Benefits Of Mindfulness Meditation Research Articles

Differential effects of mindfulness meditation and cognitive training on cool and hot inhibitory control in children and adolescents

Inhibitory control (IC) can occur either in a neutral context (cool) or in social contexts involving emotions (hot). Cool and hot IC have specific developmental trajectories; cool IC develops linearly from childhood to adulthood, whereas hot IC follows a quadratic trajectory. Some activities can improve the IC, such as cognitive training (CT) and mindfulness meditation (MM). The aim of our study was to compare the effects of 5 weeks of computerized MM versus CT on IC performance in 66 children (9–10 years old) and 63 adolescents (16–17 years old) by specifically analyzing cool and hot dimensions in the same participants and from a developmental perspective. We fit a linear mixed-effect model on the Stroop interference score with time (pretest vs. posttest) and type of conflict (cool vs. hot) as within-participant factors and intervention group (CT vs. MM) and age group (child vs. adolescent) as between-participant factors. The findings revealed that children but not adolescents benefitted from interventions. More specifically, CT improved cool IC but not hot IC, whereas MM practice improved hot IC but not cool IC. This study supports the benefits of MM at a young age. Theoretical issues linking MM programs to emotional competence grounded in hot IC skills are considered in academic settings.

Immediate Effects of Mindfulness Meditation on the Voice

The benefits of mindfulness meditation are well documented. This study evaluated the immediate effects of mindfulness meditation (MM) on the voice and voice user. Prospective experimental study. Participants: 19 vocally healthy (VH) individuals, and 26 individuals with common voice disorders (CVD; benign lesions and hyperfunctional muscle tension) deemed stimulable for voice therapy. Exclusionary criteria: prior training or regular meditation practice. Participants recorded speech samples before and after a 11.5-minute prerecorded session of MM. phonatory aerodynamics and participants' self-reported experience of voice. self-reported anxiety, vocal acoustics, speech breathing patterns, and auditory-perceptual outcomes. Baseline self-reported measures of voice (Voice Handicap Index-10 - VHI-10), breathing (Dyspnea Index - DI), stress (Perceived Stress Scale - PSS), and trait mindfulness (Cognitive and Mindfulness Scale - Revised, CAMS-R, Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire - FFMQ) were compared between groups. At baseline, CVD had significantly higher VHI-10 (P< 0.001) and DI (P= 0.0014), and lower trait mindfulness (CAMS-R, P= 0.02). No difference between groups for PSS or FFMQ. Changes postMM: decreased CPP for all-voiced sentences for VH (P= 0.003), decreased mean SPL (P= 0.012) on sustained vowel for VH, increased mean phonatory airflow during sustained vowel for CVD (P=0.012). VH demonstrated a decrease in CPP on the all-voice sentence, and CVD demonstrated an increase, resulting in a significant between group difference (P= 0.013). Participants reported improvements in voice, emotional and physical states. State anxiety decreased for both groups (= < 0.001). No other objective outcomes reached significance. After a brief MM, participants experienced improvement in physical, emotional, and cognitive states, and in their perceptions of their voice. Results indicate that a brief, single session of MM may be beneficial for some, but not sufficient to override habitual voice and speech patterns. Given the benefits of MM, future work should evaluate MM in a standard voice therapy protocol.

Trait mindful awareness predicts inter-brain coupling but not individual brain responses during naturalistic face-to-face interactions.

In recent years, the possible benefits of mindfulness meditation have sparked much public and academic interest. Mindfulness emphasizes cultivating awareness of our immediate experience and has been associated with compassion, empathy, and various other prosocial traits. However, neurobiological evidence pertaining to the prosocial benefits of mindfulness in social settings is sparse. In this study, we investigate neural correlates of trait mindful awareness during naturalistic dyadic interactions, using both intra-brain and inter-brain measures. We used the Muse headset, a portable electroencephalogram (EEG) device often used to support mindfulness meditation, to record brain activity from dyads as they engaged in naturalistic face-to-face interactions in a museum setting. While we did not replicate prior laboratory-based findings linking trait mindfulness to individual brain responses (N = 379 individuals), self-reported mindful awareness did predict dyadic inter-brain synchrony, in theta (~5–8 Hz) and beta frequencies (~26-27 Hz; N = 62 dyads). These findings underscore the importance of conducting social neuroscience research in ecological settings to enrich our understanding of how (multi-brain) neural correlates of social traits such as mindful awareness manifest during social interaction, while raising critical practical considerations regarding the viability of commercially available EEG systems.

Role of mindfulness meditation for enhancement of self- efficacy in alcoholism

Abstract Mindfulness meditation is an effective tool to create mental awareness and has been used in meditation practice for many decades. Mindfulness meditation is the practice that bringing clear awareness to the present not on the pastor future without evaluation. Many research studies have proved the benefits of mindfulness meditation in psychological and bodily health. Mindfulness meditation interventions is highly effective in reducing the level of anxiety, and depression, prevention of alcohol relapse, controlling of craving and enhancement of self efficacy. Mindfulness meditation technique helps to awareness of once self-efficacy. The connection between mindfulness meditation and self-efficacy helps to focus on set goals and performance. People with high self-efficacy approach obstacles in life as challenges. They set challenging goals for themselves and work hard to achieve them. People with low self- efficacy view life obstacle as life threats and instead to overcome they will focus on their own deficiencies. They rarely set goals and do not commit for that. Self-efficacy is defined as a person’s conviction in his or her ability to carry out the behaviours required to achieve certain performance goals. A self-efficacy is a reflection of once confidence in the ability to control own motivation, behaviour, and responses to the environment.. High level of self-efficacy often has high motivation. In alcoholism It refers to the strength to stop or minimize addiction and manage craving, temptation and maintain behavioural changes. These changes might be the strongest predictors of recovery from alcoholism.

The Benefits of Mindfulness Meditation on Trait Mindfulness, Perceived Stress, Cortisol, and C-Reactive Protein in Nursing Students: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

PurposeMindfulness meditation was used to reduce stress and its responses such as cortisol and C-reactive protein (CRP) among healthy and ill individuals in various cultures, but its effect has not yet been studied among nursing students, experiencing tremendous stress. The objective of this study was to examine the effects of mindfulness meditation on trait mindfulness, perceived stress, serum cortisol, and serum C-reactive proteins (CRP) in nursing students.Patients and MethodsUsing a two-arm, randomized, parallel study (conducted in a large university in Jordan, 108 nursing students were randomly assigned to experimental group receiving five 30-minute weekly sessions of mindfulness meditation and control group sitting quiet during the experimental sessions. Trait mindfulness, perceived stress, serum cortisol, and CRP were measured at baseline and end of the intervention.ResultsUsing one-way MANOVA and post-hoc comparisons, the results showed that mindfulness meditation was significantly effective in decreasing serum cortisol levels and perceived stress. The mindfulness meditation also decreased CRP and increased trait mindfulness although the results did not reach statistically significant levels.ConclusionThese findings underscore the need for serious consideration of mindfulness meditation in nursing colleges to improve stress and raise immunity in this vulnerable population.Trial RegistrationMindfulness Meditation for Nursing Students: clinicaltrials.gov, identifier: NCT05099224.

Individual Differences in the Change of Attentional Functions With Brief One-Time Focused Attention and Open Monitoring Meditations.

Mindfulness meditation is increasingly used for clinical treatment and to improve well-being. One of the most fundamental benefits of mindfulness meditation is now considered as enhanced attentional control. Mindfulness meditation is a complex technique but most of its variants consist of a combination of two types of basic meditation practice: focused attention meditation (FAM) and open monitoring meditation (OMM). Although many studies have examined the effect of relatively long-term meditation on attention, some recent studies have focused on the effect of a brief one-time meditation on cognitive processing, including attentional functions. Furthermore, it is necessary to discuss the relationship between the effect of mindfulness meditation on attentional functions and personality traits (especially traits related to mindfulness). This study investigated whether attentional control is improved by a single 30-min FAM or OMM and whether the degree of improvement in attentional functions – alerting, orienting, and conflict monitoring – induced by the meditation varies according to the participant’s trait scores related to mindfulness measured by the Five Facets Mindfulness Questionnaire. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three groups, i.e., FAM, OMM, and no-meditation (noM) groups, and given an Attentional Network Test before and after each 30-min meditation session. Compared with the noM group, there was no overall improvement in attentional functions with either type of meditation. However, there were associations between the change of the alerting function’s score and the personality traits: in the FAM group, alerting scores were negatively associated with the nonreactivity facet of the FFMQ, and in the OMM group, alerting scores were positively associated with describing facet scores of the FFMQ. The results indicate that the effects of meditation methods on attentional functions could depend on the individual’s traits related to mindfulness and that mindfulness meditation could sometimes appear to have no impact on attentional functions.

Is it Permissible to Teach Buddhist Mindfulness Meditation in a Critical Thinking Course?

Abstract: In this essay I set out the case for why mindfulness meditation should be included in critical thinking education, especially with respect to educating people about how to argue with one another. In 1, I introduce to distinct mind sets, the critical mind and the meditative mind, and show that they are in apparent tension with one another. Then by examining the Delphi Report on Critical Thinking I show how they are not in tension. I close 1 by examining some recent work by Mark Battersby and Jeffery Maynes on expanding out critical thinking education to be inclusive of cognitive science and decision making. I argue that their arguments for expanding critical thinking education ultimately lead to considering the relevance of meditation in critical thinking. In 2, I examine work on critical thinking by Harvey Siegel and Sharon Bailin in order to draw out different conceptions of critical thinking both from a theoretical point of view as well as a pedagogical point of view. In 3, I present criteria for selecting a form of meditation that should be taught in critical thinking courses; I argue that mindfulness meditation deriving from the Buddhist tradition satisfies the relevant criteria. I then present research from contemporary cognitive neuroscience and psychology about the benefits of mindfulness meditation as it relates to the prospects of including it in critical thinking. In 4, I consider a recent study by Noone and Hogan (2018) that suggests that mindfulness meditation does not improve a person’s ability to think critically. I argue that while the study is important, there are substantial reasons for thinking that further studies should be done, as the authors themselves conclude. In 5, I move on to the issue of how meditation can be useful for improving performance in one important area of critical thinking: mitigating stereotype threat. My focus here is on examining the hypothesis that stereotype threat effects performance in critical thinking, and that negative impacts from stereotype threat can be mitigated by meditation. In 6, I summarize my argument for including meditation into critical thinking education, and close by discussing three important objections.

Boosting Psychological Well-Being through a Social Mindfulness-Based Intervention in the General Population.

The benefits of mindfulness meditation among clinical and non-clinical populations have been largely reported in literature. Existing mindfulness-based programs are particularly useful in targeting specific populations while researchers have pointed out the possibility of developing programs adapted to the audience and the context. In this two-groups pre-post experimental design we developed a mindfulness-based social intervention program to target individuals from the general population. Here we present a two-groups pre-post experimental design to investigate its effectiveness on participants’ psychological functioning assessed by eight self-reported questionnaires (CORE-OM, FFMQ, SWLS, PANAS, PSS, SCS, WEMWBS, SHS) which encompass different domains of well-being, mindfulness and emotional functioning. Participants, recruited on voluntary basis, were randomly allocated to treated or passive control groups and were aware of group allocation. The intervention comprises a 12-week meditation training in a big group that represents the social aspect of meditation. Data were analysed via a linear mixed effect model and intention to treat. Statistically significant results were obtained for global score of CORE-OM (β = −0.20 [−0.30; −0.10], p = 0.0002), FFMQ (β = 0.20 [0.12; −0.28], p < 0.0001), SWLS (β = 1.43 [0.42; 2.45], p = 0.006), positive PANAS (β = 1.99 [0.95; 3.04], p = 0.0002), negative PANAS (β = −1.67 [−2.92; −0.43], p = 0.009), PSS (β = −2.98 [−4.25; −1.71], p < 0.0001), WEMWBS (β = 4.38 [2.93; 5.83], p < 0.0001) and SHS (β = 1.43 [0.42; 2.45], p = 0.006). Our intervention is causally associated with an improvement of the psychological functioning and hence can be considered as a preventive measure that may potentially reduce the risk of developing psychological problems and improve the subject’s general well-being. Given the voluntary recruitment, our inference only applies to those individuals who have decided to experience meditation as a way to well-being and not to a random person from the general population.

Mindfulness Meditation and Aromatherapy to Reduce Stress and Anxiety

Coping with symptoms of stress and anxiety is a challenging experience and continues to tax the resources and limits of modern conventional health care. In the past 25–30 years, western medical science has turned increasing attention to the psychological and physical correlates of meditation, with mindfulness becoming quite popular in recent years. An extensive literature review was performed; the majority of articles were rated at level ll evidence based on a scale of l–Vll (l being the best evidence). Findings of the literature review support the evidence-based practice project of using mindfulness meditation as an intervention to reduce both stress and anxiety levels ( Lee et al., 2007 Lee S.H. Ahn S.C. Lee Y.J. Choi T.K. Yook K.H. Suh S.Y. Effectiveness of a meditation-based management program as an adjunct to pharmacotherapy in patients with anxiety disorder. Journal of Psychosomatic Research. 2007; 62: 189-195 Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (73) Google Scholar , Leite et al., 2010 Leite J.R. De Moraes Ornellas F.L. Amemiya T.M. De Almeida A.A. Dias A.A. Afonso R. et al. Effect of progressive self-focus meditation on attention, anxiety, and depression scores. Perceptual and Motor Skills. 2010; 110: 840-848 Crossref PubMed Scopus (19) Google Scholar , Malini et al., 2011 Malini Srivastava Uddip Talukdar Vivek Lahan Meditation for the management of adjustment disorder, anxiety and depression. Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice. 2011; 17: 241-250 Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (19) Google Scholar , Piet and Esben, 2011 Piet Jacob Esben Hougaard The effect of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for prevention of relapse in recurrent major depressive disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Clinical Psychology Review. 2011; 31: 1032-1040 Crossref PubMed Scopus (526) Google Scholar , Ramel et al., 2004 Ramel et al. The effect of mindfulness meditation on cognitive processes and affect in patients with past depression. Cognitive Therapy and Research. 2004; 28: 433-455 Crossref Scopus (362) Google Scholar , Schreiner and Malcolm James, 2008 Schreiner Istvan Malcolm James P. The benefits of mindfulness meditation: Changes in emotional states of depression, anxiety and stress. Journal of Psychosomatic Research. 2008; 25: 158-168 Google Scholar , Toneatto and Nguyen, 2007 Toneatto T. Nguyen L. Does mindfulness improve anxiety and mood symptoms? A review of the controlled research. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry. 2007; : 260-266 PubMed Google Scholar ). There was no prior research using a mindfulness intervention combined with aromatherapy to reduce stress and anxiety for hospitalized psychiatric patients.

A Comparison of the Attentional Effects of Single-Session Mindfulness Meditation and Fp-HEG Neurofeedback in Novices

The efficacy of mindfulness meditation (MM) relative to prefrontal hemoencephalography (Fp-HEG) neurofeedback (NFB) for enhancing attentional functioning and increasing Fp-HEG has not been studied. Moreover, few measures exist for assessing attentional capacities during MM. In the present study, we therefore randomized participants to MM (n = 23), NFB (n = 26), or a passive counting backward control condition (n = 21) and measured Fp-HEG at the frontal pole during a pretreatment baseline, during each of the 15-min interventions (MM, NFB, or control) and during subsequent performance of the Attentional Network Test (ANT). Meditation Breath Attention Scores (MBAS) were also assessed in the MM group as a measure of individual differences in the ability to sustain attention to breathing (i.e., to disengage from mind wandering) during MM, and a comparable Counting Backward Attention Score (CBAS) was assessed in the counting control group. Relative to baseline, Fp-HEG was reduced during interventions, as well as during ANT performance, across groups, with no significant differences between groups. NFB participants evidenced improved ANT accuracy relative to control, with MM not differing from NFB or control. Increased accuracy during the ANT was correlated with increasing Fp-HEG across groups. Within the MM group, increased MBAS were also associated with increased ANT accuracy as well as slower ANT orienting. CBAS were marginally higher than MBAS, indicating that sustaining attention to backward counting may have been easier than sustaining attention to breath sensation. We conclude that a single session of Fp-HEG may be effective in improving attention whereas the benefits of MM may require multiple sessions. We also infer that mindful concentration during meditation may be associated with general attentional capacities. Replication and longitudinal extension in larger samples are needed.

Mindful creativity: the influence of mindfulness meditation on creative thinking

GENERAL COMMENTARY article Front. Psychol., 10 January 2014Sec. Cognition Volume 4 - 2013 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2013.01020

P.2.a.024 Effectiveness of mindfulness-based therapies as an alternative or adjuvant of antidepressants in the treatment of depression

Mindfulness meditation (MM) and its alignment with the mind-body perspective of health in Chinese cultures indicate its potential to benefit Chinese patients with psychosis. This is the first systematic review and meta-analysis to address the following questions: (1) Does MM improve clinical, well-being, and third-wave outcomes (i.e., mindfulness, acceptance, and compassion levels) among Chinese patients with psychosis? (2) What are the patient- and/or intervention-specific factors that moderate the efficacy of MM? (3) Are improvements on third-wave outcomes associated with improvements on clinical and well-being outcomes? (4) What are the mechanisms underlying the effects of MM? Evidence synthesized from 23 relevant articles (20 studies) involving 1749 patients showed that (1) MM improved a wide range of patients' outcomes, most consistently and sustainably for insight, rehospitalization duration, recovery rate, and social functioning; (2) age and duration of illness, but not the cumulated intervention hours, moderated the overall efficacy of MM; (3) post-MM improvements on mindfulness and on clinical and well-being outcomes were related, and (4) the effects of MM on patients' outcomes may be driven by its ability to promote positive changes in personal growth and enhance one's coping with the illness and its symptoms. Our data showed preliminary support for the benefits of MM in Chinese patients with psychosis. However, results should be considered in light of the varying quality of included studies and their heterogeneity in multiple aspects. Further research is needed to deduce the sustainability of MM's effects, its active ingredients, underlying mechanisms, and additional moderators of its efficacy.

The Benefits of Mindfulness Meditation: Changes in Emotional States of Depression, Anxiety, and Stress

AbstractThe research investigated the effect of mindfulness meditation on the emotional states of depression, anxiety, and stress. Additionally, we explored whether people with varying severity of depression, anxiety, and stress responded differently to mindfulness training. In order to investigate these questions, participants (n = 50) completed the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale, 21-item version (DASS-21) before and after a 10-week mindfulness meditation program. As predicted, the severity levels of all affective measures have decreased by the end of the meditation course. Participants with severe emotional difficulties at the time of commencing the meditation course demonstrated the most notable improvement over time. These results suggest that mindfulness training is beneficial in reducing the symptoms of subclinical depression and anxiety and can substantially reduce stress. Attentional retraining and self-management aspects of mindfulness meditation, as well as relevant methodological issues are discussed.