Frontiers in Psychology
September 8, 2025
Anita Milicevic, Angela Blazely, Anatol Bragin et al.
2 citations
Studies on consciousness need to develop further a mixed methods research design that effectively integrates first-, second- and third-person research approaches. Mixed methods research has not fully explored the methodological potential of the participant-observer role and the interdependence of knowledge across disciplines to gain a deeper understanding of such inquiries. This paper describes...
Behavioral Sciences
March 26, 2021
Fabio R M Dos Santos, Shirley S Lacerda, Cassia C Coelhoso et al.
Meditation and positive psychology have been reported as promising approaches to deal with stress. This exploratory pilot study aims to evaluate the efficacy of meditation and positive psychology-based intervention on stress. Two experiments are reported; in the first one, 29 healthcare professionals were included (intervention = 14; control = 15), and the second one included 57 women managers...
Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience
August 7, 2020
C. S. Deolindo, M. W. Ribeiro, M. A. Aratanha et al.
Meditation practices, originated from ancient traditions, have increasingly received attention due to their potential benefits to mental and physical health. The scientific community invests efforts into scrutinizing and quantifying the effects of these practices, especially on the brain. There are methodological challenges in describing the neural correlates of the subjective experience of...
Frontiers in Psychiatry
May 21, 2020
Morgana M. Novaes, Fernanda Palhano-Fontes, Heloisa Onias et al.
110 citations
Pranayama refers to a set of yoga breathing exercises. Recent evidence suggests that the practice of pranayama has positive effects on measures of clinical stress and anxiety. This study explored the impact of a Bhastrika pranayama training program on emotion processing, anxiety and affect. We used a randomized controlled trial design with thirty healthy young adults assessed at baseline and...
Frontiers in Bioscience
March 1, 2020
Rui F. Afonso, Inessa Kraft, M. A. Aratanha et al.
Here, we review the neurophysiological and neuroimaging changes that mediation induces in structural and functional MRI. The available evidence from structural studies suggests that mediation impacts neuronal plasticity and the functional MRI suggest that there are changes in gray and white matter in subjects who meditate. FMRI studies show that meditation is associated with decreased activity...
Neuroreport
December 5, 2018
Diego B G Rodrigues, Shirley S Lacerda, Joana B Balardin et al.
Among several cognitive advantages, meditation is thought to enhance practitioners' capacity for sustained attention. In the present study, we explored this question by testing meditation practitioners (meditators) and nonpractitioners (nonmeditators) on a task that requires sustained attention, the Stroop Word-Color Task (SWCT), while using functional MRI. Participants were all right-handed...
Menopause: The Journal of The North American Menopause Society
September 2018
Marcelo C Garcia, Elisa H. Kozasa, Sergio Tufik et al.
The aim of the study was to evaluate the effects of mindfulness and relaxation training for insomnia on insomnia and quality of life in postmenopausal women. Thirty postmenopausal women aged 50 to 65 years, who were not using hormone therapy, and had a diagnosis of insomnia and an apnea-hypopnea index of less than 15, were randomly assigned to two groups: a mindfulness intervention group and a...
Frontiers in Human Neuroscience
June 11, 2018
Elisa H. Kozasa, Joana B Balardin, João R. Sato et al.
Meditation as a cognitive enhancement technique is of growing interest in the field of health and research on brain function. The Stroop Word-Color Task (SWCT) has been adapted for neuroimaging studies as an interesting paradigm for the understanding of cognitive control mechanisms. Performance in the SWCT requires both attention and impulse control, which is trained in meditation practices. We...
Geriatrics & gerontology international
2017
Marcelo Ad Danucalov, Elisa H. Kozasa, Rui F. Afonso et al.
To investigate the effects of the practice of yoga in combination with compassion meditation on the quality of life, attention, vitality and self-compassion of family caregivers of patients with Alzheimer's disease. A total of 46 volunteers were randomly allocated to two groups, the yoga and compassion meditation program group (n = 25), and the control group (CG) that received no treatment (n =...
Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience
2017
Rui F. Afonso, Joana B Balardin, Sara W. Lazar et al.
Yoga, a mind-body activity that requires attentional engagement, has been associated with positive changes in brain structure and function, especially in areas related to awareness, attention, executive functions and memory. Normal aging, on the other hand, has also been associated with structural and functional brain changes, but these generally involve decreased cognitive functions. The aim...
BioMed Research International
June 7, 2015
Viviane Freire Bueno, Elisa H. Kozasa, Maria Aparecida Da Silva et al.
Objective: Adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) display affective problems and impaired attention. Mood in ADHD can be improved by mindful awareness practices (MAP), but results are mixed regarding the enhancement of attentional performance. Here we evaluated MAP-induced changes in quality of life (QoL), mood, and attention in adult ADHD patients and controls using more...
Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine
2013
M. A. D. Danucalov, Elisa H. Kozasa, K. T. Ribas et al.
80 citations
Familial caregivers of patients with Alzheimer's disease exhibit reduced quality of life and increased stress levels. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of an 8-week yoga and compassion meditation program on the perceived stress, anxiety, depression, and salivary cortisol levels in familial caregivers. A total of 46 volunteers were randomly assigned to participate in a...
Current Pain and Headache Reports
October 2012
Elisa H. Kozasa, Luiza H Tanaka, Carlos Monson et al.
Meditation is the third most commonly requested complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapy reported in a US survey. Those who suffer from chronic pain are those who most frequently use CAM therapies. This review aims to evaluate whether meditation-based interventions can help the treatment of fibromyalgia. A PubMed search was conducted using the terms "fibromyalgia" and "meditation",...
PLoS One
July 3, 2012
João R. Sato, Elisa H. Kozasa, Tamara A Russell et al.
Multivariate pattern recognition approaches have become a prominent tool in neuroimaging data analysis. These methods enable the classification of groups of participants (e.g. controls and patients) on the basis of subtly different patterns across the whole brain. This study demonstrates that these methods can be used, in combination with automated morphometric analysis of structural MRI, to...
Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences
June 1, 2008
Elisa H. Kozasa, João Radvany, M. Barreiros et al.
FOR MANY CENTURIES, Asian philosophers have affirmed that there are different states of awareness to be developed through meditation.1 Meditation results in changes in cognition, sensory perception, affect, hormones, and autonomic activity. Until today, there have been very few imaging studies of the neural correlates of meditation. Most of them study the act of meditation by experienced...