The psychological and neurophysiological concomitants of mindfulness forms of meditation

Abstract

Preliminary findings from treatment outcome studies provide support for the application of mindfulness-based interventions in the treatment of affective, anxiety and personality disorders. However, direct evidence for the effectiveness of mindfulness meditation per se in the treatment of psychiatric disorders is needed. Current neurophysiological and imaging research findings have identified neural changes in association with meditation and provide a potentially promising avenue for future research.

Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Hippocampal Activation During Silent Mantra Meditation

“…Several research studies support the opinion that meditation and mindfulness training has health-promoting benefits. [1][2][3] Tang et al 4 showed that shortterm meditation training resulted in lower anxiety, depression, anger, and fatigue in a group of students compared to a control group that was given conventional relaxation training. Physiologic measures (e.g., decreased levels of stress-related cortisol in saliva) were also found in the meditation-trained group.…”

“…Physiologic measures (e.g., decreased levels of stress-related cortisol in saliva) were also found in the meditation-trained group. The introduction of the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program by Kabat-Zinn 5 has brought about several studies on pain reduction 6 and positive effects on depression and anxiety 2 and sleep quality. 7 However, the effects of MBSR on depression and anxiety are equivocal.…”

“…A large majority of earlier imaging studies on meditation have been performed on very experienced subjects with more than 5 years of daily meditation practice. 2,15 For the clinical aim to use meditation for alleviation of different medical conditions, it would be helpful to obtain imaging evidence of altered brain function even after a short time of practice. In the present study, the neural correlates to meditation in subjects with no longer than 2 years of meditation practice were investigated by fMRI.…”

Leveraging Neuroscience and Education to Prevent Youth Aggression and Violence

“…Thus, researchers have noted that mindfulness can improve attentional control and other executive cognitive functions in adults (Baer, 2003) as well as improve sustained attention and working memory in adults (Chambers, Lo, & Allen, 2008;Valentine & Sweet, 1999). Furthermore, mindfulness can improve attention switching and inhibitory control (Bishop et al, 2004), reduce reactivity toward unexpected stress inducing incidents, and increase visual perceptual sensitivity and acuity (Ivanovski & Malhi, 2007). Furthermore, sustained and prolonged mindfulness practices can increase visual discrimination (Brown, Forte, & Dysart, 1984) and reduce attentional blink 7 (Slagter, Lutz, & Greischar, 2007).…”

Psychobiology of Mindfulness

“…8 Mindfulnessbased stress reduction employs mindfulness meditation and has been studied in a range of conditions, including borderline personality disorder, depression, anxiety disorders, insomnia, and pain. 4,58,59 Although not all outcomes are persuasive, 60 studies of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for depression have been positive. 61,62 Mindfulness interventions are possibly helpful for psychotherapists in treating their patients.…”