Recent studies suggest that months to years of intensive and systematic meditation training can improve attention. However, the lengthy training required has made it difficult to use random assignment of participants to conditions to confirm these findings. This article shows that a group randomly assigned to 5 days of meditation practice with the integrative body-mind training method shows significantly better attention and control of stress than a similarly chosen control group given relaxation training. The training method comes from traditional Chinese medicine and incorporates aspects of other meditation and mindfulness training. Compared with the control group, the experimental group of 40 undergraduate Chinese students given 5 days of 20-min integrative training showed greater improvement in conflict scores on the Attention Network Test, lower anxiety, depression, anger, and fatigue, and higher vigor on the Profile of Mood States scale, a significant decrease in stress-related cortisol, and an increase in immunoreactivity. These results provide a convenient method for studying the influence of meditation training by using experimental and control methods similar to those used to test drugs or other interventions.anterior cingulate gyrus ͉ attention training ͉ control ͉ mental training

Five days of integrative body-mind training (IBMT) improves attention and self-regulation in comparison with the same amount of relaxation training. This paper explores the underlying mechanisms of this finding. We measured the physiological and brain changes at rest before, during, and after 5 days of IBMT and relaxation training. During and after training, the IBMT group showed significantly better physiological reactions in heart rate, respiratory amplitude and rate, and skin conductance response (SCR) than the relaxation control. Differences in heart rate variability (HRV) and EEG power suggested greater involvement of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) in the IBMT group during and after training. Imaging data demonstrated stronger subgenual and adjacent ventral anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) activity in the IBMT group. Frontal midline ACC theta was correlated with highfrequency HRV, suggesting control by the ACC over parasympathetic activity. These results indicate that after 5 days of training, the IBMT group shows better regulation of the ANS by a ventral midfrontal brain system than does the relaxation group. This changed state probably reflects training in the coordination of body and mind given in the IBMT but not in the control group. These results could be useful in the design of further specific interventions.anterior cingulate cortex ͉ body-mind interaction ͉ IBMT I n a previous study (1, 2), 80 Chinese undergraduates were randomly assigned to an experimental group (integrative body-mind training, IBMT) or to a control group (relaxation training) for 5 days of short-term training (20 min per day). Before training, no differences were found for behavioral, endocrine, and immune measures between the 2 groups. After 5 days of training, the IBMT group showed significantly greater improvement of performance in executive attention and positive mood, significantly reduced stress as measured by cortisol secretion following a stressful experience, and increased immunoreactivity compared to participants with the same amount of relaxation training.IBMT was adopted from traditional Chinese medicine and incorporates aspects of meditation and mindfulness training. Cooperation between the body and the mind is emphasized in facilitating and achieving a meditative state (1, 3). Combined use of body and mind training is consistent with studies in which changes in the body influence and facilitate emotional and cognitive processing (4-7). Relaxation training, on the other hand, requires voluntary control in progressive relaxation of the muscles of the body, sending feedback to influence the mind (8, 9). During relaxation training, thinking about control operations could interfere with training effects (1, 3), leading to different results between the IBMT and the relaxation groups.To test the mechanisms of training, this study used random assignment of 86 Chinese undergraduates to 2 experimental (IBMT) or control (relaxation) groups. Forty-six subjects participated in experiment I using brain imaging and physiologica...

The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is part of a network implicated in the development of self-regulation and whose connectivity changes dramatically in development. In previous studies we showed that 3 h of mental training, based on traditional Chinese medicine (integrative body-mind training, IBMT), increases ACC activity and improves self-regulation. However, it is not known whether changes in white matter connectivity can result from small amounts of mental training. We here report that 11 h of IBMT increases fractional anisotropy (FA), an index indicating the integrity and efficiency of white matter in the corona radiata, an important white-matter tract connecting the ACC to other structures. Thus IBMT could provide a means for improving self-regulation and perhaps reducing or preventing various mental disorders.anterior cingulate cortex | anterior corona radiata | integrative body-mind training | relaxation training | self-regulation P revious studies on effects of long-term training on white matter assessed by diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) have had mixed results. Musicians show positive relations between fractional anisotropy (FA) and training in widespread white-matter regions such as the pyramidal tract (1, 2); however, the opposite result of lower FA in musicians than in nonmusicians in this region of the brain was also reported (3, 4). One study has reported that longterm abacus training from an early age enhances the integrity in white-matter tracts related to motor and visuospatial processes (5). Working memory is an important capacity involved in the shortterm maintenance and manipulation of information. A recent study found months of working memory training increases FA associated with the white matter adjacent to the frontoparietal regions critical in working memory (6). Much of the research in training effects on white-matter plasticity have compared experts and novices without explicit training and when training has been used has generally required months to years to produce changes in FA.The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is part of a network implicated in monitoring and resolving conflict among competing response tendencies (7,8). During infant and child development this structure has been shown to change its connectivity (9, 10). These changes have been related to the increasing ability of children to regulate their own emotions and behavior (11).Deficits in activation of the ACC have been associated with attention deficit disorder, addiction, dementia, depression, schizophrenia, and other disorders (12-16). In addiction, hypoactivation of the ACC has been found to be critical to symptoms of craving (17). In tobacco addiction, a circuit involving the ACC and striatum has been shown to have lower than normal connectivity (15). Thus evidence related to increasing the activation and strengthening connectivity of the ACC may be useful as a treatment or prevention of addiction and other disorders.The anterior corona radiata has been identified as one important white-matter tract connecting the ...

Using diffusion tensor imaging, several recent studies have shown that training results in changes in white matter efficiency as measured by fractional anisotropy (FA). In our work, we found that a form of mindfulness meditation, integrative body-mind training (IBMT), improved FA in areas surrounding the anterior cingulate cortex after 4-wk training more than controls given relaxation training. Reductions in radial diffusivity (RD) have been interpreted as improved myelin but reductions in axial diffusivity (AD) involve other mechanisms, such as axonal density. We now report that after 4-wk training with IBMT, both RD and AD decrease accompanied by increased FA, indicating improved efficiency of white matter involves increased myelin as well as other axonal changes. However, 2-wk IBMT reduced AD, but not RD or FA, and improved moods. Our results demonstrate the time-course of white matter neuroplasticity in short-term meditation. This dynamic pattern of white matter change involving the anterior cingulate cortex, a part of the brain network related to self-regulation, could provide a means for intervention to improve or prevent mental disorders.attention network test | anterior corona radiata | profile of mood states D iffusion tensor imaging (DTI) is a noninvasive MRI-based technique that can delineate white matter fibers in vivo. DTI is capable of measuring white matter's structural plasticity. Studies indicate that training or learning alters brain white matter (1-5). Fractional anisotropy (FA) is an important index for measuring the integrity of white matter fibers. In general, a higher FA value has been related to improved performance, and reduced FA has been found in normal aging and in neurological or psychiatric disorders (1,(6)(7)(8).FA alterations originate from several factors, such as changes in myelination, axon density, axonal membrane integrity, axon diameter, and intravoxel coherence of fiber orientation and others changes (1, 9). To understand the mechanisms of FA change, several DTI studies have examined axial diffusivity (AD) and radial diffusivity (RD), the most important indices associated with FA (6-8). Usually, alterations in AD are associated with axon morphological changes, such as changes in axonal density or caliber (10, 11). In contrast to AD, which signifies axonal morphology, RD implicates the character of the myelin. Decrease in RD implies increased myelination, and increase represents demyelination (2,3,8). This evidence in human neuroimaging studies is consistent with animal studies examining axons and myelination histologically and comparing them directly with DTI results (12, 13).To examine RD and AD it is best to have a significant change in FA (14). Thus, in our study we investigated AD and RD alteration patterns only where integrity of white matter fibers are enhanced (identified by FA increase). Numerous studies have used AD and RD changes in the location where FA changes are found to determine whether the FA changes are a result of axonic morphology or myelin (1-3, 6, 8, 1...

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BackgroundThis study aimed to evaluate the roles of pathological disorders in Internet addiction disorder and identify the pathological problems in IAD, as well as explore the mental status of Internet addicts prior to addiction, including the pathological traits that may trigger Internet addiction disorder.Methods and Findings59 students were measured by Symptom CheckList-90 before and after they became addicted to the Internet. A comparison of collected data from Symptom Checklist-90 before Internet addiction and the data collected after Internet addiction illustrated the roles of pathological disorders among people with Internet addiction disorder. The obsessive-compulsive dimension was found abnormal before they became addicted to the Internet. After their addiction, significantly higher scores were observed for dimensions on depression, anxiety, hostility, interpersonal sensitivity, and psychoticism, suggesting that these were outcomes of Internet addiction disorder. Dimensions on somatisation, paranoid ideation, and phobic anxiety did not change during the study period, signifying that these dimensions are not related to Internet addiction disorder.ConclusionsWe can not find a solid pathological predictor for Internet addiction disorder. Internet addiction disorder may bring some pathological problems to the addicts in some ways.

A facile, environmentally benign approach has been developed for the preparation of dynamic, multiresponsive, and self-healing hydrogels from inexpensive bamboo pulp, poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA), and borax. The microfibrillated cellulose (MFC) reinforced PVA−borax hydrogels were produced through a onepot route in conjunction with ball milling and physical blending in tandem in aqueous medium. In this way, MFC particles could be efficiently generated and well-dispersed in a polymer matrix, and they have been verified by scanning electron microscopy. The rheology analysis indicated a close relationship between the mechanical strength and the MFC loading and ball milling time. Due to the dynamic equilibrium of the didiol−borax linkages and the reinforcement of MFC fibers, the hydrogels showed enhanced self-healing behavior and mechanical stiffness, which was also supported by rheology analyses. In addition, the hydrogels were found to be sensitive to the pH value. The hydrogels present a solvent or gel state with the change of pH value, and this sol−gel transfer can be repeated while maintaining the shape, further demonstrating the dynamic reversible behavior of the hydrogels.

An efficient approach for extracting cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) was put forward through phosphotungstic acid (PTA) hydrolysis of cellulose raw materials under mechanochemical activation. Response surface methodology was employed for experimental design to determine the optimum conditions of CNCs preparation with software Design Expert. The results showed that quadratic polynomial model was qualified to represent the relationship between the response and independent variables and the regression model defined well the true behavior of the system. Under the optimal conditions, a high yield of up to 88.4%, crystallinity index of 79.6%, and a higher thermal stability can be achieved by combining mechanochemical activation and phosphotungstic acid hydrolysis. This process can improve effectively the hydrolysis efficiency, avoid a lengthy separation process, and reduce the preparation time. Meanwhile, compared to other techniques, mechanochemical activation is an energy-intensive method, and the process is environment-friendly. Phosphotungstic acid hydrolysis is easier to handle than liquid acids; meanwhile, the catalyst causes fewer corrosion hazards and can readily be recycled. Thus, an efficient green high-yield approach for the preparation of CNCs was achieved in the study.