Movement

Improve Perception, Mood, and Motor Performance in Children with Mindfulness

psyjdc Leave a comment

Image result for mindfulness school children

Improve Perception, Mood, and Motor Performance in Children with Mindfulness

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Mindfulness is widely considered effective as a treatment for children and adolescents with aggression, ADHD, or anxiety.” – Lauren Cassani Davis

 

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

 

Elementary school is an environment that has a huge effect on development. It is also an excellent time to teach children the skills to adaptively negotiate its environment. Mindfulness training in school, at all levels has been shown to have very positive effects. These include academic, cognitive, psychological, and social domains. Importantly, mindfulness training in school appears to improve the student’s self-concept. It also improves attentional ability and reduces stress, which are keys to successful learning in school. Since, what occurs in these early years and in school can have such a profound, long-term effect on the child it is important to further study the impact of mindfulness training on the emotions, behavior, and learning skills of grammar school children.

 

In today’s Research News article “Enhancing Visual Perception and Motor Accuracy among School Children through a Mindfulness and Compassion Program.” See summary below or view the full text of the study at:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5323376/

Tarrasch and colleagues explore the ability of mindfulness and compassion training to improve learning relevant skills and emotions in 4th and 5th grade school children. They recruited three schools to participate and assigned classes to either receive mindfulness and compassion training or to a wait-list control condition. Training occurred in 24 weekly, 45-minute meetings, over 7 months. “The sessions were divided into three modes: receiving care, developing self-care and extending care.” They included meditation practice and Loving Kindness Meditation. The children were measured before and after the 7-month training period for visual-motor integration, including visual perception and motor accuracy, anxiety, and mindfulness.

 

They found that, in comparison to the wait-list condition, the mindfulness and compassion training produced significant increases in visual perception, motor accuracy, and mindfulness and decreases in anxiety levels. They also found that the higher the levels of mindfulness the better the motor performance and the lower the anxiety levels. Hence, mindfulness and compassion training in elementary school produced tangible benefits for the children.

 

It should be noted that the wait-list control condition is a relatively weak control condition and these results need to be verified with a randomized controlled clinical trial including an active control condition. In addition, the mindfulness and compassion training was a complex program of many components and it cannot be concluded which ones or which combination of these components were responsible for the effects.

 

Nevertheless, these are exciting findings. Visual perception and motor accuracy have been shown to be predictive of better mathematical and reading ability, both essential to successful school performance. In addition, high anxiety levels have been shown to disrupt school performance, while high levels of mindfulness have been shown to improve school performance. Hence, all of the benefits produced by the mindfulness and compassion training are known to be associated with better achievement in school. Unfortunately, the study did not have a long-term follow-up to determine if improved school performance was a consequence of the benefits of mindfulness and compassion training.

 

So, improve perception, mood, and motor performance in children with mindfulness.

 

“I think that’s the reason that the students are latching on to this because when they’ve had a chance to stop, think, breathe and really kind of feel where they’re at, they know how much stress they’re under finally and now that they are aware of it, they can try to do something about it,” – Layne Millington

 

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

Tarrasch, R., Margalit-Shalom, L., & Berger, R. (2017). Enhancing Visual Perception and Motor Accuracy among School Children through a Mindfulness and Compassion Program. Frontiers in Psychology, 8, 281. http://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00281

 

Abstract

The present study assessed the effects of the mindfulness/compassion cultivating program: “Call to Care-Israel” on the performance in visual perception (VP) and motor accuracy, as well as on anxiety levels and self-reported mindfulness among 4th and 5th grade students. One hundred and thirty-eight children participated in the program for 24 weekly sessions, while 78 children served as controls. Repeated measures ANOVA’s yielded significant interactions between time of measurement and group for VP, motor accuracy, reported mindfulness, and anxiety. Post hoc tests revealed significant improvements in the four aforementioned measures in the experimental group only. In addition, significant correlations were obtained between the improvement in motor accuracy and the reduction in anxiety and the increase in mindfulness. Since VP and motor accuracy are basic skills associated with quantifiable academic characteristics, such as reading and mathematical abilities, the results may suggest that mindfulness practice has the ability to improve academic achievements.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5323376/

Consolidate Motor Memories with Mindfulness

psyjdc Leave a comment

No automatic alt text available.

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Meditation provides an atmosphere of deep relaxation beneficial to the mind and body, offering myriad physiological effects such as lower blood pressure and a slower heart rate. When the body is extremely relaxed, the mind, nerves and muscles work at an optimum level, allowing for the enhancement of a variety of motor performance skills.” – EOC Institute

 

When most people think of memory they think of verbal memory or episodic memory. They rarely think about motor memory. But, this is a very import facet of human behavior. If they do think of motor memory they usually think of athletic performance. This is indeed a motor memory but is the tip of the proverbial iceberg. In fact, the bulk of our behavior from walking to talking involves motor memory. The memories there are so deep that we are generally not aware of them. But pay attention for a moment to the movements involved when you’re walking and you’ll see just how automatized it is, just how much it’s a learned behavior that is stored in motor memory.

 

The process by which what we have learned motorically is transferred to a long-term storage is called consolidation. This process is poorly understood. But, it is known that consolidation works best when there are no competing memories produced shortly after the primary memory. So, rest and even sleep, appear to promote the consolidation of motor memory. Mindfulness training has been shown to improve verbal memory ability. But, little is known regarding the effects of mindfulness practice on motor memory or motor memory consolidation.

 

The ability of meditation to influence the consolidation of motor memory was explored in today’s Research News article “Post-training Meditation Promotes Motor Memory Consolidation.” See:

https://www.facebook.com/ContemplativeStudiesCenter/photos/a.628903887133541.1073741828.627681673922429/1428975463793042/?type=3&theater

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

http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01698/full?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Psychology-w45-2016

Immink recruited practiced meditators (between 2 to 25 years of practice, mean = 9 years) and had them learn to press a set of six keys in three unique sequences. Repeated over 120 trials. This was completed at 8:00 in the morning. The participants were then randomly assigned to either a 30-minute yoga nidra meditation condition or a light work (chores) condition that was conducted at noon. At 5:00 in the afternoon participants were tested for performance of the three learned sequences and two new sequence that they had not been previously trained on. They were measured for errors, reaction time to start the sequence and time to complete it.

 

During motor training the two groups did not differ in the number of errors committed, reaction time, and time to complete the sequence. During later testing, the participants who meditated at noon were significantly faster in reacting to and performing the previously learned sequences than the control group but did not differ with the new (untrained) sequences. Hence, meditation appeared to specifically help preserve the previous motor learning, while not affecting new learning. In fact, the meditation group did not lose any speed between training and testing while the control group was 35% slower.

 

These are clear and interesting results. They suggest that meditation promotes the consolidation of motor memories, that is, it tended to protect the memories from deterioration over time. So, mindfulness training appears to promote both verbal and motor memory. This might suggest that meditation might be helpful in preserving all kinds of other motor memories including athletic performance and perhaps physical therapy. It will require further research to examine these speculations.

 

So, consolidate motor memories with mindfulness.

 

“Meditation in sport is not only helpful for performance, but can also aid athletes who experience anxiety, depression, and other mental health illnesses. The practice can help athletes through injury, as well as overcome challenges such as the transition back into sport or out of sport (e.g., retirement).” – Kristin Keim

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

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

 

Study Summary

Immink MA (2016) Post-training Meditation Promotes Motor Memory Consolidation. Front. Psychol. 7:1698. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01698

 

Following training, motor memory consolidation is thought to involve either memory stabilization or off-line learning processes. The extent to which memory stabilization or off-line learning relies on post-training wakeful periods or sleep is not clear and thus, novel research approaches are needed to further explore the conditions that promote motor memory consolidation. The present experiment represents the first empirical test of meditation as potential facilitator of motor memory consolidation. Twelve adult residents of a yoga center with a mean of 9 years meditation experience were trained on a sequence key pressing task. Three hours after training, the meditation group completed a 30 min session of yoga nidra meditation while a control group completed 30 min of light work duties. A wakeful period of 4.5 h followed meditation after which participants completed a test involving both trained and untrained sequences. Training performance did not significantly differ between groups. Comparison of group performance at test, revealed a performance benefit of post-training meditation but this was limited to trained sequences only. That the post-training meditation performance benefit was specific to trained sequences is consistent with the notion of meditation promoting motor memory consolidation as opposed to general motor task performance benefits from meditation. Further, post-training meditation appears to have promoted motor memory stabilization as opposed to off-line learning. These findings represent the first demonstration of meditation related motor memory consolidation and are consistent with a growing body of literature demonstrating the benefits of meditation for cognitive function, including memory.

http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01698/full?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Psychology-w45-2016

 

Improve Self-efficacy and Movements in Teens with Yoga

psyjdc Leave a comment

 

yoga children school2 Das

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Although teens frontal lobe activity is still developing well into their twenties, they do have frontal lobes. Mindfulness practices can help teens engage their frontal lobes, and slow down and weigh the outcome of their actions.” – Donna Torney

 

Adolescence 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. An important characteristic that develops during this time is self-efficacy, the belief in one’s ability to succeed in specific situations or accomplish a task. This characteristic is an important foundation for success in many other areas of development. So, methods that could help to improve the development of self-efficacy could be very helpful for the child in navigating the difficult adolescent years.

 

Yoga practice has been shown to have a large number of beneficial effects on the psychological, emotional, and physical health of the individual and is helpful in the treatment of mental and physical illness. The acceptance of yoga practice has spread from the home and yoga studios to its application with children in schools. Studies of these school programs have found that yoga practice produces a wide variety of positive psychosocial and physical benefits. These include improved mood state, self-control, social abilities, self-regulation, emotion regulation, self-esteem, and ability to focus. In addition, yoga practice produces improvements in student grades and academic performance. They have also shown that the yoga practice produces lower levels of anxiety, depression, general distress, rumination, and intrusive thoughts.

 

So, yoga practice may be helpful to adolescents in the development of their self-efficacy. In today’s Research News article “Influence of Yoga-Based Personality Development Program on Psychomotor Performance and Self-efficacy in School Children.” See:

https://www.facebook.com/ContemplativeStudiesCenter/photos/a.628903887133541.1073741828.627681673922429/1297633423593914/?type=3&theater

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

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4908105/

Das and colleagues examine the effects of a 10-week intensive yoga camp on adolescents’ self-efficacy and cognitive task performance. The camp involved 10-hours per day of yoga postures, meditation, breathing exercises, relaxation techniques, and yoga games. They were measured before and after the camp for self-efficacy and the Trail Marking Test which measures fine motor coordination, visual–motor integration, visual perception, and cognitive planning ability. The results were compared with a matched group of adolescents who spent the 10-weeks in a traditional school setting.

 

They found that the yoga training produced a marked, significant, increase in self-efficacy including the academic, social, and emotional domains. Whereas, the control group showed no change in self-efficacy. The yoga group also showed large, significant improvements on the trail Making Test while the control group did not. These results suggest that the intensive yoga practice was very beneficial for the adolescents. The improvements in the teens beliefs regarding their ability to succeed academically, socially and emotionally has important implications for their successful navigation of the difficult teen years. In addition, their improvements in motor ability, planning, and cognitive performance suggest improved physical and intellectual development and success in school.

 

It is important, though, to recognize that the yoga training was very intensive. It is unclear whether a less intensive yoga program like that typically used in schools would have similarly impressive effects. In addition, the comparison, control, condition was not equivalent in that they didn’t experience a similar intensive training and social contact situation. So, it is not possible to know if it was the yoga training itself or the intensive camp context that produced the effects. It remains for future research to clarify these issues.

 

Regardless, the results are suggestive that yoga practice may have profound effects on teen’s development of self-efficacy, motor, and cognitive development.

 

“Yoga has proven very helpful for teenagers. The deep breathing, focusing, and stretching of Yoga help calm the mind and soothe the body and spirit. Restorative Yoga especially helps to balance the nervous system, and ease teens out of the flight-or-fight response. And luckily Yoga is now considered “cool” by most teenagers, so your kids can practice without worrying about being ostracized.” –  Jane Heyman

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

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

 

Study Summary

Das M, Deepeshwar S, Subramanya P and Manjunath NK (2016) Influence of Yoga-Based Personality Development Program on Psychomotor Performance and Self-efficacy in School Children. Front. Pediatr. 4:62. doi: 10.3389/fped.2016.00062

 

Abstract

Selective attention and efficacy are important components of scholastic performance in school children. While attempts are being made to introduce new methods to improve academic performance either as part of curricular or extracurricular activities in schools, the success rates are minimal. Hence, this study assessed the effect of yoga-based intervention on psychomotor performance and self-efficacy in school children. Two hundred ten school children with ages ranging from 11 to 16 years (mean age ± SD; 13.7 ± 0.8 years) satisfying the inclusion and exclusion criteria were recruited for the 10-day yogä program. An equal number of age-matched participants (n = 210; mean ± SD; 13.1 ± 0.8 years) were selected for the control group. Participants were assessed for attention and performance at the beginning and end of 10 days using trail making task (TMT) A and B, and self-efficacy questionnaire. The yoga group showed higher self-efficacy and improved performance after 10 days of yoga intervention. The performance in TMT-A and -B of the yoga group showed a significantly higher number of attempts with a reduction in time taken to complete the task and a number of wrong attempts compared with control group. Results suggest that yoga practice enhances self-efficacy and processing speed with fine motor coordination, visual–motor integration, visual perception, planning ability, and cognitive performance.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4908105/

 

Yoga Helps the Blind Maintain Balance

psyjdc 4 Comments

“One of the many misconceptions about the blind is that they have greater hearing, sense of smell and sense of touch than sighted people. This is not strictly true. Their blindness simply forces them to recognize gifts they always had but had heretofore largely ignored.” – Rosemary Mahoney
Falls are a standard of slapstick comedy and Americas Funniest Home Videos. But, falls are far from funny. They can cause serious injury and even death. “One out of five falls causes a serious injury such as broken bones or a head injury. Each year, 2.5 million older people are treated in emergency departments for fall injuries. Over 700,000 patients a year are hospitalized because of a fall injury, most often because of a head injury or hip fracture. Each year at least 250,000 older people are hospitalized for hip fractures. More than 95% of hip fractures are caused by falling,6 usually by falling sideways. Falls are the most common cause of traumatic brain injuries (TBI). Adjusted for inflation, the direct medical costs for fall injuries are $34 billion annually.” (Centers for Disease Control). Approximately 9,500 deaths in older Americans are associated with falls each year, making falls the leading cause of death from injury among people 65 and older.

 

Physical and sensory fitness and balance are important for the prevention of falls. The visual system is particularly important for maintaining balance and avoiding obstacles. Hence, it is not surprising that the visually impaired are 1.7 times more likely to have a fall and 1.9 times more likely to have multiple falls compared with fully sighted populations. The odds of a hip fracture are between 1.3 and 1.9 times greater for those with reduced visual acuity. So, finding methods to improve balance in the visually impaired may greatly reduce falls and subsequent injury.

 

Yoga has been shown to improve muscular strength, endurance, and flexibility (see http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/2015/08/11/improve-physical-health-with-yoga/) and to improve balance (see http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/2015/12/26/improve-physical-well-being-with-bikram-yoga/). So, it would seem reasonable to predict that yoga training may improve coordination, flexibility, and balance in the visually impaired and as a result reduce injuries.

 

In today’s Research News article “Ashtanga-Based Yoga Therapy Increases the Sensory Contribution to Postural Stability in Visually-Impaired Persons at Risk for Falls as Measured by the Wii Balance Board: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial”

https://www.facebook.com/ContemplativeStudiesCenter/photos/a.628903887133541.1073741828.627681673922429/1159236467433611/?type=3&theater

http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0129646

Jeter and colleagues developed and pilot tested a yoga program for the legally blind and compared the results to those obtained from a wait-list control group. The participants practiced yoga once a week with an instructor and twice a week at home for eight weeks. As expected yoga produced an increase in lower body strength and flexibility. Using a balance on an unstable platform test they found that after yoga training the blind participants were better able to use somatosensory and vestibular information to maintain balance.

 

These findings suggest that yoga improves blind individuals physically and increases their balance by making them more sensitive to the information provided by touch and by the balance (vestibular) system. There was no direct test of propensity to fall, but the results suggest that the yoga training would improve balance and thereby lower the likelihood of a fall. It will take further research to directly test this conclusion.

 

It is clear, however, that yoga can improve sensitivity of the tactile and vestibular stimuli that are important for balance. So, practice yoga to improve balance in the blind.
“To be blind is not miserable; not to be able to bear blindness, that is miserable.”

John Milton
CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies