Frontiers in Human Neuroscience
August 23, 2022
Docia Demmin, Steven M. Silverstein, Tracey J. Shors
22 citations
Teachers face significant stressors in relation to their work, placing them at increased risk for burnout and attrition. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about additional challenges, resulting in an even greater burden. Thus, strategies for reducing stress that can be delivered virtually are likely to benefit this population. Mental and Physical (MAP) Training combines meditation with aerobic...
Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback
March 2022
Emma M. Millon, Paul M Lehrer, Tracey J. Shors
Mental and physical (MAP) training targets the brain and the body through a combination of focused-attention meditation and aerobic exercise. The following feasibility pilot study tested whether 6 weeks of MAP training improves mental health outcomes, while enhancing discrimination learning and heart rate variability (HRV) in a group of women living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and...
The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine
April 20, 2020
Paul Lavadera, Emma M. Millon, Tracey J. Shors
Medical students must commit a great deal of concentration and energy during their first 2 years of study, leaving minimal time for self-care. However, once they become physicians, they are in the position of instructing their patients to engage in self-care. Objectives: In this study, first- and second-year medical students participated in a combined mental and physical (MAP) training program...
Frontiers in Neuroscience
April 23, 2018
Tracey J. Shors, H. Y. Chang, Emma M. Millon
Sexual violence against women often leads to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a mental illness characterized by intrusive thoughts and memories about the traumatic event (Shors and Millon, 2016). These mental processes are obviously generated by the brain but often felt in the body. MAP Training My Brain™ is a novel clinical intervention that combines mental training of the brain with...
Journal of Neuroscience Research
January 2, 2017
Tracey J. Shors, Emma M. Millon, Han Yan M Chang et al.
It is generally accepted that women tend to ruminate more than men do and these thought patterns are often associated with depressive symptoms (Nolen-Hoeksema et al., ). Based on these findings, we considered whether the relationship between rumination and depression is stronger in women than in men and if so, whether this might explain the higher prevalence of major depressive disorder (MDD)...
Frontiers in neuroendocrinology
April 2016
Tracey J. Shors, Emma M. Millon
Sexual aggression and violence against women (VAM) are not only social problems; they are mental health problems. Women who experience sexual trauma often express disruptions in emotional and cognitive processes, some of which lead to depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Animal models of neurogenesis and learning suggest that social yet aggressive interactions between a...
Neurobiology of Learning and Memory
September 9, 2014
Tracey J. Shors, Ryan L Olson, Marsha E Bates et al.
New neurons are generated in the hippocampus each day and their survival is greatly enhanced through effortful learning (Shors, 2014). The numbers of cells produced can be increased by physical exercise (van Praag, Kempermann, & Gage, 1999). These findings inspired us to develop a clinical intervention for humans known as Mental and Physical Training, or MAP Training. Each session consists of...
Brandon L Alderman, Ryan L Olson, C.J. Brush et al.
Mental and physical (MAP) training is a novel clinical intervention that combines mental training through meditation and physical training through aerobic exercise. The intervention was translated from neuroscientific studies indicating that MAP training increases neurogenesis in the adult brain. Each session consisted of 30 min of focused-attention (FA) meditation and 30 min of...