JMIR Mental Health
November 27, 2020
Simon B. Goldberg, Ted Imhoff‐Smith, Daniel M. Bolt et al.
104 citations
An eight-week randomized controlled trial tested two versions of a self-guided smartphone-based meditation app, the Healthy Minds Program, against a waitlist control. One version combined mindfulness with practices for positive relationships; the other combined mindfulness with insight into the self. Among 343 randomized adults without extensive meditation experience, both app conditions led to larger improvements in psychological distress, social connectedness, and mindfulness compared to the control group, with effect sizes ranging from small to moderate. The two app versions did not differ from each other. Improvements in distress were linked to days of app use. The study provides initial evidence that the app can reduce distress and enhance well-being.
Scientific Reports
September 24, 2023
Tammi R. A. Kral, Helen Y. Weng, Vikramjit Mitra et al.
25 citations
Lower resting respiration rate (RR) may serve as a physiological marker of well-being, particularly among people who practice meditation. In a study of 245 adults, long-term meditators showed an association between lower RR and lower psychological distress. Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) decreased RR compared to a waitlist control, though not compared to an active control. Decreased RR was linked to fewer medical symptoms across all participants. After training, lower RR was associated with higher psychological well-being in training groups relative to waitlist, but there were no significant differences in change in well-being between groups. The findings suggest RR may indicate physical or psychological well-being in those who engage in wellness practices.
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
September 17, 2021
Tammi R. A. Kral, Regina C Lapate, Ted Imhoff‐Smith et al.
preprint
Long-term mindfulness meditation is associated with stronger resting-state functional connectivity between the posterior cingulate cortex and rostrolateral prefrontal cortex, lower connector hub strength of the default mode network relative to other networks, and better attention to task. In a sample of 40 long-term meditators (average 3,759 hours of practice) compared to 124 meditation-naïve controls, orienting attention positively correlated with posterior cingulate–rostrolateral prefrontal connectivity and negatively correlated with default mode network connector hub strength. These findings suggest that posterior cingulate–rostrolateral prefrontal connectivity may support attention orienting, consistent with a role for rostrolateral prefrontal cortex in meta-cognitive background awareness, a core component of mindfulness training.
August 28, 2020
Simon B. Goldberg, Ted Imhoff‐Smith, Daniel M. Bolt et al.
A fully remote randomized controlled trial tested two versions of a self-guided smartphone-based meditation app, the Healthy Minds Program, against a waitlist control in 343 adults without extensive meditation experience. Both app conditions—one combining mindfulness with practices for positive relationships, the other combining mindfulness with insight into the self—produced larger improvements in psychological distress, social connectedness, mindfulness, and insight-related measures than the control group, with effect sizes ranging from -0.28 to 0.41. Improvements in distress were linked to days of app use. The two app conditions did not differ from each other on any outcome.
Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience
August 1, 2022
Tammi R. A. Kral, Regina C Lapate, Ted Imhoff‐Smith et al.
Long-term mindfulness meditation is associated with stronger functional connectivity between the posterior cingulate cortex and rostrolateral prefrontal cortex, lower connector hub strength across the default mode network, and better subjective attention. In a sample of 40 long-term meditators averaging 3759 hours of practice, compared with 124 meditation-naive controls, orienting attention positively correlated with PCC-RLPFC connectivity and negatively correlated with default mode network connector hub strength. These results suggest that PCC-RLPFC connectivity may support attention orienting, a core component of metacognitive awareness trained in mindfulness meditation.
Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience
July 1, 2019
T. Kral, Ted Imhoff‐Smith, D. Dean et al.
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) increases resting-state functional connectivity between the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) in healthy, meditation-naïve adults. This effect did not persist at a 5.5-month follow-up, but more practice time was linked to greater connectivity increases. The connectivity change was associated with increased microstructural connectivity of a white matter tract connecting these regions and with improved self-reported attention.