Experimental Manipulation of Guided Attention to the Shoulder Movement Task in Clinical Dohsa-hou Induces Shifts in the Reactive Mode and Indicates Flexible Cognitive Control Performance

Abstract

The empirical basis for self-control in Dohsa-hou as it relates to effects on cognitive processes has been explored in a few studies of the Japanese psychotherapy, but not under standardized conditions with a strong predictive theory of control. This study reports on a series of experiments with the Dual Mechanisms of Control framework to clarify the possible regulatory mechanism of Dohsa-hou by focusing on shoulder movement, a key body movement task used by practitioners across applied settings. Cognitive control was operationalized with the AX version of Continuous Performance Test (AX-CPT) paradigm for proactive control and a modified Stroop task paradigm for reactive control in a 3-arm parallel group trial study design. Healthy Japanese university students were assigned to a Dohsa-hou group that performed a shoulder movement task for few minutes, an active control group that performed a similar task, or a passive control group comprised of a resting condition. A total of 55 participants performed the AX-CPT and 57 participants performed the modified Stroop task before and after the group manipulation. In the AX-CPT, an increase in the error rate of AY (true cue-false probe) trial from pre- to post-test was observed in the passive control group only, and found to be marginally higher in the passive control group relative to Dohsa-hou group at post-test. This indicated that Dohsa-hou moderated the activation of proactive control by repeated AX-CPT performance. The error rate of the Proactive Behavioral Index did not differ from zero at post-test only in the Dohsa-hou group, indicating flexible cognitive control. In the modified Stroop task, there was no difference between congruent and incongruent trials at post-test for the Dohsa-hou group only, indicating the facilitation of reactive control. The evidence for a balancing effect for the Dohsa-hou-based shoulder movement task indicates that clients experience a form of continuous self-monitoring, which might reduce mind-wandering from their focus on movement execution combined with iterative verbal feedback from the therapist. Overall, the results of the present study suggest that the self-regulatory mechanism promoted in clinical Dohsa-hou emphasizes guided shifts in attention to the reactive mode toward a balance of cognitive control.

Dispositional Associations Between Interoceptive Attention Tendencies and Effortful Control: Cross‐sectional Findings from an Online National Survey of Japanese Working Adults

“…This is consistent with evidence that mindfulness improves the control factors of the MAIA (Fissler et al, 2016). Other studies of physically mediated psychotherapies, such as Dohsa‐hou and its configurations (e.g., Fujikawa et al, 2022; Kabir et al, 2019), and others like tai chi (Chen et al, 2021), seem to involve a common mechanism for body awareness similar to mindfulness. However, as the present analysis is limited by its cross‐sectional study design, future studies will need to evaluate possible sensitivity to change in experimental contrasts or through a tracked intervention across multiple time points.…”