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) …
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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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Effects of mindfulness meditation on cell aging processes
Chronic stress and major depressive disorder are associated with accelerated cellular aging, indicated by shortened telomeres in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). Psychological distress is also related to greater oxidative stress, a known cause of telomere shortening. The primary aim of the proposed research is to determine whether mindfulness meditation reduces oxidative stress and increases …
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Does mindfulness training change the processing of social threat?
Mindfulness training is theorized to lead to a shift in perspective, a so-called “reperceiving”. The observing of inner experiences, thoughts, and emotions leads to a dis-identification from these contents of consciousness, which facilitates exposure and is thought to result in a reduction in emotional reactivity and to more adaptive responding in situations of social threat. …
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Neuropeptide levels in meditation
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) or other forms of meditation have been found to decrease blood pressure, improve sleep, decrease anxiety and stress, decrease cortisol, induce the immune response, and produce other health benefits. However, the mechanism of action of meditation’s beneficial effect on health is uncertain. The peptide neurohormone oxytocin is generally considered to have …
MBSR for the treatment of pediatric chronic pain
Pediatric chronic pain is a significant public health problem. MBSR has been used in the treatment of a wide variety of clinical conditions, such as chronic pain, whether MBSR is effective for chronic pain in youth remains an empirical question. The proposed study is a two-arm randomized clinical trial examining MBSR for pediatric chronic pain. …
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How does MBSR improve psychological functioning for cancer patients?
Receiving a diagnosis and undergoing cancer treatment is associated with high levels of emotional distress and related symptoms (e.g., anxiety, depression, and fatigue). MBSR has been consistently shown to reduce symptoms of stress and mood disturbance among cancer patients. Despite this, the question of “how” MBSR works has not been adequately addressed; it is not …
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Mindfulness training as treatment and mechanistic probe for drug addiction
Evidence points to the role of stress in the inception and maintenance of substance use disorders. Mindfulness training (MT) has shown promise in a number of stress-related maladies. However, no studies have compared MT to empirically-validated treatments for substance use disorders or assessed its impact on stress provocation. 36 individuals with alcohol and/or cocaine use …
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Electrophysiological and behavioral assessment of a mindfulness-based pain management program for patients with chronic pain
Previous studies have provided some evidence that Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) may be beneficial for patients with chronic pain. This effect may be mediated by an improved ability to regulate emotional responses to pain due to improved attentional control. Event-Related Potentials (ERPs) are useful for measuring the time-course of anticipatory and pain-evoked responses and their …
Study of mindfulness meditation on stress reduction and attention regulation in adolescents with mild learning disabilities
This study examines the effects of a contemplative education intervention for Asian Indian adolescents living and going to high school in Singapore. The intervention aims to (a) reduce adolescents’ perceived levels of life stress and (b) enhance their ability to regulate their attention. While relaxation techniques have generally been found effective in dealing with adolescent …
