Objectives: This study describes the collaborative design and implementation of the Indigenous MIND (IM) program, a culturally adapted mindfulness intervention developed in partnership with Indigenous communities in the USA. The aim was to explore the program's acceptability and cultural resonance and to document the processes by which IM evolved in each of our partner communities and explore...
Abstract Objectives Prior research has established a correlation between heightened stress and a variety of health consequences. In addition, various measures of stress have been shown to be affected by mind–body practices. This secondary data analysis aimed to evaluate respiratory responses to acute cognitive stress in individuals of various meditation experience levels. Method...
Law enforcement officers (LEOs) are exposed to significant stressors that can impact their mental health, increasing risk of posttraumatic stress disorder, burnout, at-risk alcohol use, depression, and suicidality. Compromised LEO health can subsequently lead to aggression and excessive use of force. Mindfulness training is a promising approach for high-stress populations and has been shown to...
PTSD and depression represent major individual and societal burdens. Depression is commonly comorbid with PTSD among veterans, although buffers of this relationship are unclear. We evaluated whether facets of mindfulness moderated the relationship between PTSD and depression in veterans with PTSD (N = 70). Three facets - nonjudging, acting with awareness, and nonreactivity - were assessed as...
Neuroscience LettersAugust 17, 2019Dana Dharmakaya Colgan, Tab Memmott, Dan Klee et al.
Purpose: This study used a multiple crossover ABAB single case design to examine intracranial EEG data during a breath awareness meditation and an active control task. Results: Visual analyses suggest that a brief breath awareness mediation was consistently associated with increased alpha power when compared to the active control. Less consistent effects were found with theta, beta, and high...
In this study, we objectively tracked the duration, frequency, and the preferred practices chosen by novice mindfulness practitioners following a mindfulness meditation (MM) intervention. A sample of 55 mildly stressed participants, aged 50 to 80 years old, underwent an individual 6-week MM intervention and had their guided meditation home practice electronically recorded during the...
As many health disparities in American minority communities (AMCs) are stress-related, there has been an increased interest in the development of mindfulness programs as potential stress reduction measures in these communities. However, the bulk of the extant literature on mindfulness research and mindfulness interventions is based upon experiences with the larger White community. The intent of...
A comparison is made between the performance of meditators and controls in a letter-number task-switching test. Data were recorded over a five-day period using a previously developed ecological momentary assessment paradigm. Participants consisted of naïve, novice, and experienced meditators, who completed a task-switching reaction time (RT) task before and after 20-min breath-counting...
To determine if mindfulness meditation (MM) in older adults improves cognition and, secondarily, if MM improves mental health and physiology, 134 at least mildly stressed 50-85 year olds were randomized to a six-week MM intervention or a waitlist control. Outcome measures were assessed at baseline and two months later at Visit 2. The primary outcome measure was an executive function/attentional...
Background: Mindfulness meditation interventions improve a variety of health conditions and quality of life, are inexpensive, easy to implement, have minimal if any side effects, and engage patients to take an active role in their treatment. However, the group format can be an obstacle for many to take structured meditation programs. Internet Mindfulness Meditation Intervention (IMMI) is a...
NeuroscienceApril 21, 2016R Atchley, D Klee, T Memmott et al.
This cross-sectional study evaluated event-related potentials (ERPs) across three groups: naïve, novice, and experienced meditators as potential physiological markers of mindfulness meditation competence. Electroencephalographic (EEG) data were collected during a target tone detection task and a Breath Counting task. The Breath Counting task served as the mindfulness meditation condition for...
Objective This study’s objective was to evaluate the effect of two common components of meditation (mindfulness and slow breathing) on potential mechanistic pathways. Methods 102 combat veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) were randomized to: 1) the body scan mindfulness meditation (MM), 2) slow breathing (SB) with a biofeedback device, 3) mindful awareness of the breath with an...
Background Older adults are at risk for greater chronic stress and cognitive decline. Mindfulness meditation training may help reduce stress and thus cognitive decline in older adults, but little research has explored this. Objective The primary aim was to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of an internet mindfulness meditation intervention and an internet health and wellness education...
OBJECTIVES: Group mindfulness meditation interventions have improved symptoms in many health conditions. However, many people are unwilling to receive group treatment, so alternative delivery methods such as individual and internet may be a useful option. The study objective was to examine mindfulness meditation intervention delivery format preferences and their relationship to potential...
People with severe speech and physical impairments may benefit from mindfulness meditation training because it has the potential to enhance their ability to cope with anxiety, depression and pain and improve their attentional capacity to use brain-computer interface systems. Seven adults with severe speech and physical impairments (SSPI) - defined as speech that is understood less than 25% of...
BACKGROUND: This study investigates measures of mindfulness meditation (MM) as a mental practice, in which a resting but alert state of mind is maintained. A population of older people with high stress level participated in this study, while electroencephalographic (EEG) and respiration signals were recorded during a MM intervention. The physiological signals during meditation and control...
We created a standardized one-on-one mindfulness meditation intervention with six weekly 90-minute training sessions and home practice. The trainings included didactic instruction, discussion and guided meditations, and home-practice guided meditations and mindfulness exercises. Twenty-eight participants completed mindful awareness, nonjudgment, perceived stress, positive and negative affect,...
Objective: The limited success of current smoking cessation therapies encourages research into new treatment strategies. Mind-body practices such as yoga and meditation have the potential to aid smoking cessation and become an alternative drug-free treatment option. The aim of this article is to assess the efficacy of yoga and other meditation-based interventions for smoking cessation, to...
Mindfulness meditation (MM) is an inward mental practice, in which a resting but alert state of mind is maintained. MM intervention was performed for a population of older people with high stress levels. This study assessed signal processing methodologies of electroencephalographic (EEG) and respiration signals during meditation and control condition to aid in quantification of the meditative...
The objective of this cross-sectional study was to assess group differences between veterans with and without posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in mindful awareness and mindful non-judging. The relationships between mindfulness and PTSD symptom clusters were also evaluated. Three age and gender-matched groups, 1)15 combat veterans with PTSD, 2)15 combat veterans without PTSD, and 3) 15...
OBJECTIVES: Home practice is frequently prescribed as part of mind-body medicine interventions, although rarely objectively measured. This brief methods report describes one method for objectively measuring home practice adherence using a custom monitoring software program. DESIGN: Methods for objectively measuring adherence were developed as part of a randomized controlled trial on the...