Neuro-imaging of mindfulness meditations: implications for clinical practice

Chiesa, Alberto; Brambilla, Paolo; Serretti, Alessandro

doi:10.1017/s204579601100028x

Cited by 17 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 22 publications

(34 reference statements)

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“…Neurocognitive training (e.g., Browning, Holmes, Murphy, Goodwin, & Harmer, 2010) as well as meditation (Brefczynski-Lewis, Lutz, Schaefer, Levinson, & Davidson, 2007) have also been related to changes in the above mentioned dorsal areas. However, although it has been concluded that mindfulness allows flexible emotion regulation by engaging frontal brain areas to dampen amygdala activation, and that there is a large overlap between areas activated during mindfulness, psychotherapy, and those activated by placebo induced expectancy (for a review, see Chiesa, Brambilla, & Serretti, 2011), the exact mechanisms underlying these specific changes are not yet understood.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of expectancy and proactive control in stress regulation: A neurocognitive framework for regulation expectation

Raedt

Hooley

2016

Clinical Psychology Review

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When confronted with stressful or emotionally arousing situations, regulatory abilities should allow us to adaptively cope. However, depressed individuals often have a low sense of perceived control and are characterized by a negative expectation bias regarding their ability to deal with future stressful events. Low expectancy concerning the ability to deal with future stressful events may result in less initiation of proactive control, a crucial mechanism of cognitive control reflecting sustained and anticipatory maintenance of goal-relevant information in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex to optimize cognitive performance. In this theoretical review we integrate a diverse body of literature. We argue that the expectancy of an individual's regulatory abilities prior to the presentation of an arousing event or stressful task will be related to anticipation and proactive up-or down regulation of specific neurocircuits before the actual encounter with the stressful event occurs, in a manner that can be either adaptive or maladaptive. Moreover, we discuss the important role of self-esteem as well as the ability to accept the situation when coping is not possible. Our approach has implications for a broad range of disorders and conditions in which stress regulation plays a role, and can be used to guide the use of recently developed clinical interventions, as well as to fine-tune interventions to facilitate proactive control. Cortex, stress regulation, anticipation, depression, proactive control, coping, self-esteem, When we are confronted with situations or thoughts perceived as unpleasant, aversive or threatening, a series of biological and psychological processes is activated, generating a coordinated response. This so-called stress response is triggered when an individual's well-being or health is threatened. Relational or financial problems, unpredictability, an acute threat, or a challenging situation such as a job interview are examples of stressful situations or stressors that can initiate a stress response. Regulatory abilities, which we call stress regulation, generally allow us to cope with these situations in an adaptive way. However, there are large individual differences in how well people handle life stressors. Indeed, problems with stress regulation are thought to play a central role in the development and clinical course of depression (Hooley, Orley & Teasdale, 1986;Hankin, 2008;Morris, Ciesla & Garber, 2010). It has also been suggested that, over time, depressive episodes can be triggered by progressively milder and milder stressors (Monroe & Harkness, 2005; but see also Anderson et al., 2016). Keywords: Dorsolateral PrefrontalResearch shows the important role of stress regulation in the development of different forms of psychopathology, such as depression, where psychosocial stressors are strongly implicated in the triggering of new episodes (Kendler et al., 2000).Understanding the role of stressors in depression requires consideration of the interaction between biological, cognitive ...

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of expectancy and proactive control in stress regulation: A neurocognitive framework for regulation expectation

Raedt

Hooley

2016

Clinical Psychology Review

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“…Even though the evidence for MM's use for people with PTSD is growing, the mechanism by which MM works to improve clinical symptoms is still not clear. Some have attempted to evaluate its mechanism by studying formal structured programs like MBSR (Kabat‐Zinn, ) and mindfulness‐based cognitive therapy (MBCT; Segal, Williams, & Teasdale, ) using electroencephalography, functional magnetic resonance imaging, and other physiological measures (Cahn & Polich, ; Chiesa, Brambilla, & Serretti, ; Hölzel et al., ). However, most MM programs are multidimensional, often including group support, physical movement in yoga poses, psychoeducation, and guided meditations, so it is difficult to assess which components generate the positive clinical effects.…”

Section: Potential Pathway 1: Autonomic Nervous Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mechanistic Pathways of Mindfulness Meditation in Combat Veterans With Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

et al. 2016

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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 intention to slow the breath (MM+SB), or 4) sitting quietly (SQ). Participants had six weekly one-on-one sessions with 20 minutes of daily home practice. The mechanistic pathways and measures were: 1) Autonomic Nervous System: hyperarousal symptoms, heart-rate (HR), heart-rate variability (HRV); 2) Frontal Cortex Activity: Attentional Network Task (ANT) conflict effect and event-related negativity, and intrusive thoughts; and 3) Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis: awakening cortisol. PTSD measures were also evaluated. Results Meditation participants had significant but modest within-group improvement in PTSD and related symptoms although there were no between-group effects. Perceived impression of PTSD symptom improvement was greater in the meditation arms compared to controls. Resting respiration decreased in the meditation arms compared to SQ. For the mechanistic pathways 1) Subjective hyperarousal symptoms improved within-group (but not between-group) for MM, MM+SB, and SQ while HR and HRV did not; 2) Intrusive thoughts decreased in MM compared to MM+SB and SB while the ANT measures did not change; and 3) MM had lower awakening cortisol within-group but not between-group. Conclusion Treatment effects were mostly specific to self-report rather than physiological measures. Continued research is needed to further evaluate mindfulness meditation’s mechanism in people with PTSD.

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“…Recently, mind-body interventions or mindfulnessbased interventions have been studied [24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31] . The mental processes of these interventions require paying attention and self-regulation, so it is reasonable to assume that the underlying neural mechanisms may share brain regions and networks with the mental process.…”

Section: Why Acc In Ibmt Practice?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Mechanism of Integrative Body-Mind Training

Tang

2011

Neurosci. Bull.

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Integrative Body-Mind Training (IBMT) originates from ancient Eastern tradition. The method stresses no effort to control thoughts, but instead a state of restful alertness that allows a high degree of awareness of the body, breathing, and external instructions. A series of studies indicates that IBMT improves attention and self-regulation through interaction between the central (brain) and the autonomic (body) nervous systems. The present review mainly summarizes the recent results of IBMT studies and proposes how it changes the state of brain and body to lead to positive outcomes. Future directions in this field are also discussed.

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Neuro-imaging of mindfulness meditations: implications for clinical practice

Cited by 17 publications

References 22 publications

The role of expectancy and proactive control in stress regulation: A neurocognitive framework for regulation expectation

The role of expectancy and proactive control in stress regulation: A neurocognitive framework for regulation expectation

Mechanistic Pathways of Mindfulness Meditation in Combat Veterans With Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

Mechanism of Integrative Body-Mind Training

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