Clinical Psychology Review
June 1, 2025
Siobhan M O'Dean, Elizabeth Summerell, Eddie Harmon-Jones et al.
10 citations
People who are more mindful tend to report less anger and aggression, and mindfulness training can reduce these responses. Four meta-analyses of 118 studies found small-to-medium inverse correlations between dispositional mindfulness and both anger (r = -0.23) and aggression (r = -0.19). In experimental studies, mindfulness-based interventions produced medium reductions in anger (d = -0.48) and aggression (d = -0.61) compared to control groups. Effects were largest in Asia and with passive control groups, and were similar across clinical, forensic, healthy, medical, and student populations. The findings suggest mindfulness training can help regulate anger and aggression in diverse groups, though more rigorous control groups are needed.
Biological psychiatry. Cognitive neuroscience and neuroimaging
April 1, 2025
Saampras Ganesan, Fernando A Barrios, Ishaan Batta et al.
6 citations
Meditation practices, which have shown therapeutic benefits for conditions like depression, pain, addiction, and anxiety, have been studied with neuroimaging over the past decade. However, existing neuroscientific models are based on small, heterogeneous datasets, limiting generalizability and replicability. The ENIGMA-Meditation consortium is the first worldwide collaborative effort to conduct systematic meta- and mega-analyses of globally distributed neuroimaging data using standardized methods. This framework aims to improve statistical power and address multidomain heterogeneity in meditation practice types, experience, and experimental design. The consortium will generate rigorous neuroscientific insights into the mechanisms underlying meditation's therapeutic effects on psychological and cognitive attributes.
The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences
November 5, 2025
Janine M. Dutcher, Kirk W Brown, Emily K. Lindsay et al.
Loneliness is a major risk factor for illness and early death in older adults, yet interventions that simply increase social contact have shown limited success. Two randomized controlled trials tested whether an 8-week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program could reduce loneliness in older adults. In the first trial, MBSR significantly reduced loneliness compared to a waitlist control. In the second trial, both MBSR and a Health Enhancement Program (HEP) reduced loneliness to a similar degree, with no significant difference between them. Neither depressive symptoms, stress, sex, age, nor homework completion influenced the results. Both MBSR and HEP appear to be promising approaches for reducing loneliness in older adults, with effects lasting months.
Biological Psychiatry
July 1, 2016
J David Creswell, Adrienne A. Taren, Emily K. Lindsay et al.
A 3-day intensive mindfulness meditation training, compared with relaxation training, increased resting-state functional connectivity between the default mode network and the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in stressed unemployed adults. These brain connectivity changes statistically explained 30% of the mindfulness meditation training effects on reducing interleukin-6, a marker of systemic inflammation, at 4-month follow-up. The findings suggest that mindfulness meditation may improve inflammatory health markers by strengthening brain networks involved in executive control.