"Meditation refers to a family of self-regulation practices that focus on training attention and awareness in order to bring mental processes under greater voluntary control and thereby foster general mental well-being and development and/or specific capacities such as calm, clarity, and concentration“ Walsh & Shapiro (2006)
Meditation
Meditation
Focused Meditation Attention
is centered on a specific point e.g. breathing, candle flame, mantra, part of the body
Open monitoring Attention
is diffuse. Thoughts and emotions are passively observed without judgment.
Loving-Kindness Wishing
happiness on others
Compassion Wish
for the relief of suffering
MBSR (Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction)
Mindfulness Meditation: a state of consciousness in which one pays acute attention to one’s thoughts and sensations as they arise without forming or acting upon any judgments thereof (Shapiro et. al., 2006) Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn Combination of meditation and yoga
Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy
MBSR with additional specific cognitive therapy components e.g. dealing with maladaptive thoughts
Studies of Expert Meditators
Brain Wave Review
Neural Oscillation: Rhythmic
neural activity Different frequencies of oscillations linked to different mental states Delta
greater activity in areas responsible for emotion during compassion meditation
Results
Found greater activation in areas involved in emotion (insular cortex) Greater signal change during self-reported Good v. Poor Compassion blocks Blue = Novices, Red = Experts
Time Course
Structural Differences
Increased cortical thickness has been reported for both the right insula and right prefrontal cortex (Lazar et al., 2005) Recently increased grey matter has been reported in the brain stems of experienced meditators using focused attention to the breath (VetergaardPoulsen, 2009)
Vetergaard-Poulsen et al., 2009
meditators
controls
Changes seen in the parts of the medulla oblongata containing autonomic nerve structures involved in respiratory and cardiac control
Break!
Intervention Studies
Retreats!
A number of studies have looked at the effects of long meditation retreats on outcomes such as attention.
ERP Review
Slagter et al. (2007)
Compared performance on attentional blink before and after a 3 month intensive mediation retreat (10-12 hours per day) Control group got 1 week of meditation training Predicted that meditation training will reduce the attentional capture of the first target and reduce the “blink”
Results
Increased accuracy in detection of Target 2
Results
Increased accuracy in detection of Target 2 Reduced P3b amplitude to Target 1 Correlation between P3b reduction and T2 accuracy
Results
Increased accuracy in detection of Target 2 Reduced P3b amplitude to Target 1 Correlation between P3b reduction and T2 accuracy
Davidson et al. (2003)
Studied the effects of an 8 week MBSR program on levels of positive emotion and immune function. Found reduced anxiety and greater left hemisphere activity for MBSR participants
Davidson et al. (2003)
Also found significant increase in antibodies produced in response to influenza vaccination in treatment group
Possible Cellular Effects
Jacobs et al. (2010) studied the possible effects of meditative practice on telomerase activity Telomeres
are the protective DNA caps on the ends of chromosomes. Are shortened with cell division and also stress
Jacobs et al. (2010)
Investigated possible effects of a 3 month intensive meditation retreat on telomerase activity Also measured Perceived Control, Neuroticism, Mindfulness and Purpose in Life
Results
Results
Jha et al. (2010)
Examining the Protective Effects of Mindfulness Training on Working Memory Capacity and Affective Experience Stress A
can have a clear effect on cognitive function
brief digression
A Brief Digression: Stress & Working Memory
Stress-induced deficits in visuo-spatial working memory (Charles et al., 2006) Measured
VS working memory in 184 Special Operations Training Troops Pre-Stress Stress Post-Stress
Used
delayed recall of the Rey Ostereith Complex Figure
Examining the Protective Effects of Mindfulness Training on Working Memory Capacity and Affective Experience Stress
can have a clear effect on cognitive function Jha and colleagues examined the effects of predeployment stress on the working memory capacity of soldiers Found
reduced operation span scores
Recruited
some soldiers to take a mindfulness training course for 8 weeks during pre-deployment
Results
Results
Meditation and Education
Great deal of research demonstrating reductions in stress with mindfulness based programs in adults (Chiesa & Serretti, 2009) Preliminary work suggests improved EF for children with mindfulness practice (Flook et al., 2010; Napoli et al, 2006)
Meditation in the schools
Questions?
Last lecture Will
focus on commercial products that claim to improve plasticity Practical and Educational Implications
