Skip to content

Zev Schuman-Olivier

Harvard University, Cambridge Health Alliance

23 papers in the library · 3,293 citations · publishing 2007-2025

Papers

Sort Most recent Most cited

A meta-analysis of the effects of mindfulness meditation training on self-reported interoception

Scientific Reports November 6, 2025 Isaac N Treves, Ya-Yun Chen, Caitlyn L Wilson et al. 5 citations

Mindfulness meditation training may cultivate interoceptive awareness and provide therapeutic benefit when implemented within mental and physical health interventions. This pre-registered meta-analysis evaluated the impact of mindfulness interventions on self-reported interoception measures and associated relationships with psychological outcomes. Twenty-nine randomized controlled trials with...

Minding the Body: A Meta-analysis of the Effects of Mindfulness Meditation Training on Self-reported Interoception.

Research Square June 4, 2025 Isaac N Treves, Ya-Yun Chen, Caitlyn L Wilson et al.

Mindfulness meditation training may cultivate interoceptive awareness and provide therapeutic benefit when implemented within mental and physical health interventions. This pre-registered meta-analysis evaluated the impact of mindfulness interventions on self-reported interoception measures and associated relationships with psychological outcomes. Twenty-nine randomized controlled trials with...

Limited Validity of Breath-Counting as a Measure of Mindfulness in Ruminative Adolescents.

Psychophysiology May 1, 2025 Isaac N Treves, Anna O Tierney, Simon B. Goldberg et al. 5 citations

Objective measurement of mindfulness could help us understand the mechanisms of meditation interventions and how individuals vary in their disposition to be mindful. One proposed measure is the breath-counting task (BCT), which measures how accurately one can count cycles of their breath. Breath counting, which involves sustained attention, meta-awareness, and an internal locus of attention,...

Neural correlates of reduction in self-judgment after mindful self-compassion training: A pilot study with resting state fMRI.

Journal of Mood and Anxiety Disorders March 1, 2025 Diane Joss, Michael Datko, Charisma I Washington et al. 5 citations

Self-judgment is a trans-diagnostic symptom among various psychological disorders, therefore can be a therapeutic target for many common psychiatric conditions. Self-judgment often arises among those who experienced childhood maltreatment, which increases the risk for developing comorbid psychiatric disorders that are resistant to traditional pharmacological and psychological interventions....

Neural regulation of pain anticipation is associated with mindful behavior change in patients with anxiety or depression: A pilot study.

Psychiatry research. Neuroimaging March 1, 2025 Michael Datko, Jacqueline Lutz, Richa Gawande et al. 1 citation

Behavior change often requires overcoming discomfort or difficult emotions. Emotional dysregulation associated with anxiety or depression may prevent behavior change initiation among people managing chronic illness. Mindfulness training may catalyze chronic disease self-management by reducing experiential avoidance of aversive experiences that act as barriers to change initiation. Using a fMRI...

Dynamic functional connectivity signatures of focused attention on the breath in adolescents.

Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991) February 5, 2025 Isaac N Treves, Aaron Kucyi, Anna O Tierney et al. 1 citation

Breathing meditation typically consists of directing attention toward breathing and redirecting attention when the mind wanders. As yet, we do not have a full understanding of the neural mechanisms of breath attention, in particular, how large-scale network interactions may be different between breath attention and rest and how these interactions may be modulated during periods of on-task and...

Mandela Yoga: a community case study for a post-incarceration reentry service for men of color in recovery.

Frontiers in Public Health 2025 Richa Gawande, Felipe Kalatauma Rosario, Carlos Santiago et al. 1 citation

Disparities in substance use treatment access and outcomes between communities with racially, economically, linguistically, and mentally/physically marginalized identities and more privileged populations are staggering. Communities of color lack access to culturally resonant treatment options that incorporate the role of racial oppression, address the chronic effects of stress on the nervous...

Modulating mechanisms of adverse childhood experiences in a mindfulness-based intervention: preliminary insights from an opioid use disorder study.

Frontiers in Psychology 2025 Diane Joss, Joseph Rosansky, Paula Gardiner et al. 1 citation

Adverse childhood experiences (ACE) are transdiagnostic developmental risk factors for various mental and physical health issues, including Opioid Use Disorder (OUD). Existing research demonstrated ACE not only affects the onset, severity, and comorbidity of disorders, but also affects treatment responses. To investigate whether and how ACE modulates treatment effects of Mindfulness Based...

Change starts with the body: Interoceptive appreciation mediates the effect of mindfulness training on behavior change - an effect moderated by depression severity.

Psychiatry Research December 1, 2024 Zev Schuman-Olivier, Richa Gawande, Timothy B. Creedon et al. 10 citations

Mindfulness catalyzes health behavior change. Yet, interoception is dysregulated in depression, potentially impairing behavioral activation. We examined the mediating role of interoceptive appreciation, as measured by how much one trusts and listens to internal bodily signals, on behavior change. Primary care patients with depression, anxiety, or stress disorders related to chronic illness were...

Integrating choice points into mindfulness training for the dissociative subtype of PTSD: A case report

Psychiatry Research Case Reports March 8, 2024 My Ngoc To, Zev Schuman-Olivier 2 citations

Approximately 15-30 % of individuals diagnosed with PTSD experience high levels of dissociation, a condition categorized in the DSM-V as a dissociative subtype of PTSD (PTSD-D). Despite the rising number of studies supporting mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) for the treatment of PTSD, literature on mindfulness and dissociation remains scarce and discording. While best practices for...

Protocol for a Pilot Study on the Neurocardiac Mechanism of an Interoceptive Compassion-Based Heart-Smile Training for Depression.

Global advances in integrative medicine and health 2024 Eunmi Kim, Diane Joss, Frannie Marin et al. 1 citation

Heart-Smile Training (HST) is an interoceptive compassion-based behavioral intervention that in case reports has been beneficial for depression. Interoception refers to the awareness and regulation of physiological signals from inside the body. Depressed patients often have diminished interoceptive awareness and often experience disconnection from bodily needs and sensations. In addition to...

Impact of warm mindfulness on emotion regulation: A randomized controlled effectiveness trial.

Health Psychology July 6, 2023 Richa Gawande, Lydia Smith, Alexandra Comeau et al. 21 citations

OBJECTIVE: To determine the effects of mindfulness training for primary care (MTPC), an integrated warm mindfulness training program, on emotion regulation and its relationship with health behavior change. Interventions that improve self-regulation, particularly emotion regulation, are needed for the self-management of comorbid chronic physical and mental illnesses. Mindfulness-based...

Increased insula response to interoceptive attention following mindfulness training is associated with increased body trusting among patients with depression.

Psychiatry research. Neuroimaging December 1, 2022 Michael Datko, Jacqueline Lutz, Richa Gawande et al.

Interoceptive dysfunction is often present in anxiety and depression. We investigated the effects of an 8-week intervention, Mindfulness Training for Primary Care (MTPC), on brain mechanisms of interoceptive attention among patients with anxiety and/or depression. We hypothesized that fMRI brain response to interoception in the insula, a region known for interoceptive processing, would increase...

From Self-Esteem to Selflessness: An Evidence (Gap) Map of Self-Related Processes as Mechanisms of Mindfulness-Based Interventions

Frontiers in Psychology November 22, 2021 Willoughby B. Britton, Gaelle Desbordes, Rebecca L. Acabchuk et al. 77 citations

Self-related processes (SRPs) have been theorized as key mechanisms of mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs), but the evidence supporting these theories is currently unclear. This evidence map introduces a comprehensive framework for different types of SRPs, and how they are theorized to function as mechanisms of MBIs (target identification). The evidence map then assesses SRP target...

Mindfulness Training for Primary Care for Portuguese-Speaking Immigrants: A Pilot Study

Frontiers in Psychiatry September 9, 2021 Marcelo Trombka, Timothy B. Creedon, Marcelo Demarzo et al. 14 citations

Background: Portuguese-speaking immigrants are a growing underserved population in the Unites States who experience high levels of psychological distress and increased vulnerability to mental health disorders such as depression and anxiety. Current evidence shows that mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) are effective to promote physical and mental health among educated English speakers;...

Mindfulness Training Improves Quality of Life and Reduces Depression and Anxiety Symptoms Among Police Officers: Results From the POLICE Study—A Multicenter Randomized Controlled Trial

Frontiers in Psychiatry February 26, 2021 Marcelo Trombka, Marcelo Demarzo, Daniel Fernando Campos et al.

Background: Police officers' high-stress levels and its deleterious consequences are raising awareness to an epidemic of mental health problems and quality of life (QoL) impairment. There is a growing evidence that mindfulness-based interventions are efficacious to promote mental health and well-being among high-stress occupations. Methods: The POLICE study is a multicenter randomized...

Mindfulness and Behavior Change

Harvard Review of Psychiatry November 1, 2020 Zev Schuman-Olivier, Marcelo Trombka, David Lovas et al.

Abstract Initiating and maintaining behavior change is key to the prevention and treatment of most preventable chronic medical and psychiatric illnesses. The cultivation of mindfulness, involving acceptance and nonjudgment of present-moment experience, often results in transformative health behavior change. Neural systems involved in motivation and learning have an important role to play. A...

Brief Self-Compassion Training Alters Neural Responses to Evoked Pain for Chronic Low Back Pain: A Pilot Study.

Pain medicine (Malden, Mass.) October 1, 2020 Michael P Berry, Jacqueline Lutz, Zev Schuman-Olivier et al.

Self-compassion meditation, which involves compassion toward the self in moments of suffering, shows promise for improving pain-related functioning, but its underlying mechanisms are unknown. This longitudinal, exploratory pilot study investigated the effects of a brief (eight contact hours, two weeks of home practice) self-compassion training on pain-related brain processing in chronic low...

Mindfulness in migraine: A narrative review

Expert Review of Neurotherapeutics January 14, 2020 Rebecca Erwin Wells, Elizabeth K. Seng, Robert R Edwards et al. 74 citations

Introduction: Migraine is the second leading cause of disability worldwide, yet many patients are unable to tolerate, benefit from, or afford pharmacological treatment options. Non-pharmacological migraine therapies exist, especially to reduce opioid use, which represents a significant unmet need. Mindfulness-based interventions (MBI) have potential as a non-pharmacological treatment for...

Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Bipolar Disorder: A Systematic Review

Journal of Affective Disorders July 6, 2018 David Lovas, Zev Schuman-Olivier

Background: Persisting high levels of relapse, morbidity and mortality in bipolar disorder (BD) in spite of first-line, evidence-based psychopharmacology has spurred development and research on adjunctive psychotherapies. Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) is an emerging psychotherapy that has shown benefit in related and comorbid conditions such as major depressive, anxiety, and...

Meditation and Medication—What About a Middle Path?

JAMA Psychiatry October 26, 2016 David Lovas, J. Gary Lutz, Zev Schuman-Olivier 3 citations

Our website uses cookies to enhance your experience. By continuing to use our site, or clicking "Continue," you are agreeing to our Cookie Policy | Continue JAMA Psychiatry HomeNew OnlineCurrent IssueFor Authors Podcast Publications JAMA JAMA Network Open JAMA Cardiology JAMA Dermatology JAMA Health Forum JAMA Internal Medicine JAMA Neurology JAMA Oncology JAMA Ophthalmology JAMA...

How Does Mindfulness Meditation Work? Proposing Mechanisms of Action From a Conceptual and Neural Perspective

Perspectives on Psychological Science October 14, 2011 Britta K. Hölzel, Sara W. Lazar, Tim Gard et al. 2,997 citations

Cultivation of mindfulness, the nonjudgmental awareness of experiences in the present moment, produces beneficial effects on well-being and ameliorates psychiatric and stress-related symptoms. Mindfulness meditation has therefore increasingly been incorporated into psychotherapeutic interventions. Although the number of publications in the field has sharply increased over the last two decades,...

A preliminary study of spiritual self‐schema (3‐S+) therapy for reducing impulsivity in HIV‐positive drug users

Journal of Clinical Psychology September 7, 2007 Arthur Margolin, Zev Schuman-Olivier, Mark Beitel et al. 75 citations

The purpose of this study was twofold. First, pretreatment correlations are presented among impulsivity, intoxicant use, HIV risk behavior, spirituality, and motivation in a sample of 38 HIV-positive drug users. Second, treatment outcomes are presented from a preliminary study of spiritual self-schema (3-S(+)) therapy - a manual-guided psychotherapy integrating cognitive and Buddhist...