Contemplative teachings highlight the benefit of mindfulness practice to the practitioner and to those with whom they interact, yet very few studies on meditation to date have explored whether meditation training improves social interactions and relationships. Examining effects on emotion regulation in social contexts may be key to understanding meditation’s social consequences, for at least …
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Intrinsic neural characteristics predict the effectiveness of MBSR training on fear extinction and stress reduction
The proposed research aims to derive individual neural characteristics from data-driven analysis of resting state fMRI to predict the effectiveness of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) training on fear extinction and stress reduction. This project aims to capture the individual variability in the amplitudes of spontaneous brain activity and neural network properties, and relate such variability …
The eCALM Study: eTherapy for Cancer AppLying Mindfulness
Elevated stress can exacerbate cancer symptom severity, and after completion of primary cancer treatments, many individuals continue to have significant distress. Mindfulness-Based Cancer Recovery (MBCR) is an 8-week group psychosocial intervention consisting of training in mindfulness meditation and yoga designed to mitigate stress, pain, and chronic illness. Efficacy research shows face-to-face (F2F) MBCR programs have …
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The effects of Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy on depression, pain, body awareness and brain structure and connectivity in patients with chronic pain and comorbid depression
Chronic pain and depression are common diseases and result in intense suffering and form a huge burden for society. They are difficult to treat, especially when occurring together. We studied the effectiveness of Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) to alleviate pain and depressions in patients suffering from both chronic pain and active depression. Furthermore, we …
Differential effects of mindfulness and yogic breathing on cognitive and emotional processes
Skill and competency in emotion regulation are crucial to well-being and mental health. Research has shown that contemplative practices like meditation may help people decrease stress and increase well-being. However, few studies have examined the impact of such practices on the ability to regulate emotion. Moreover, certain practices may be more suited for some people …
Do white matter changes contribute to improved fear extinction following mindfulness training?
It is well-established that the practice of mindfulness meditation leads to improved emotion regulation as well as to changes in brain structure, but relatively little is known about the relationship between these changes. Brain regions found to be impacted by mindfulness training include the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, the hippocampus, and the amygdala. Interestingly, there is …
How mindfulness impacts selective attention during emotional challenge
Emotional reactivity, the negative response to stress, is a rare predictor of relapse risk following recovery from MDD. ‘Trait’ mindfulness, the tendency to non-judgmentally engage with experience, has been linked to lower levels of emotional reactivity in a community sample, and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) has shown initial promise in reducing the risk of depressive …
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The effect of mindfulness on physiological awareness: Blood glucose estimates and disease management in type 2 diabetics
By refining awareness of present-moment experiences, mindfulness purportedly increases physiological awareness. However, existing evidence of this is limited and inconclusive. One key population whose health is known to improve with awareness of certain physiological information is diabetics. Greater awareness of blood glucose levels can help diabetes patients to manage the disease. Thus, if mindfulness improves …
Effects of mind-body interventions in cancer supportive care: Oxytocin as a biological correlate of wellbeing and connectedness
This pilot project evaluates the neuropeptide oxytocin as a potentially useful biological indicator of changes in health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and well-being in two different randomized clinical studies investigating the effects of mind-body interventions in post-treatment cancer survivors. One study, targeting sleep disturbance, compares 3 sessions (one per week) of Mind-Body Bridging and Mindfulness …
The effectiveness of MBSR as an intervention among elderly family caregivers of persons with neurocognitive disorders
Providing care for a frail older adult is a stressful experience that may affect psychological and physical health of caregivers. When caregivers are elderly and the care recipient suffers from a neurocognitive disorder such as dementia, the burden and resulting stress is greatly increased. Many interventions involving support groups, counseling, and education have been implemented …
