Frontiers in Endocrinology
2024
Quinn A Conklin, Anthony P Zanesco, Brandon G King et al.
Given its putative roles in mediating prosocial behavior, attachment bonds, and stress physiology, oxytocin modulation has been hypothesized to be a biological correlate of the salubrious effects of meditation practice. Here we investigated the effects of a month-long silent meditation retreat on changes in oxytocin, and the related hormone and vasopressin, in relation to psychosocial changes...
Brain Behavior and Immunity Integrative
September 1, 2023
Quinn A Conklin, Cavan E. Patterson, Brandon G King et al.
Background: Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is a modulatory neuroprotein implicated in learning, memory, and neuroplasticity. Studies have found increased peripheral BDNF in participants of meditation interventions, indicating that BDNF may play a role in the learning and habit formation that occurs with meditation training. In this study, we assessed changes in peripheral BDNF protein...
Mindfulness
January 30, 2023
Anthony P Zanesco, Brandon G King, Quinn A Conklin et al.
Objectives Contemplative practice can occasion powerful psychological experiences. Yet few empirical studies have investigated whether their occurrence is associated with intensive meditation-based interventions. Here, we assess the prevalence of profound, meaningful, and mystical experiences in experienced meditators during a month-long insight meditation retreat compared to a control group of...
Comprehensive psychoneuroendocrinology
August 1, 2022
María Jesús Álvarez-López, Quinn A Conklin, Marta Cosín-Tomás et al.
Meditation retreats are characterized by intensive or concentrated periods of meditation practice, commonly undertaken in a residential setting. Although research indicates that meditation training can positively influence physical and mental health outcomes, the biological consequences of meditation retreat interventions are relatively understudied. In this study, we examined the influence of...
Mindfulness
2022
Alea C. Skwara, Brandon G King, Anthony P Zanesco et al.
A core assumption of meditation training is that cognitive capacities developed during formal practice will transfer to other contexts or activities as expertise develops over time. This implies that meditation training might influence domain-general neurocognitive systems, the spontaneous activity of which should be reflected in the dynamics of the resting brain. Previous research has...
Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience
August 1, 2019
Anthony P Zanesco, Brandon G King, Chivon Powers et al.
40 citations
The ability to discriminate among goal-relevant stimuli tends to diminish when detections must be made continuously over time. Previously, we reported that intensive training in shamatha (focused-attention) meditation can improve perceptual discrimination of difficult-to-detect visual stimuli [MacLean, K. A., Ferrer, E., Aichele, S. R., Bridwell, D. A., Zanesco, A. P., Jacobs, T. L., et al....
Current Opinion in Psychology
August 1, 2019
Brandon G King, Quinn A Conklin, Anthony P Zanesco et al.
Contemporary investigations of mindfulness and meditation have predominately emphasized the short-term effects of brief inductions or standardized, multi-week interventions in people with little to no prior meditation experience. Considerably less is known about the effects of continued or intensive meditation practice as proficiency and expertise are acquired over time. In this article, we...
Human Brain Mapping
March 9, 2019
Anthony P Zanesco, Alea C. Skwara, Brandon G King et al.
Meditation practice is believed to foster states of mindful awareness and mental quiescence in everyday life. If so, then the cultivation of these qualities with training ought to leave its imprint on the activity of intrinsic functional brain networks. In an intensive longitudinal study, we investigated associations between meditation practitioners' experiences of felt mindful awareness and...
Brain, behavior, and immunity
May 1, 2018
Quinn A Conklin, Brandon G King, Anthony P Zanesco et al.
A growing body of evidence suggests that meditation training may have a range of salubrious effects, including improved telomere regulation. Telomeres and the enzyme telomerase interact with a variety of molecular components to regulate cell-cycle signaling cascades, and are implicated in pathways linking psychological stress to disease. We investigated the effects of intensive meditation...
Psychology of Consciousness Theory Research and Practice
March 1, 2016
Anthony P Zanesco, Brandon G King, Katherine A Maclean et al.
61 citations
It is challenging for individuals to maintain their attention on ongoing cognitive tasks without being distracted by task-unrelated thought. The wandering mind is thus a considerable obstacle when attention must be maintained over time. Mental training through meditation has been proposed as an effective method of attenuating the ebb and flow of attention to thoughts and feelings that distract...
Emotion (Washington, D.C.)
December 1, 2015
Erika L Rosenberg, Anthony P Zanesco, Brandon G King et al.
77 citations
Meditation practices purportedly help people develop focused and sustained attention, cultivate feelings of compassionate concern for self and others, and strengthen motivation to help others who are in need. We examined the impact of 3 months of intensive meditative training on emotional responses to scenes of human suffering. Sixty participants were assigned randomly to either a 3-month...
Neuroimage
July 1, 2015
Manish Saggar, Anthony P Zanesco, Brandon G King et al.
31 citations
Meditation training has been shown to enhance attention and improve emotion regulation. However, the brain processes associated with such training are poorly understood and a computational modeling framework is lacking. Modeling approaches that can realistically simulate neurophysiological data while conforming to basic anatomical and physiological constraints can provide a unique opportunity...
Health psychology : official journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association
October 1, 2013
Tonya L Jacobs, Phillip R Shaver, Elissa S Epel et al.
62 citations
Cognitive perseverations that include worry and rumination over past or future events may prolong cortisol release, which in turn may contribute to predisease pathways and adversely affect physical health. Meditation training may increase self-reported mindfulness, which has been linked to reductions in cognitive perseverations. However, there are no reports that directly link self-reported...
Frontiers in Human Neuroscience
2013
Anthony P Zanesco, Brandon G King, Katherine A Maclean et al.
96 citations
Various forms of mental training have been shown to improve performance on cognitively demanding tasks. Individuals trained in meditative practices, for example, show generalized improvements on a variety of tasks assessing attentional performance. A central claim of this training, derived from contemplative traditions, posits that improved attentional performance is accompanied by subjective...
Frontiers in Human Neuroscience
2012
Manish Saggar, Brandon G King, Anthony P Zanesco et al.
136 citations
The capacity to focus one's attention for an extended period of time can be increased through training in contemplative practices. However, the cognitive processes engaged during meditation that support trait changes in cognition are not well characterized. We conducted a longitudinal wait-list controlled study of intensive meditation training. Retreat participants practiced focused attention...
Psychoneuroendocrinology
June 1, 2011
Tonya L Jacobs, Elissa S Epel, Jue Lin et al.
435 citations
Telomerase activity is a predictor of long-term cellular viability, which decreases with chronic psychological distress (Epel et al., 2004). Buddhist traditions claim that meditation decreases psychological distress and promotes well-being (e.g., Dalai Lama and Cutler, 2009). Therefore, we investigated the effects of a 3-month meditation retreat on telomerase activity and two major contributors...
Emotion (Washington, D.C.)
April 1, 2011
Baljinder K Sahdra, Katherine A Maclean, Emilio Ferrer et al.
203 citations
We examined the impact of training-induced improvements in self-regulation, operationalized in terms of response inhibition, on longitudinal changes in self-reported adaptive socioemotional functioning. Data were collected from participants undergoing 3 months of intensive meditation training in an isolated retreat setting (Retreat 1) and a wait-list control group that later underwent identical...
Psychological Science
June 1, 2010
Katherine A Maclean, Emilio Ferrer, Stephen R Aichele et al.
625 citations
The ability to focus one's attention underlies success in many everyday tasks, but voluntary attention cannot be sustained for extended periods of time. In the laboratory, sustained-attention failure is manifest as a decline in perceptual sensitivity with increasing time on task, known as the vigilance decrement. We investigated improvements in sustained attention with training (approximately 5...
BMC Neurosci
2010
Manish Saggar, Stephen R Aichele, Tonya L Jacobs et al.
50 citations
A computational approach to understanding the longitudinal changes in cortical activity associated with intensive meditation training
Anthony Paul Zanesco, Brandon G King, Chivon Powers et al.
20 citations
The ability to discriminate among goal-relevant stimuli tends to diminish when detections must be made continuously over time. Previously, we reported that intensive training in shamatha (focused-attention) meditation can improve perceptual discrimination of difficult-to-detect visual stimuli (MacLean et al., 2010). Here we extend these findings to examine how discrimination difficulty and...
Anthony Paul Zanesco, Brandon G King, Katherine A Maclean et al.
6 citations
Sustained attention is effortful, demanding, and subject to limitations associated with age-related cognitive decline. Researchers have sought to examine whether attentional capacities can be enhanced through directed mental training, with a number of studies now offering evidence that meditation practice may facilitate generalized improvements in this domain. However, the extent to which...
Anthony Paul Zanesco, Brandon G King, Katherine A Maclean et al.
1 citation
Various forms of mental training have been shown to improve performance on cognitively demanding tasks. Individuals trained in meditative practices, for example, show generalized improvements on a variety of tasks assessing attentional performance. A central claim of this training, derived from contemplative traditions, posits that improved attentional performance is accompanied by subjective...
Alea C. Skwara, Brandon G King, Anthony Paul Zanesco et al.
ObjectivesA core assumption of meditation training is that cognitive capacities developed during formal practice will transfer to other contexts or activities as expertise develops over time. This implies that meditation training might influence domain-general neurocognitive systems, the spontaneous activity of which should be reflected in the dynamics of the resting brain. Previous research...