Although mindfulness meditation has been practiced in the East for more than two millennia, Western scientific research and healthcare programs have only recently drawn their attention to it. Basically, the concept of mindfulness hinges on focusing on one's own awareness at the present moment. In this review we analyze different hypotheses about the functioning and the cerebral correlates of...
Mindfulness meditation exercises the ability to shift to an "observer perspective". That means learning to observe internally and externally arising stimulations in a detached perspective. Both before and after attending a 8-weeks mindfulness training (MT) participants underwent an fMRI experiment (serving as their own internal control) and solved a own-body mental transformation task, which is...
Mindfulness has been associated with enhanced performance monitoring; however, little is known about the processes driving this apparent neurocognitive benefit. Here, we tested whether focusing present-moment awareness toward the nonjudgmental experience of emotion facilitates rapid neural responses to negative performance outcomes (i.e., mistakes). In particular, we compared whether directing...
Clinical decision-making regarding the prevention of depression is complex for pregnant women with histories of depression and their health care providers. Pregnant women with histories of depression report preference for nonpharmacological care, but few evidence-based options exist. Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy has strong evidence in the prevention of depressive relapse/recurrence among...
Brain ConnectivityFebruary 1, 2016Tun Jao, Chia-Wei Li, Petra E Vértes et al.
Meditation induces a distinct and reversible mental state that provides insights into brain correlates of consciousness. We explored brain network changes related to meditation by graph theoretical analysis of resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data. Eighteen Taoist meditators with varying levels of expertise were scanned using a within-subjects counterbalanced design during...
Using theoretical analysis of self-consciousness concept and experimental evidence on the brain default mode network (DMN) that constitutes the neural signature of self-referential processes, we hypothesized that the anterior and posterior subnets comprising the DMN should show differences in their integrity as a function of meditation training. Functional connectivity within DMN and its...
AbstractThe relationship between positive emotions and implicit racial prejudice is unclear. Interventions using positive emotions to reduce racial bias have been found wanting, while other research shows that positive affect can sometimes exacerbate implicit prejudice. Nevertheless, loving-kindness meditation (LKM) has shown some promise as a method of reducing bias despite increasing a broad...
Mindfulness meditation is a form of attention control training. The training exercises the ability to repeatedly focus attention. We addressed the activation changes related to an 8-weeks mindfulness-oriented focused attention meditation training on an initially naïve subject cohort. Before and after training participants underwent an fMRI experiment, thus, although not strictly a cross over...
BACKGROUND Emotional competencies are extremely important for healthcare providers exposed to patients' suffering. The effect of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) has been studied in this population. However, it is unclear whether capacities identified as core for care are modified favourably by this intervention. OBJECTIVES (1) To identify outcomes in studies on the effect of MBSR in...
BACKGROUND: Burnout is highly prevalent in GPs and can have a negative influence on their wellbeing, performance, and patient care. Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) may be an effective intervention to decrease burnout symptoms and increase wellbeing. AIM: To gain insight into the feasibility and effectiveness of MBSR on burnout, empathy, and (work-related) wellbeing in GPs. DESIGN AND...
The aim of this randomized pilot study is to investigate the effects of a short training programme in loving-kindness and compassion meditation (LKM/CM) in patients with borderline personality disorder. Patients were allocated to LKM/CM or mindfulness continuation training (control group). Patients in the LKM/CM group showed greater changes in Acceptance compared with the control group....
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...
Mindfulness meditation represents a mental training framework for cultivating the state of mindful awareness in daily life. Recently, there has been a surge of interest in how mindfulness meditation improves human health and well‐being. Although studies have shown that mindfulness meditation can improve self‐reported measures of disease symptomatology, the effect that mindfulness meditation has...
Objective: We sought to evaluate the neurophysiology of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for children (MBCT-C) in youth with generalized, social, and/or separation anxiety disorder who were at risk for developing bipolar disorder. Methods: Nine youth (mean age: 13 ± 2 years) with a generalized, social, and/or separation anxiety disorder and a parent with bipolar disorder completed functional...
Although research on the effects of mindfulness meditation (MM) is increasing, still very little has been done to address its influence on the white matter (WM) of the brain. We hypothesized that the practice of MM might affect the WM microstructure adjacent to five brain regions of interest associated with mindfulness. Diffusion tensor imaging was employed on samples of meditators and...
BACKGROUND: Multiple Sclerosis has a great impact on psychological functioning of patients and can be associated with various mental health disorders and symptoms. The most prevalent one is depression, which ranges from 15 to 47%. Mindfulness Based Interventions are a relatively brief and cost-effective program that has been studied in patients with several chronic diseases and recently also in...
Background: Impulsivity is considered a core characteristic of borderline personality disorder (BPD). Previous research on the effects of mindfulness training (MT) has shown that it might modify impulsivity-related aspects of BPD. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the impact of MT on various facets of impulsivity in BPD patients. Methods: Subjects with BPD diagnosis (n = 64)...
Training in meditation has been shown to affect functioning of several attentional subsystems, most prominently conflict monitoring, and to some extent orienting. These previous findings described the effects of cueing and manipulating stimulus congruency on response times and accuracies. However, changes in accuracy and response times can arise from several factors. Computational process...
January 5, 2016Bert N. Uchino, K. Bowen, Robert G. Kent de Grey et al.
Most interventions on relationships and health have focused on altering positive aspects of relationship such as social support. Given the separability of positive and negative aspects of relationships it is less clear if such interventions can also influence relationship negativity. This pilot study of 9 individuals tested the influence of a novel 6-week loving-kindness meditation (LKM)...
Mindfulness-based interventions, modified and shortened versions of meditation teachings, have proved to be effective in the improvement of quality of life in many clinical conditions, including chronic diseases. Preliminary results available in the literature and in clinical experience indicate a high potential for this treatment for the reduction of psychological suffering in people with...