Alter the Brains Self-Related Processing with Mindfulness

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By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

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

 

The nervous system is constantly changing and adapting to the environment. It will change size, activity, and connectivity in response to experience. For example, the brain area that controls the right index finger has been found to be larger in blind subjects who use braille than in sighted individuals.  Similarly, cab drivers in London who navigate the twisting streets of the city, have a larger hippocampus, which is involved in spatial navigation, than predefined route bus drivers. These changes in the brain are called neuroplasticity. Over the last decade neuroscience has been studying the effects of contemplative practices on the brain and has identified neuroplastic changes in widespread areas.

 

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

 

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

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or see below.

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

 

Study Summary

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

 

Highlights

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

Abstract

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

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

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

 

Alter the Sleeping Brain with Meditation

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By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“A simple meditation for sleep . . . is to focus on the breath while lying in bed as you are preparing to go to sleep. Follow the breath moving into and out of the body. As you are being aware of the breath just allow yourself to sink into the bed with each breath. . . . By taking this mindful attitude, sleep is facilitated by simply being aware of the moment-to-moment experience of relaxing into the bed, without judging or being critical of that experience, so that the mind can gently slip into sleep.” – John Cline

 

We spend about a third of our lives in sleep, but, we know very little about it. It is known that sleep is not a unitary phenomenon. Rather, it involves several different states that can be characterized by differences in physiological activation, neural activity, and subjective experiences. In the waking state the nervous system shows EEG activity that is termed low voltage fast activity. The electrical activity recorded from the scalp is rapidly changing but only with very small size waves. When we close our eyes and relax the heart rate and blood pressure decline and muscles relax. In this state the EEG shows a characteristic waveform known as the alpha rhythm, which is a large change in voltage recorded that oscillates at a rate of 8 to 12 cycles per second. Subjectively, the mind slows down and often day dreaming occurs.

 

When sleep first occurs, the individual enters into a stage called slow-wave sleep, sometimes called non-REM sleep. The heart rate and blood pressure decline even further and the muscles become very soft and relaxed. In this state the EEG shows a characteristic waveform known as the theta rhythm, which is a large change in voltage recorded that oscillates at a rate of 4 to 8 cycles per second. Subjectively, the mind enters into a state of slow and distorted experiences. It is here that nightmares can occur. As the individual goes even deeper into sleep something remarkable happens as the individual enters into rapid eye movement sleep (REM sleep). Here the muscles become extremely inhibited and flaccid, but the eyes move rapidly under the closed eyelids as if the individual was looking around. At the same time the heart rate and blood pressure increase and become very variable and sometimes very high. Subjectively this is where elaborate dreams occur.

 

It has been shown that mindfulness training, including meditation practice, affects sleep and tends to improve sleep and reduce insomnia. In today’s Research News article “Short Meditation Trainings Enhance Non-REM Sleep Low-Frequency Oscillations”

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http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0148961

Dentico and colleagues investigate the effects of long-term meditation on the electrical activity of the brain (EEG) during sleep. They recorded the EEG during sleep before and after 2-days of intensive meditation. They found that after meditation, the EEG activity over the frontal and parietal cortical areas increased in power in the alpha and theta rhythm range of 1-12 cycles per second (Hertz). The more experience that the participants had with meditation the larger the increase in the EEG power during sleep following the meditation. These results suggest that long-term meditation practice changes the nervous system making it more sensitive to the effects of meditation on sleep.

 

Other research has demonstrated that long-term meditation practice produces increases in the size, activity, and connectivity of the frontal and parietal regions. So, the finding that EEG power increases during sleep in these areas as a result of long-term meditation makes sense. It is not known, however, exactly what the increased EEG power indicates. But, it can be speculated that is may indicate deeper sleep in non-REM, slow-wave, sleep. Perhaps enhancing subjective experiences during this phase of sleep. This would fit with the improvements in sleep seen in meditators. It remains for future research to test these speculations and determine exactly what meditation does to the sleeping brain and the subjective experiences of the dreamer.

 

Regardless of the merits of this speculation, it is clear that meditation alters the sleeping brain.

 

“there are whole-health benefits to the practice of mindfulness, wherein every aspect of health stands to gain. A healthier you is likely to sleep better, and a better-sleeping you is likely to be healthier.” – Michael Breus

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

 

Study Summary

Dentico D, Ferrarelli F, Riedner BA, Smith R, Zennig C, Lutz A, et al. (2016) Short Meditation Trainings Enhance Non-REM Sleep Low-Frequency Oscillations. PLoS ONE 11(2): e0148961. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0148961

 

Abstract

STUDY OBJECTIVES: We have recently shown higher parietal-occipital EEG gamma activity during sleep in long-term meditators compared to meditation-naive individuals. This gamma increase was specific for NREM sleep, was present throughout the entire night and correlated with meditation expertise, thus suggesting underlying long-lasting neuroplastic changes induced through prolonged training. The aim of this study was to explore the neuroplastic changes acutely induced by 2 intensive days of different meditation practices in the same group of practitioners. We also repeated baseline recordings in a meditation-naive cohort to account for time effects on sleep EEG activity.

DESIGN: High-density EEG recordings of human brain activity were acquired over the course of whole sleep nights following intervention.

SETTING: Sound-attenuated sleep research room.

PATIENTS OR PARTICIPANTS: Twenty-four long-term meditators and twenty-four meditation-naïve controls.

INTERVENTIONS: Two 8-h sessions of either a mindfulness-based meditation or a form of meditation designed to cultivate compassion and loving kindness, hereafter referred to as compassion meditation.

MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS: We found an increase in EEG low-frequency oscillatory activities (1-12 Hz, centered around 7-8 Hz) over prefrontal and left parietal electrodes across whole night NREM cycles. This power increase peaked early in the night and extended during the third cycle to high-frequencies up to the gamma range (25-40 Hz). There was no difference in sleep EEG activity between meditation styles in long-term meditators nor in the meditation naïve group across different time points. Furthermore, the prefrontal-parietal changes were dependent on meditation life experience.

CONCLUSIONS: This low-frequency prefrontal-parietal activation likely reflects acute, meditation-related plastic changes occurring during wakefulness, and may underlie a top-down regulation from frontal and anterior parietal areas to the posterior parietal and occipital regions showing chronic, long-lasting plastic changes in long-term meditators.

 

Improve Caregiving for Developmental Disabilities with Mindfulness

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By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“mindfulness practices could be helpful for . . . caregivers because they encourage a nonjudgmental interpretation of their child’s situation, and increased acceptance of their reality. Mindfulness practices also help people observe their thoughts and behaviors with less reactivity and judgment, which could enable caregivers to better respond to the emotional and physical difficulties they encounter.” –  Emily Nauman

 

Four in ten adults in the U.S. are caring for an adult or child with significant health issues, up from 30% in 2010. Caring for a loved one is an activity that cuts across most demographic groups, but is especially prevalent among adults ages 30 to 64, a group traditionally still in the workforce. Caring for children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities can be particularly difficult. Developmental disabilities are a group of conditions due to an impairment in physical, learning, language, or behavior areas. These conditions begin during the developmental period, may impact day-to-day functioning, and usually last throughout a person’s lifetime. Recent estimates in the United States show that about one in six, or about 15%, of children aged 3 through 17 years have a one or more developmental disabilities.

 

Today, most people with intellectual and developmental disabilities live with their families. This places many stresses on the caregivers and their families and stretches their financial resources. Due to these issues, people with severe cases of intellectual and developmental disabilities are often cared for in community and group homes. The staff of these homes, like family caregivers are under high levels of stress for many reasons including that many individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities are highly aggressive and at time combative.  They sometimes require physical restraint and can cause injuries to the caregiver and to other patients. In addition, the high levels of stress and injury results in many staff leaving. It should be clear that there is a need for methods to reduce the stress, and burnout of caregivers in community and group homes. Mindfulness training has been found to be helpful for caregivers in the home setting. So it would be reasonable to expect that mindfulness training may also be helpful for caregivers in community and group homes.

 

In today’s Research News article “Caregiver Training in Mindfulness-Based Positive Behavior Supports (MBPBS): Effects on Caregivers and Adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities”

https://www.facebook.com/ContemplativeStudiesCenter/photos/a.628903887133541.1073741828.627681673922429/1202660149757909/?type=3&theater

or see below, or for a full text see:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4746712/

Singh and colleagues implemented a 10-week Mindfulness-Based Positive Behavior Support (MBPBS) training for caregivers of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities in community and group homes. The training added practice with meditation to a standard Positive Behavior Support (PBS) program. The PBS program “is designed to decrease an individual’s problem behaviors by teaching new skills, modifying the environment where the problem behaviors occur, and enhancing quality of life.” It was hypothesized that the addition of mindfulness training would magnify and supplement the effectiveness of the PBS program.

 

Singh and colleagues found that the MBPBS training resulted in a significant decrease in the use of physical restraint and significant decreases in injuries to staff and other patients. There were also significant reductions in the staff’s perceived stress levels and turnover rate. The reduced stress and injuries resulted in a highly significant reduction in institutional costs. These results clearly demonstrate that the MBPBS training is effective for caregivers. It is not clear, however, whether the meditation training was responsible, the Positive Behavior Support training or both. It remains for future research to identify which components are necessary and sufficient for improvement of caregivers well-being.

 

Regardless, it is clear that the combination of meditation to Positive Behavior Support (PBS) training produces important improvements for the staff, patients, and institution in caregiving for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities in community and group homes.

 

“caregivers and patients found that the mindfulness training actually helped improve their relationships with each other. Mindfulness places both people in the present and in positive emotion; the two sides share this experience with a bit of freedom from the baggage of their history. . . . such gentle, positive interaction helped defuse the ongoing stress of a caregiver dynamic, and it helped build a stronger relationship in the present.” – Adam Perlman

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

 

Study Summary

Singh, N. N., Lancioni, G. E., Karazsia, B. T., & Myers, R. E. (2016). Caregiver Training in Mindfulness-Based Positive Behavior Supports (MBPBS): Effects on Caregivers and Adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. Frontiers in Psychology, 7, 98. http://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00098

 

Abstract

Caregivers often manage the aggressive behavior of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities that reside in community group homes. Sometimes this results in adverse outcomes for both the caregivers and the care recipients. We provided a 7-day intensive Mindfulness-Based Positive Behavior Support (MBPBS) training to caregivers from community group homes and assessed the outcomes in terms of caregiver variables, individuals’ behaviors, and an administrative outcome. When compared to pre-MBPBS training, the MBPBS training resulted in the caregivers using significantly less physical restraints, and staff stress and staff turnover were considerably reduced. The frequency of injury to caregivers and peers caused by the individuals was significantly reduced. A benefit-cost analysis showed substantial financial savings due to staff participation in the MBPBS program. This study provides further proof-of-concept for the effectiveness of MBPBS training for caregivers, and strengthens the call for training staff in mindfulness meditation.

 

Frontal Cortex Damage Increases Mystical Experiences

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By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Push theories argue that activation of a single ‘God Spot’ causes mystical beliefs, suggesting that injuries to these spots would reduce mysticism. In contrast, pull theories argue that the suppression of our inhibitory functions opens up the brain to mystical experiences,” – Joseph Bulbulia

 

Spiritual experiences, be they called awakenings, mystical experiences, or enlightenments, involve a shift in how the individual perceives reality. This could be viewed as a spiritual revelation. But it could also be viewed as a change in the neural systems integrating and interpreting experiences. So, are spiritual awakenings revelations of a reality beyond physical reality or are they simply hallucinatory experience evoked by changes in the nervous system?

 

One way of investigating this question is to study the brain-spirituality connection. Modern neuroscience research employing sophisticated neuroimaging techniques has investigate this relationship and has revealed that there is a clear association between spirituality and the brain. Neuroimaging techniques that allow the measurement of the nervous system in an intact human have demonstrated that spirituality is associated with changes in the size, activity, and connectivity of the frontal and parietal lobes of the brain. So spirituality and changes in neural systems co-occur. But, this does not demonstrate a causal connection, whether spirituality alters the brain or brain alteration causes spirituality, or some third factor is responsible for both.

 

A better way to demonstrate if brain activity causes spiritual experiences is to investigate what happens to spirituality when the brain changes. One place to look at this is with accidental brain injuries incurred by humans. This affords an opportunity to glimpses associations between brain change and spirituality. In general people who have incurred damage to the right inferior parietal area show an increase in spirituality. So, brain alteration affects spirituality. But, increased spiritual beliefs and spiritual seeking are not the same thing as spiritual experiences. So, we cannot conclude that these changes in the brain are responsible for awakening experiences.

 

In today’s Research News article “Neural correlates of mystical experience”

https://www.facebook.com/ContemplativeStudiesCenter/photos/a.628903887133541.1073741828.627681673922429/1201966963160561/?type=3&theater or see below

Cristofori and colleagues study the effects of brain injury incurred by soldiers in the Vietnam war and mystical experiences with a matched group of uninjured Vietnam veterans. The neuroimaging technique of Computerized Axial Tomography (CT Scans) were used to map the areas of the brain damaged in the veterans. They found that one particular area, the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) was associated with higher levels of mystical experiences. Veterans with damage to that area had significantly higher scores on the Mysticism Scale (M-Scale) than either intact veterans or veterans with damage to other brain areas. These results suggest that damage to the brain causes increased mystical experiences.

 

The prefrontal cortex in general, including the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) have been shown to be involved in executive function. Executive function regulates cognitive processes, including attention, working memory, reasoning, task flexibility, and problem solving as well as planning and execution. The results from the study suggest that damage to areas underlying these executive function increases mystical experiences. This in turn suggests that reducing higher level thinking induces more mystical experiences. Indeed, Cristofori and colleagues found that the in the brain injured veterans the greater the deficit in executive function, the higher the mysticism score.

 

These results support a theoretical model of mystical experiences proposed by de Castro in which executive function inhibits unprocessed sensory information from reaching consciousness. The model postulates that these raw sensory experiences are the basis of mystical experiences. So, brain damage which disrupts executive function would tend to increase the ability of these unprocessed experiences to reach consciousness.

 

Regardless of the explanation, it is clear that frontal cortex damage increases mystical experiences.

 

“it will first be necessary for science to accept that its ability to understand subjective phenomena is radically limited by its current world-view and that this world-view or paradigm is long overdue for a radical transformation. What will aid enormously in this transformation is for scientists to begin the process of inner research or exploration of their own consciousness so that the states of mind being studied, such as mystical perception, become a part of their own experience. When the consciousness of the researchers starts to undergo a profound transformation, the old world-view or paradigm will correspondingly undergo a similar shift.” – Michael Persinger

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

 

Study Summary

Irene Cristofori, Joseph Bulbulia, John H. Shaver, Marc Wilson, Frank Krueger, Jordan Grafman. Neural correlates of mystical experience. Neuropsychologia, Volume 80, 8 January 2016, Pages 212-220

 

Highlights

  • We investigated the causal role of brain region in mystical experience.
  • VLSM showed increased mystical experience associated to ip temporal cortexanddlPFC.
  • Patients with selective lesions to dlPFC reported increased mystical experience.
  • Executive functioningcontributes to the down-regulationof mystical experiences.

Abstract

Mystical experiences, or subjectively believed encounters with a supernatural world, are widely reported across cultures and throughout human history. Previous theories speculate that executive brain functions underpin mystical experiences. To evaluate causal hypotheses, structural studies of brain lesion are required. Previous studies suffer from small samples or do not have valid measures of cognitive functioning prior to injury. We investigated mystical experience among participants from the Vietnam Head Injury Study and compared those who suffered penetrating traumatic brain injury (pTBI; n=116) with matched healthy controls (HC; n=32). Voxel-based lesion-symptom mapping analysis showed that lesions to frontal and temporal brain regions were linked with greater mystical experiences. Such regions included the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex(dlPFC) and middle/superior temporal cortex (TC). In a confirmatory analysis, we grouped pTBI patients by lesion location and compared mysticism experiences with the HC group. The dlPFC group presented markedly increased mysticism. Notably, longitudinal analysis of pre-injury data (correlating with general intelligence and executive performance) excludes explanations from individual differences. Our findings support previous speculation linking executive brain functions to mystical experiences, and reveal that executive functioning (dlPFC) causally contributes to the down-regulation of mystical experiences.

 

Improve Health with Yoga for the Obese

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By John M. de Castro

 

“Countless times I’ve been told that someone would do yoga, but only after they’ve lost weight. Unfortunately, this eliminates yoga as a tool for reclaiming their health based on their idea that yoga is only for the already thin and flexible. In fact, yoga can be done by everyone — lying in bed, sitting in a wheelchair or standing only for brief moments, the benefits of yoga can still be yours.” – Abby Lentz

 

Obesity has become an epidemic in the industrialized world. In the U.S. the incidence of obesity, defined as a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 30 or above has more than doubled over the last 35 years to currently around 35% of the population, while two thirds of the population is considered overweight or obese (BMI > 25). Although the incidence rates have appeared to stabilize, the fact that over a third of the population is considered obese is very troubling.

This is because of the health consequences of obesity. Obesity has been found to shorten life expectancy by eight years and extreme obesity by 14 years. This occurs because obesity is associated with cardiovascular problems such as coronary heart disease and hypertension, stroke, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, cancer, arthritis, and others. Obviously there is a need for effective treatments to prevent or treat obesity. But, despite copious research and a myriad of dietary and exercise programs, there still is no safe and effective treatment.

 

Mindfulness is known to be associated with lower risk for obesity. This suggests that mindfulness training may be an effective treatment for overeating and obesity. Yoga practice has been shown to have a myriad of physical and psychological benefits. These include significant loss in weight and body mass index (BMI), resting metabolism, and body fat in obese women with Type 2 diabetes. Hence it would seem reasonable to investigate the benefits of particular aspects of yoga practice on the obese.

 

In today’s Research News article “Comparison of Stretching and Resistance Training on Glycemia, Total and Regional Body Composition, and Aerobic Fitness in Overweight Women”

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or below, or for the full text:

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Ruby and colleagues test yoga stretching for its effectiveness in treating obesity in women. They randomly assigned otherwise healthy overweight women to three groups, 10-week, 3-day per week, yoga stretching, 10-week, 3-day per week, resistance exercise, or diet only. “All participants consumed a protein-pacing, balanced diet (50% CHO, 25% PRO, 25% FAT) designed to meet 100% of their estimated energy needs throughout the intervention.”

 

They found that all three groups had improvements in waist circumference and total blood cholesterol levels. Both the yoga and resistance exercise groups also showed a significant improvement in aerobic fitness and also total and abdominal fat. The yoga group alone showed a reduction in their weight and body mass index and improvement in blood glucose levels. These effects are important as cholesterol levels are associated with cardiovascular disease and glucose levels with diabetes. Diet alone was helpful, but adding exercise produced further physical improvements in the women, and with yoga as the exercise the effects extended to weight, body mass, and blood glucose.

 

Yoga exercise is safe as there are very few reports of adverse consequences of engaging in supervised practice. In addition, yoga practice has been shown to have a myriad of physical and psychological benefits beyond its effects on the overweight and obese. This suggests that yoga may be an excellent exercise program for the treatment of overweight and obesity.

 

So, improve health with yoga for the obese.

 

“A healthy body can be a home to calm and receptive mind. It not only makes you look good but also adds confidence. It also takes you away from health risks so that you can enjoy life more freely. Yoga helps you gain all this by losing what harms your body. It’s a perfect win-win situation where you lose weight and gain back control of your body. So, roll out your yoga mat and take the natural route to fighting obesity today.”  – The Art of Living

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

 

Study Summary

Ruby M, Repka CP, Arciero PJ. Comparison of Stretching and Resistance Training on Glycemia, Total and Regional Body Composition, and Aerobic Fitness in Overweight Women. J Phys Act Health. 2016 Feb 19. [Epub ahead of print] DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1123/jpah.2015-0493

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Yoga/Stretching (S) and functional resistance (R) training are popular exercise routines. A protein-pacing (P) diet is a common dietary regimen. Thus, we assessed the effectiveness of a P diet alone and in combination with either S or R to improve body composition and cardiometabolic health.

METHODS: Twenty seven overweight women (age= 43.2± 4.6 years) were randomized into three groups: yoga (S, n=8) or resistance (R, n=10) training (3 days/week) in conjunction with P diet (50% carbohydrate, 25% protein, and 25% fat) or P diet-only (P, n=9) throughout 12-week study. P maintained pre-existing levels of physical activity. Body weight (BW), total (BF) and abdominal (ABF) body fat, waist circumference (WC), plasma biomarkers, and aerobic fitness (VO2) were measured at baseline and 12 weeks.

RESULTS: WC and total cholesterol improved in all groups, whereas glycemia tended to improve (P=0.06) in S. BF, ABF, and VO2 increased significantly in S and R (P<0.05). Feelings of vigor increased in S and tension decreased in R (P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONS: S training tended to decrease blood glucose compared to R and P and is equally effective at enhancing body composition, and aerobic fitness in overweight women providing a strong rationale for further research on S training.

 

Prevent Depression Relapse Better with Both Mindfulness and Drugs

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By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

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

 

Major Depression is the most common mental illness, affecting over 6% of the population. It appears to be the result of a change in the nervous system that can generally only be reached with drugs that alter the affected neurochemical systems. But, depression can be difficult to treat. Of patients treated initially with drugs only about a third attained remission of the depression. After repeated and varied treatments including drugs, therapy, exercise etc. only about two thirds of patients attained remission. In, addition, drugs often have troubling side effects and can lose effectiveness over time. In addition, many patients who achieve remission have relapses and recurrences of the depression. So, it is important to not only treat the disease initially, but also to employ strategies to decrease or prevent relapse.

 

Mindfulness training is another alternative treatment for depression. It has been shown to be an effective treatment and is also effective for the prevention of its recurrence. Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) was specifically developed to treat depression and can be effective even in the cases where drugs fail. The combination of drugs along with MBCT has been shown to be quite effective in treating depression and preventing relapse. Since, drugs have troubling side effects and can lose effectiveness over time, it is important to determine if after remission, MBCT can continue to prevent relapse if the drugs are removed. In other words, after MBCT can the drugs be withdrawn.

 

In today’s Research News article “Discontinuation of antidepressant medication after mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for recurrent depression: randomised controlled non-inferiority trial”

https://www.facebook.com/ContemplativeStudiesCenter/photos/a.628903887133541.1073741828.627681673922429/1200545726636018/?type=3&theater or see below:

Huijbers and colleagues recruited patients who had had three or more depressive episodes, were being treated with anti-depressive medications for at least six months, and were currently in remission. All patients then received an 8-week Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) program. MBCT included meditation, body scan, and mindful movement as well as exercises to bring present-moment awareness to everyday activities. Cognitive therapy included education, monitoring and scheduling of activities, identification of negative automatic thoughts and devising a relapse prevention plan. At the conclusion of treatment patients were randomly assigned to have the drugs withdrawn over five weeks or to continue receiving drugs.

 

Huijbers and colleagues found that at 15 months after MBCT treatment there was a 25% higher rate of relapse when the drugs were withdrawn compared to when they were maintained. In addition, the amount of time to relapse/recurrence was significantly shorter after discontinuation of the drugs. This suggests that withdrawing the drugs increases the risk of relapse/recurrence for patients in remission from major depression and suggests that the combination of MBCT along with a maintenance dose of drug is superior in preventing relapse.

 

So, prevent depression relapse better with both mindfulness and drugs.

 

“Because [mindfulness-based cognitive therapy] is a group treatment which reduces costs and the number of trained staff needed it may be feasible to offer MBCT as a choice to patients in general practice…We therefore have a promising relatively new treatment which is reasonably cost effective and applicable to the large group of patients with recurrent depression.” – Roger Mulder

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

 

Study Summary

 

Marloes J. Huijbers, Philip Spinhoven, Jan Spijker, Henricus G. Ruhé, Digna J. F. van Schaik, Patricia van Oppen, Willem A. Nolen,Johan Ormel, Willem Kuyken, Gert Jan van der Wilt, Marc B. J. Blom, Aart H. Schene, A. Rogier T. Donders, Anne E. M. Speckens. Discontinuation of antidepressant medication after mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for recurrent depression: randomised controlled non-inferiority trial. The British Journal of Psychiatry Feb 2016, DOI: 10.1192/bjp.bp.115.168971

Abstract

Background: Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) and maintenance antidepressant medication (mADM) both reduce the risk of relapse in recurrent depression, but their combination has not been studied.

Aims: To investigate whether MBCT with discontinuation of mADM is non-inferior to MBCT+mADM.

Method: A multicentre randomised controlled non-inferiority trial (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT00928980). Adults with recurrent depression in remission, using mADM for 6 months or longer (n = 249), were randomly allocated to either discontinue (n = 128) or continue (n = 121) mADM after MBCT. The primary outcome was depressive relapse/recurrence within 15 months. A confidence interval approach with a margin of 25% was used to test non-inferiority. Key secondary outcomes were time to relapse/recurrence and depression severity.

Results: The difference in relapse/recurrence rates exceeded the non-inferiority margin and time to relapse/recurrence was significantly shorter after discontinuation of mADM. There were only minor differences in depression severity.

Conclusions: Our findings suggest an increased risk of relapse/recurrence in patients withdrawing from mADM after MBCT.

 

Develop Wisdom with Meditation

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By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“What’s encouraging about meditation is that even if we shut down, we can no longer shut down in ignorance. We see very clearly that we’re closing off. That in itself begins to illuminate the darkness of ignorance.” – Pema Chodron

 

Wisdom is considered to be an extremely desirable characteristic in humans. People who are thought of as wise are revered. People throughout their lives strive for wisdom and hope that they will develop wisdom. Wisdom is thought to endow the individual with the ability to successfully engage with life and conquer its challenges. To some extent, wisdom is considered the pinnacle of human cognitive development. At the same time, most people would be hard pressed to state exactly what it is. This may be why many find it elusive, as it is difficult to find something when it’s not known what is being sought.

 

In today’s Research News article “The Relationship between Mental and Somatic Practices and Wisdom”

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http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0149369

Williams and colleagues describe wisdom as “a unified construct composed of interrelated cognitive, reflective, and affective characteristics. In this model, wisdom is characterized as a deep and accurate perception of reality, in which insight into human nature and a diminished self-centeredness are acquired through life experience and practice in perspective taking.”

 

This description of wisdom indicates that there are a number of different components and capacities that go into wisdom. Firstly, it states that it is acquired through life experiences. As such, it involves learning ability. Next it states that it is a “deep and accurate perception of reality.” This involves cognitive capacities, thinking, and the ability to see things as they are. It involves “diminished self-centeredness” which involves the development of compassion and empathy for others. Finally, it “insight into human nature.” This involves reflective ability to look inside oneself and objectively observe and determine what are the true characteristics being human.

 

It would appear to be a daunting challenge, then to acquire wisdom. But, there may be help. Contemplative practices have been shown to improve virtually all of the capacities that lead to wisdom. In particular, contemplative practices improve learning ability, cognition, compassion and empathy, self-awareness, and regulate emotions. Hence, it would seem that engaging in contemplative practices would develop wisdom. This is exactly what the Buddha promised about 2500 year ago, that meditation and contemplation would led to wisdom.

 

Williams and colleagues investigated the relationship between a number of practices, including meditation, on the development of wisdom. They recruited participants who were meditators, who engaged in somatic practices to develop mindful coordinated movements, and who practiced classical ballet. They recruited and measured participants on-line. They measured wisdom with a survey called the “Three-Dimensional Wisdom Scale.” It is a measure of cognitive, reflective, and affective dimensions of wisdom, with questions such as “A person either knows the answer to a question or he/she doesn’t;” “I try to look at everybody’s side of a disagreement before I make a decision;” and “It’s not really my problem if others are in trouble and need help.”

 

They found that the meditators had significantly higher wisdom scores than any of the other groups. The years of practice of meditation was found to be significantly, positively related to wisdom and that this relationship was mediated by lower anxiety levels. In other words, the more years of meditation practice, the lower the levels of anxiety, and as a result, the higher the levels of wisdom. These results clearly suggest that the effects of meditation on emotion regulation are key to the development of wisdom.

 

These results are important and interesting. It makes sense that the ability to regulate emotions would be important for developing wisdom. In order to learn from life experiences, it is important that emotional reactions are not allowed to overwhelm the individual or to cloud the cognitive processing of the experience’s lessons and meaning. By being able to fully experience the emotions, the meditator can learn about human nature, but, being able to react to the emotions adaptively and effectively, the meditator can keep the emotional reaction from interfering with an objective appraisal of the experience. This would allow the development of wisdom.

 

So, develop wisdom with meditation.

 

“Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.” ― Aristotle

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

Fight Osteoporosis with Yoga

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By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Yoga puts more pressure on bone than gravity does. By opposing one group of muscles against another, it stimulates osteocytes, the bone-making cells.” – Loren Fishman

 

Bone is living tissue that, like all living tissues, is constantly being broken down and replaced. Osteoporosis occurs when the creation of new bone doesn’t keep up with the removal of old bone. This results in a loss of bone mass, causing bones to become weak and brittle. It can become so brittle that a fall or even mild stresses like bending over or coughing can cause a fracture. These fractures most commonly occur in the hip, wrist or spine. Osteoporosis, particularly in its early stages, is difficult to diagnosis as there are typically no symptoms of bone loss. But once bones have been weakened, signs and symptoms may include: back pain, caused by a fractured or collapsed vertebra, loss of height over time, a stooped posture, or a bone fracture that occurs much more easily than expected.

 

Osteoporosis is estimated to affect 200 million women worldwide; approximately 10% of women aged 60, 20% of women aged 70, 40% of women aged 80 and 70% of women aged 90. In the United States 54 million adults over 50 are affected by osteoporosis and low bone mass; 16% of women and 4% of men. Worldwide, osteoporosis causes more than 8.9 million fractures annually, including 1 in 3 women and 1 in 5 men over age 50. Most fractures occur in postmenopausal women and elderly men. Osteoporosis takes a huge personal and economic toll. The disability due to osteoporosis is greater than that caused by cancers and is comparable or greater than that lost to a variety of chronic diseases, such as arthritis, asthma and high blood pressure related heart disease.

 

The most common treatments for osteoporosis are drugs which slow down the breakdown of bone, combined with exercise. The side effects of the drugs are mild, including upset stomach and heartburn. But, there is a major compliance problem as the drugs must be taken over very long periods of time. In fact, only about a third of patients continue to take their medications for at least a year. Even when drugs are taken, exercise is recommended to improve bone growth.

 

In today’s Research News article “Effects of Yogasanas on osteoporosis in postmenopausal women”

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http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4728958/

Motorwala and colleagues studied the effects of yoga practice on bone density of postmenopausal women with osteoporosis. The women were treated with a 1-hour yoga practice, 4-days per week for 6-months, including postures and breathing exercises. Bone density was measured before and again after treatment with dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA). They found that yoga practice resulted in a significant improvement in bone density. Without treatment, bone density generally becomes worse over this period of time. So, it would appear that yoga practice improves bone density in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis.

 

This is an important outcome, but it probably understates the benefits of yoga practice for these postmenopausal women. It has been shown that yoga practice produces a number of physical and psychological benefits that were not measured in the present study. In addition, yoga is a generally safe treatment with few adverse consequences. Hence, various weight bearing as well as nonweight bearing yoga postures along with breathing exercises are effective in improving bone density and integrated yoga exercises should be an important component of any osteoporosis treatment exercise regime.

 

So, fight osteoporosis with yoga.

 

“We often consider the frailty and disability associated with osteoporosis and osteopenia (bone loss that is not as severe as osteoporosis) as a normal part of aging. Medical research shows, however, that it’s not aging, but inactivity that causes bones to weaken and easily break. Although medications may be necessary to treat severe osteoporotic conditions, the best preventative strategy is to engage in bone-strengthening exercise, like yoga” – Gary Kaplan

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

Keep Health Care Professionals from Burning Out with Mindfulness

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By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Through practicing mindfulness we become more aware of subtle changes in our mood and physical health, and can start to notice more quickly when we are struggling. Rather than waiting for a full meltdown before we take action, we can read the signals of our minds and bodies and start to take better care of ourselves.” – The Mindfulness Project

 

Stress is epidemic in the western workplace with almost two thirds of workers reporting high levels of stress at work. In high stress occupations burnout is all too prevalent. This is the fatigue, cynicism, emotional exhaustion, and professional inefficacy that comes with work-related stress. Healthcare is a high stress occupation. It is estimated that over 45% of healthcare workers experience burnout with emergency medicine at the top of the list, over half experiencing burnout. Currently, over a third of healthcare workers report that they are looking for a new job. Nearly half plan to look for a new job over the next two years and 80% expressed interest in a new position if they came across the right opportunity.

 

Burnout is not a unitary phenomenon. In fact, there appear to be a number of subtypes of burnout. The overload subtype is characterized by the perception of jeopardizing one’s health to pursue worthwhile results, and is highly associated with exhaustion. The lack of development subtype is characterized by the perception of a lack of personal growth, together with the desire for a more rewarding occupation that better corresponds to one’s abilities. The neglect subtype is characterized by an inattentive and careless response to responsibilities, and is closely associated with inefficacy. All of these types result from an emotional exhaustion. This exhaustion not only affects the healthcare providers personally, but also the patients, as it produces a loss of empathy and compassion.

 

Regardless of the reasons for burnout or its immediate presenting consequences, it is a threat to the healthcare providers and their patients. In fact, it is a threat to the entire healthcare system as it contributes to the shortage of doctors and nurses. Hence, preventing existing healthcare workers from burning has to be a priority. Mindfulness has been demonstrated to be helpful in treating and preventing burnout. One of the premiere techniques for developing mindfulness and dealing effectively with stress is Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) pioneered by Jon Kabat-Zinn. It is a diverse mindfulness training containing practice in meditation, body scan, and yoga. As a result, there have been a number of trials investigating the application of MBSR to the treatment and prevention of health care worker burnout.

 

In today’s Research News article “Outcomes of MBSR or MBSR-based interventions in health care providers: A systematic review with a focus on empathy and emotional competencies”

https://www.facebook.com/ContemplativeStudiesCenter/photos/a.628903887133541.1073741828.627681673922429/1197241983633059/?type=3&theater

http://www.complementarytherapiesinmedicine.com/article/S0965-2299(15)30014-5/fulltext

Lamothe and colleagues summarize the published literature on the effectiveness of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) for healthcare worker burnout. They found that the preponderance of evidence from a variety of different trials indicated that MBSR treatment is effective for burnout. In particular, the research generally reports that MBSR treatment significantly improves mindfulness, empathy, and the mental health of healthcare workers. It was found to significantly relieve burnout, and reduce anxiety, depression, and perceived stress.

 

Hence, the published literature is highly supportive of the application of MBSR for the prevention and treatment of healthcare worker burnout. It appears to not only help the worker, but the improvement in the empathy of the worker projects positive consequences for the patients. In addition, the reduction in burnout suggests that MBSR treatment may help to reduce healthcare workers leaving the field, helping to relieve the systemic lack of providers. These are remarkable and potentially very important results.

 

Mindfulness training makes the individual more aware of their own immediate physical and emotional state. Since this occurs in real time, it provides the individual the opportunity to recognize what is happening and respond to it effectively before it contributes to an overall state of burnout. Indeed, mindfulness training has been shown to significantly improve emotion regulation. This produces clear experiencing of the emotion in combination with the ability to respond to the emotion adaptively and effectively. So, the healthcare worker can recognize their state, realize its origins, not let it affect their performance, and respond to it appropriately, perhaps by the recognition that rest is needed.

 

So, keep health care professionals from burning out with mindfulness.

 

“It helps people to undo some of the sense of the time pressure and urgency that makes it so hard to feel present for your patient, and it helps your patients feel like you’re really there, really listening and that you really care. What you learn is to undo the distractedness that comes with worrying about what happens next, and the concern with what’s already over and done with. It doesn’t take more time; it takes an intention and practice to do it successfully.” –  Dr. Michael Baime

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

Change Major Depression Brain Chemistry with Mindfulness

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MBCT Major Depression2 Li

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy helps participants in the classes to see more clearly the patterns of the mind; and to learn how to recognize when their mood is beginning to go down. It helps break the link between negative mood and the negative thinking that it would normally have triggered. Participants develop the capacity to allow distressing mood, thoughts and sensations to come and go, without having to battle with them. They find that they can stay in touch with the present moment, without having to ruminate about the past, or worry about the future.” – Center for Suicide Research

 

Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is a severe mood disorder that includes mood dysregulation and cognitive impairment. It is estimated that 16 million adults in the U.S. (6.9% of the population suffered from major depression in the past year and affects females (8.4%) to a great extent than males (5.2%). It’s the second-leading cause of disability in the world following heart disease. It has also been shown that depression is, to a large extent, inherited, but can also be affected by the environment. Since the genes basically encode when, where, and how chemicals are produced, it is likely that there are changes in brain chemistry produced by the genes responsible for Major Depressive Disorder.

 

The usual treatment of choice for MDD is drug treatment. This supports the altered brain chemistry notion for MDD since the most effective treatment for MDD, drug treatment, changes brain chemistry. In fact, it is estimated that 10% of the U.S. population is taking some form of antidepressant medication. But a substantial proportion of patients (~40%) do not respond to drug treatment. In addition, the drugs can have nasty side effects. So, there is need to explore other treatment options.

 

Mindfulness meditation is a safe alternative that has been shown to be effective for major depressive disorder even in individuals who do not respond to drug treatment. Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) was developed specifically to treat depression and has been shown to be very effective in treating existing depression and preventing relapse when depression is in remission. It makes sense that if altered brain chemistry underlies MDD and that MBCT is an effective treatment for MDD, then MBCT must in some way change brain chemistry. In today’s Research News article “Evaluating metabolites in patients with major depressive disorder who received mindfulness-based cognitive therapy and healthy controls using short echo MRSI at 7 Tesla”

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Li and colleagues explore brain chemistry changes in Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and the effects of Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) on those brain chemistry changes.

 

They recruited patients who were diagnosed with MDD but who were not currently taking antidepressant drugs and who were not practicing meditation or yoga. The brains of these patients and healthy controls were scanned with a powerful imaging technique called Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopic Imaging (MRSI). It is capable of non-invasively detecting levels of particular chemicals in the brain. The patients then received an 8-week MBCT group therapy followed by rescanning of the brains for the same chemicals.

 

They found that the MDD patients compared to healthy controls had elevated levels of choline-containing compounds and decreased levels of N-acetyl aspartate, myo-inositol, and glutathione.

These chemicals are breakdown products of active brain chemicals (metabolites). These are all markers of brain function. The heightened levels of choline-containing compounds suggests that there is with increased cell density and/or membrane turnover in MDD. The decreased levels of N-acetyl aspartate suggest that there is a loss of neurons or neuronal function in MDD. The decreased levels of myo-inositol suggest that there is a loss of or dysfunction of glial cells in MDD. Finally, the decreased levels of glutathione suggest that there is a lower level of neuron excitation in the brain in MDD.

 

Importantly, Li and colleagues found that MBCT significantly reduced depression levels and at the same time normalized the levels of all of the metabolites that had abnormal levels in the patients. These are potentially important results. They demonstrate altered brain chemistry in MDD suggestive of dysfunction in the normal activities of the nervous system and point to potential causal factors in MDD. They also provide suggestions as to how MBCT changes the brain to effectively treat MDD.

 

It should be noted that the changes in metabolites in Major Depressive Disorder may be the result of the depression rather than its cause. The fact that the changes vanished after treatment reduced depression tends to support this contention. It is a complex disease effecting the most complex entity in the universe, the human brain. Hence, there is still a lot of work to do to determine the causal factors in MDD.

 

Regardless, change major depression brain chemistry with mindfulness.

 

 “Mindfulness is the only thing I know to do that can dig me out of despair and give me even a few seconds of time out from me,” – Ruby Wax

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies