been accumulating. So, there is a need to summarize what has been learned.

 

In today’s Research News article “Exploring the Effects of Meditation Techniques Used by Mindfulness-Based Programs on the Cognitive, Social-Emotional, and Academic Skills of Children: A Systematic Review.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.660650/full?utm_source=F-AAE&utm_medium=EMLF&utm_campaign=MRK_1778822_a0P58000000G0YfEAK_Psycho_20211123_arts_A ) Filipe and colleagues review and summarize the published controlled research studies on the effects of mindfulness training on 6-12 year old children. They found 29 published research articles.

 

They report that the published research found that mindfulness training produced significant improvements in the children’s cognitive skills, including overall executive functions, attention, concentration, inhibitory control, cognitive flexibility, and immediate auditory-verbal memory. They also found that there were significant improvements in socio-emotional skills, including stress, wellbeing, mindfulness, self-esteem, resilience, psychological happiness, empathy, perspective-taking, emotional control, optimism, depression, internalizing problems, peer aggression, prosocial behavior, peer acceptance, anxiety, self-control, self-regulation, mental health problems, quality of life, self-compassion, acceptance, relaxation, happiness, aggressive behaviors, and social competence. But only one of the 29 studies reported improvements in academic skills.

 

The published research makes a strong case for the effectiveness of mindfulness training to improve the cognitive and socio-emotional skills on children. But there is little evidence for improvement in academic performance. Unfortunately, only 9 of the 29 studies employed strong research designs (randomized controlled trails). So, there is a need for further research with high quality research designs. Nevertheless, the consistency and magnitude of the findings suggest robust positive effects of mindfulness trainings on a myriad of cognitive, social, and emotional skills in children. These are important benefits for these developing humans that may have important contributions to their growth and well-being, perhaps eventually making them better adults. As such, mindfulness training should be incorporated into the school curriculum.

 

So, improve cognitive and socio-emotional skills in children with mindfulness.

 

“For children, mindfulness can offer relief from whatever difficulties they might be encountering in life. It also gives them the beauty of being in the present moment.” – Annaka Harris

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

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

 

Study Summary

 

Filipe MG, Magalhães S, Veloso AS, Costa AF, Ribeiro L, Araújo P, Castro SL and Limpo T (2021) Exploring the Effects of Meditation Techniques Used by Mindfulness-Based Programs on the Cognitive, Social-Emotional, and Academic Skills of Children: A Systematic Review. Front. Psychol. 12:660650. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.660650

 

There is evidence for the positive impact of mindfulness in children. However, little is known about the techniques through which mindfulness practice results in differential outcomes. Therefore, this study intended to systematically review the available evidence about the efficacy of meditation techniques used by mindfulness-based programs on cognitive, socio-emotional, and academic skills of children from 6 to 12 years of age. The review was registered on the PROSPERO database, and the literature search was conducted according to PICO criteria and PRISMA guidelines. The EBSCO databases were searched, and 29 studies were eligible: nine randomized controlled trials and 20 quasi-experimental studies. All the included randomized controlled trials were rated as having a high risk of bias. Overall, the evidence for mindfulness techniques improving cognitive and socio-emotional skills was reasonably strong. Specifically, for cognitive skills, results showed that all the interventions used “body-centered meditations” and “mindful observations.” Regarding socio-emotional skills, although all the studies applied “body-centered meditations” and “mindful observations,” “affect-centered meditations” were also frequent. For academic skills, just one quasi-experimental trial found improvements, thus making it difficult to draw conclusions. Further research is crucial to evaluate the unique effects of different meditation techniques on the cognitive, social-emotional, and academic skills of children.

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.660650/full?utm_source=F-AAE&utm_medium=EMLF&utm_campaign=MRK_1778822_a0P58000000G0YfEAK_Psycho_20211123_arts_A

Mindfulness Improves Cognitive Function in Older Adults by Altering Brain Gene Expression

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Mindfulness Improves Cognitive Function in Older Adults by Altering Brain Gene Expression

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“mindfulness may target inflammation, stress-related pathways, and neuroplasticity, thus reducing the risk of developing cerebrovascular disease and age-related neurodegeneration that could lead to the development of dementia.” – Ted Kheng Siang Ng

 

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 abilities, 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. Indeed, the brains of practitioners of meditation have been found to degenerate less with aging than non-practitioners. The mechanisms by which mindfulness affects the brain and reduces cognitive decline need to be investigated.

 

In today’s Research News article “Mindfulness intervention improves cognitive function in older adults by enhancing the level of miRNA-29c in neuron-derived extracellular vesicles.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8575875/ ) Hashizume and colleagues recruited healthy elderly adults aged 65 and over and administered either 4 weeks , 3 times per week for 60 minutes of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) or a no-treatment wait-list condition. They were measured before and after treatment for cognitive function including delayed recall, visuospatial/executive function, attention, abstraction, language, naming, and orientation tasks. They also had blood drawn and assayed for extracellular vesicles and mRNA in the vesicles.

 

They found that in comparison to baseline and the wait list control, after Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) there were significant improvement in cognitive function including delayed recall, visuospatial/executive function, attention, naming, and orientation tasks. The blood assays revealed that in comparison to baseline and the wait list control, after MBSR there were significant reductions in miR-29c in the extracellular vesicles and decreased expression of the genes DNMT3A, DNMT3B, and BACE1 in in the extracellular vesicles. In another study with mice they found that injection into the brain ventricles of miR-29c prevented cognitive decline in the animals.

 

The results suggest that mindfulness training improves cognitive function in the elderly. These improvements in cognition have been previously observed by other researchers. The new findings in the present research are the changes in the extracellular vesicles found in the plasma. The expression of the mRNA miR-29c controls the gene expressions of DNMT3A, DNMT3B, and BACE1. These genes are associated with the loss of neurons in the brain. With aging there is a degeneration of the brain including losses of neurons. Reductions in the expression of the genes that tend to produce neuronal loss after Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) suggests that the training protects the brain from the loss of neurons. This may represent the mechanism by which mindfulness training protects the brain in aging individual which results in improved cognitive function. It may be how mindfulness training stops cognitive decline in the elderly.

 

So, mindfulness improves cognitive function in older adults by altering brain gene expression.

 

“an 8-week mindfulness-based training program improved cognition . . . in cognitively normal older adults, and that these improvements were associated with increased intrinsic connectivity within the default mode network.” – Gunes Sevinc

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

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

 

Study Summary

 

Hashizume, S., Nakano, M., Kubota, K., Sato, S., Himuro, N., Kobayashi, E., Takaoka, A., & Fujimiya, M. (2021). Mindfulness intervention improves cognitive function in older adults by enhancing the level of miRNA-29c in neuron-derived extracellular vesicles. Scientific reports, 11(1), 21848. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-01318-y

 

Abstract

Although mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) improves cognitive function, the mechanism is not clear. In this study, people aged 65 years and older were recruited from elderly communities in Chitose City, Japan, and assigned to a non-MBSR group or a MBSR group. Before and after the intervention, the Japanese version of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA-J) was administered, and blood samples were collected. Then, neuron-derived extracellular vesicles (NDEVs) were isolated from blood samples, and microRNAs, as well as the target mRNAs, were evaluated in NDEVs. A linear mixed model analysis showed significant effects of the MBSR x time interaction on the MoCA-J scores, the expression of miRNA(miR)-29c, DNA methyltransferase 3 alpha (DNMT3A), and DNMT3B in NDEVs. These results indicate that MBSR can improve cognitive function by increasing the expression of miR-29c and decreasing the expression of DNMT3A, as well as DNMT3B, in neurons. It was also found that intracerebroventricular injection of miR-29c mimic into 5xFAD mice prevented cognitive decline, as well as neuronal loss in the subiculum area, by down-regulating Dnmt3a  and Dnmt3b  in the hippocampus. The present study suggests that MBSR can prevent neuronal loss and cognitive impairment by increasing the neuronal expression of miR-29c.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8575875/

 

Mindfulness is Associated with Better Cognitive Performance in College Students

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Mindfulness is Associated with Better Cognitive Performance in College Students

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Effective learning and sustained attention and memory are important requirements for success and well-being in academic contexts. Incorporating a mindfulness meditation course in the curriculum may be a feasible approach to improve learning effectiveness and cognition performance in university students.” – Ho-Hoi Ching

 

In the modern world education is a key for success. There is a lot of pressure on college students to excel. This stress might in fact be counterproductive as the increased pressure can actually lead to stress and anxiety which can impede the student’s physical and mental health, well-being, and school performance. Mindfulness training has been shown through extensive research to be effective in improving physical and psychological health. Indeed, these practices have been found to improve psychological health in college students. Mindfulness has also been shown to improve cognitive abilities. So, it is possible that mindfulness is associated with better performance in college.

 

In today’s Research News article “Mindfulness, cognitive functioning, and academic achievement in college students: the mediating role of stress.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8516329/ ) McBride and colleagues recruited college students and had them complete a questionnaire measuring mindfulness, decentering, perceived stress, cognitive abilities, cognitive concerns, and academic performance (GPA).

 

They found that the higher the levels of mindfulness and decentering the lower the levels of perceived stress, and the higher the levels of cognitive abilities and cognitive concerns. Also, the higher the levels of perceived stress the lower the levels of cognitive abilities and cognitive concerns. Further they found that mindfulness was associated with greater cognitive abilities and cognitive concerns directly and indirectly by being associated with lower perceived stress which was in turn associated with greater cognitive abilities and cognitive concerns. The one disappointing result was that mindfulness, although associated with better cognition, was not associated with performance in college.

 

These findings are correlative. So, causation cannot be determined. But previous controlled research has demonstrated that mindfulness causes improvements in cognition and reductions in perceived stress. So, the present results are likely also due to causal effects of mindfulness on stress and cognition. The results also show that the ability of mindfulness to affect cognition is not only by directly improving cognition but also by reducing perceived stress which results in improved cognition. This is not surprising as the high levels of stress endured by college students interferes with cognition.

 

So, mindfulness is associated with better cognitive performance in college students.

 

“Among undergraduate students, higher mindfulness was related both to a lower frequency of negative automatic thoughts and to an enhanced ability to let go of those thoughts.” – Praxis

 

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

 

McBride, E. E., & Greeson, J. M. (2021). Mindfulness, cognitive functioning, and academic achievement in college students:the mediating role of stress. Current Psychology (New Brunswick, N.j.), 1–11. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-02340-z

 

Abstract

Higher trait mindfulness may be associated with better cognitive functioning and academic achievement in college students. Although mediating mechanisms are unclear, lower stress levels could explain this relationship. Participants: Cross-sectional online survey (n = 534; 33% non-white; Apr 2018 – Sep 2019). Path analysis tested Perceived Stress as a mediator between specific facets of trait mindfulness and three measures of self-reported cognitive functioning and academic achievement: Cognitive Abilities, Cognitive Concerns, and GPA. Perceived Stress fully or partially mediated the relationship between all facets of trait mindfulness and perceived cognitive functioning. Only Decentering, however, was associated with higher GPA as a function of lower stress. Lower stress can explain the link between higher trait mindfulness and better cognitive functioning, but not necessarily academic achievement. Future research is needed to address causality, examine objective measures of cognitive functioning, and extend this explanatory model to mindfulness training.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8516329/