Background: Glaucoma (POAG) is a kind of neurodegenerative disease known to be closely associated with stress and adverse quality of life (QOL). Stress has also been shown to be involved in etiopathogenesis of primary open angle glaucoma (POAG). Complementary treatment in form of Meditation has been reported to improve QOL, brain oxygenation and decrease markers of stress. With this premise, a...
The purpose of the study was to evaluate the effects of a modified mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) program on the levels of stress, affect, and resilience among nurses in general hospitals in mainland China. In addition, the study attempted to determine the impact of the program on job satisfaction. A total of 110 nurses were randomly assigned to the intervention versus control...
Numerous scientific studies are conducted on the neurophysiological effects of meditation practices and on the neural correlates of meditative states. However, very few studies have been conducted on the experience associated with contemplative practice: what it is like to meditate - from moment to moment, at different stages of different forms of practice - remains almost invisible in...
Many children suffer from headaches. Since stress may trigger headaches, effective techniques to cope with stress are needed. We investigated the effectiveness of two mind-body techniques, transcendental meditation (TM) or hypnotherapy (HT), and compared them with progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) exercises (active control group). Children (9-18 years) suffering from primary headaches more...
BACKGROUND: Mindfulness based interventions (MBIs) are an increasingly popular way of attempting to improve the behavioural, cognitive and mental health outcomes of children and adolescents, though there is a suggestion that enthusiasm has moved ahead of the evidence base. Most evaluations of MBIs are either uncontrolled or nonrandomized trials. This meta-analysis aims to establish the efficacy...
Purpose of review: To determine the efficacy of mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) on clinical and patient-reported outcomes in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Recent findings: We identified randomized clinical trials from inception through April 2018 from MEDLINE, PsycINFO, EMBASE, CINAHL, Web of Science, the Cochrane Library, and hand searches. After screening 338 references, we included five...
Exploration of human consciousness remains a final frontier within basic neuroscience; that is, how the finite biological structure and function of the brain gives rise to the seemingly infinite expanse that encompasses the terrain of the mind. Contemporary mindfulness and other contemplative practices across historical and post-modern traditions involve systematic forms of mental training that...
Organizations are turning toward behavioral interventions with the aim of improving employee well-being and job performance. Mindfulness training has been suggested as one type of intervention that can achieve these goals, but few active treatment randomized controlled trials have been conducted. We conducted a randomized controlled trial among employees of a midwestern marketing firm (n = 60)...
MedicinesOctober 17, 2018Daniele S Lizier, Reginaldo Silva-Filho, Juliane Umada et al.
Background: Meditation as it is currently known is an ancient practice, which can be traced back to Asian traditions. With the proper technique, a state of physical relaxation and respiratory balance can be reached naturally and spontaneously. This paper considers meditative labyrinth walking to be a unique expression of Dr. Lauren Artress' work, who studied and applied the image of the...
Health has many dimensions, and intolerance and lack of compassion may contribute to the poor health and disparities in our nation. Tolerance can convey an inherent paradox or dissonance that can be associated with stress. However, tolerance has a dimension of acceptance, an acknowledgement and acceptance of what "is" at the present moment, that can relieve tension associated with differing...
Background: Telomere length (TL), telomerase activity (TA), and plasma amyloid-β (Aβ) levels have emerged as possible predictors of cognitive decline and dementia. Objective: To assess the: 1) effects of two 12-week relaxation programs on TL, TA, and Aβ levels in adults with subjective cognitive decline; and 2) relationship of biomarker changes to those in cognitive function, psychosocial...
(1) Background: Meditation is a common intervention for college students suffering from issues with anxiety. Due to this popularity, several meditation-based video games have been released which can be used to supplement or motivate meditation practice. However, these tools are not often given scrutiny in a laboratory setting before being released to the public. Our lab conducted a brief...
SemergenOctober 2018J Garzón de la Iglesia, M Caparrós de la Jara, J Fernández Horcajuelo
In this study an evaluation is made of the effectiveness and acceptability of a mindfulness program oriented towards individuals in an outpatient clinic. The program attended to people had mild anxiety, stress, mild depression, chronic pain, or those with problems coping with their chronic disease condition. The structured intervention was in 10 weekly 2 hour sessions. The study included 35...
This pilot study aims to further document mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR)'s effect on well-being while exploring its impact on errors among hospital nurses. The concept of mindfulness has been found to be highly relevant to holistic nursing practices but remains understudied and underused. Preliminary evidence suggests that MBSR can reduce stress among nurses. As stress and mental...
CognitionOctober 2018Matthew J Voss, Meera Zukosky, Ranxiao Frances Wang
Although widely studied, the process of how mind wandering occurs and is subsequently sustained still remains unclear. Moreover, the traditional concept of mind wandering tendency/frequency based on the self- or probe-caught methods alone is incoherent and problematic. We developed a new approach to characterize the mind wandering process by combining the self-caught and probe-caught methods to...
Prenatal depression, stress and anxiety are significant predictors of postnatal depression and also have a direct negative impact on the family. Helpful psychological interventions during pregnancy are scarce and expensive, and usually only available for a small percentage of those suffering or deemed to be at risk. The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential of an online mindfulness...
To explore African American (AA) women's use of mind-body therapies, such as yoga and mindfulness, and factors that impact their experiences, observations and opinions. Focus groups were conducted to better understand how AA women perceive mind-body therapies and how to best bring these interventions into their community. Interviews were audiotaped and transcribed. The urban Midwest. In...
There is accumulating evidence that yoga and mindfulness meditation can alleviate symptoms of anxiety, although the mechanisms by which this occurs remain unclear. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between yoga practice and self-reported anxiety as well as the potential mediating roles of mindfulness and emotional avoidance. Using a cross-sectional design, 367...
Evidence links depression and stress to more rapid progression of HIV-1 disease. We conducted a randomized controlled trial to test whether an intervention aimed at improving stress management and emotion regulation, mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), would improve immunological (i.e. CD4+ T-cell counts) and psychological outcomes in persons with HIV-1 infection. We randomly assigned...
Asian Journal of PsychiatryOctober 2018Naren P. Rao, Gopikrishna Deshpande, Kalyani Bangalore Gangadhar et al.
OM chanting is an ancient technique of Indian meditation. OM chanting is associated with an experience of relaxation, changes in autonomic balance and deactivation of limbic brain regions. While functional localization is important, how brain regions interact with each other has been shown to underlie various brain functions. Therefore, in this study, we tested the hypothesis that there is...