This study aims to develop and assess the Emory-Meditation Practice Tradition and Experience Inventory Short and Long Forms. These self-report measures are designed to capture research participants’ meditation experience in a particular contemplative tradition, and to standardize assessments of meditation practice in the field. These inventories, which rely primarily on common contemporary Buddhist-based contemplative practices …
Grant Type Archives:
Meditation and nonlinear neurodynamics: From state to trait
This study focused on brain dynamics changes in the meditative state (short-term changes) and their possible development into trait (long-term changes), in an EEG data set recorded from a group of Mindfulness Meditators (MM, n=36) with varying expertise, a group of transcendental meditators (TM, n=12), and suitable controls. We applied two measures: (a) a functional …
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Changing our perception of others through compassion meditation
In this study we will examine the neural and autonomic correlates of emotional face perception before and after Compassion meditation practice. Our long-term goal of this project is to contribute to an improved understanding of how stress-causing social perceptions can be changed through Compassion meditation (ComM). Our objective in this study is to determine if, …
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Mindfulness-based kindness curriculum for preschool children: A replication and extension
The purpose of this project is to evaluate the effects of a mindfulness-based prosocial skills training curriculum in preschool students with a larger sample in order to replicate and extend findings from initial pilot work conducted in previous years. Participants from the local public school 4-year old Kindergarten program were recruited and participated in pre …
Examining the psychological effects of intensive meditation retreats for teenage youth
We posit that daily stressors exert a harmful impact on adolescents’ social-emotional health. Importantly, not all youth who experience these risks succumb to poor outcomes. We hypothesize that adolescents’ mindfulness, a state of consciousness involving a receptive attention to and awareness of present moment experiences, serves as a protective factor by helping youth regulate and …
An objective comparison of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction for the treatment of insomnia in individuals with cancer using wrist actigraphy: A randomized, non-inferiority trial
Many individuals with cancer report problems achieving an adequate and restorative sleep. This difficulty is due in part to the cognitive and somatic arousal that can accompany a stressful life experience. Unfortunately, chronic sleep deprivation is linked to poor physical and psychological health and an increased risk of mortality. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I) …
Investigating the correlates and consequences of directed loving-kindness meditation
The need for social connection is a fundamental human motive, and it is increasingly clear that feeling socially connected confers mental and physical health benefits. However, in many cultures, societal changes are leading to growing social distrust and alienation. Can feelings of social connection and positivity toward others be increased? Is it possible to self-generate …
Real-time dynamics of cognitive processing during meditation: A subject-driven fMRI investigation
Accumulating data suggest that various forms of meditation are beneficial for both mental and physical health. However, the neural mechanisms underlying these effects remain unknown. This study directly examines the fluctuating and dynamic aspects of mental processing during meditation using a novel subject-determined fMRI design. To accomplish this, we put forth a model of naturalistic …
The interrelationship between cognitive control and affect in an intensive Vipassana retreat
We proposed a longitudinal study of intensive Vipassana meditation to investigate training-related changes in cognitive control, and to explore the relationship between cognitive control and growth in emotional well-being. The proposed data collection included participants undergoing one month of intensive meditative training at Spirit Rock Meditation Center between February and March 2009, as well as …
The FACE Study: Faces, Attention, Compassion, and Emotion
While the mien of meditation masters such as His Holiness the Dalai Lama is often remarked upon as a powerful component of the fruit of their practice, little is known scientifically about links between the practice of meditation and changes in facial expression and whether these changes would be linked to emotional and/or physiological variables. …
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