Mindfulness Meditation Leads To Increased Dispositional Mindfulness And Interoceptive Awareness Linked To A Reduced Dissociative Tendency.

Dissociation is an involuntary defensive mechanism to protect oneself by avoiding unbearable internal conflicts or overwhelming emotions. Cultivating mindful awareness could allow the development of voluntary processes that can offer part of the self-protective function of dissociation while favoring internal integration processes. The aim of the present study was to explore the effects of a 7-week Mindfulness Oriented Meditation (MOM) training on healthy individuals' self-reported dissociative experience, mindfulness skills and interoceptive awareness. After the training, in comparison to a waiting-list control group (N = 102), the MOM group (N = 110) showed reduced dissociative tendencies (p < .05), increased dispositional mindfulness (p < .001) and increased interoceptive awareness (in the aspects of not-worrying, self-regulation and body listening; p < .001). Moreover, correlational evidence showed that the more MOM participants increased in mindfulness skills after the training the more they reported increased interoceptive awareness and decreased dissociative functioning (p < .05). Mindfulness skills also improved with more home meditation practice executed by MOM participants (p < .05). These findings were attributed to a possible role of mindfulness meditation in enabling the development of volitional processes that afford psychological safety and integration, in contrast with the involuntary nature of dissociation.

Inter-brain co-activations during mindfulness meditation. Implications for devotional and clinical settings.

Mindfulness meditation usually takes place as personal, introspective activity. It is not known if this practice activates the brain differently when done alone or with someone else. Sixteen couples of expert meditators performed mindfulness-oriented meditation (MOM) and instructed mind-wandering (IMW) tasks in two conditions: once sitting in the same room (SR) and once in two different rooms (DR). Spontaneous electroencephalographic (EEG) data was collected during 7-minute recording sessions in the four experimental settings (MOM/SR, MOM/DR, IMW/SR, IMW/DR). Power in band was computed in separate clusters of independent components of the EEG signals. In addition to significant task effects, found in frontolimbic (MOM > IMW in gamma) and frontoparietal locations (MOM < IMW in theta), significant condition effects were found in frontal (SR > DR in delta) and in temporo-occipital regions (SR > DR in theta and alpha). Moreover, a significant interaction between task and condition revealed higher gamma activity in limbic areas during MOM/SR vs. MOM/DR settings. This effect was not attributable to gender, age nor the meditation expertise of participants. We thus show that the brains of two people work differently when they are doing something together or alone; some of these differences are specific to mindfulness meditation. Implications for devotional and clinical settings are discussed.

Less is more: Morphometric and psychological differences between low and high reappraisers.

Emotion regulation plays a crucial role in an individual's well-being, as it is known that deficits in regulating emotions can lead to psychological and psychiatric disorders. Cognitive reappraisal is widely considered to be an adaptive and effective emotion-regulation strategy. People are more or less able to apply it, but it is still not clear how reappraisal affects brain structures and the psychological profile of individuals. In our study we thus aimed to explore the impact of applying reappraisal at both the neural and the psychological level. Source-based morphometry (SBM), a whole-brain multivariate method based on the Independent Component Analysis that extracts patterns of covariation of gray matter ("independent networks"), was applied to the MRI images of 37 participants. In order to enrich their psychological profiles, we measured their experienced affectivity (PANAS) and their empathic abilities (IRI). Based on the frequency of applying reappraisal (ERQ), participants were divided into low and high reappraisers (18 vs. 19). An independent source of gray matter emerged as being different between the groups: specifically, low reappraisers showed more gray matter volume concentration in a network including the frontal, temporal, and parietal regions as compared to high reappraisers. At the psychological level, low reappraisers reported a more strongly experienced negative affect, while no difference among reappraisers emerged with regard to empathic abilities. Capitalizing on a multivariate method for structural analysis that is innovative in this field, this study extends previous observations on individual differences in the ability to regulate emotions, and it describes a plausible impact of reappraisal on brain structures and affectivity.

[Follow-up study on the reduction of burnout levels through mindfulness meditation in health care professionals.] / Studio di follow-up sulla riduzione dei livelli di burnout con la meditazione mindfulness in professionisti socio-sanitari.

SUMMARY: The 8-week mindfulness meditation (MM) trainings have proven to be helpful for reducing burnout due to work-related stress. Most studies reported these positive effects with evaluations made immediately before and immediately after the therapeutic interventions. Little is known, however, about the symptoms of burnout in the months following these interventions. In our exploratory study, the effects of an 8-week MM training were assessed in a group of health care professionals (n = 19) with vulnerability to develop burnout; a 9-month follow-up was conducted on the subjects (n=8) who continued to meditate after the end of the training. Other health care professionals of the same company, who did not meditate during this research, served as control group. Burnout, mindfulness abilities and job satisfaction were evaluated through self-reports. Data showed that during the training the levels of burnout did not decrease, but significant reductions were observed during the follow-up. This indicates the possibility of obtaining results with MM even in subjects who do not have standard response time to the therapy and highlights the importance of monitoring the healing process.

Episodic memory and consciousness in antisocial personality disorder and conduct disorder.

Episodic memory is one of the most significant sources of information of humans. It entails cooperative and linguistic skills and, as Mahr & Csibra (M&C) note, the capacity to ground veridical beliefs about the past. In some psychiatric disorders (antisocial personality disorder and conduct disorder), it was found that the habit of lying is associated with episodic memory and consciousness deficits.

Effects of an 8-week meditation program on the implicit and explicit attitudes toward religious/spiritual self-representations.

Explicit self-representations often conflict with implicit and intuitive self-representations, with such discrepancies being seen as a source of psychological tension. Most of previous research on the psychological effects of mindfulness-meditation has assessed people's self-attitudes at an explicit level, leaving unknown whether mindfulness-meditation promotes changes on implicit self-representations. Here, we assessed the changes in implicit and explicit self-related religious/spiritual (RS) representations in healthy participants following an 8-week mindfulness-oriented meditation (MOM) program. Before and after meditation, participants were administered implicit (implicit association test) and explicit (self-reported questionnaires) RS measures. Relative to control condition, MOM led to increases of implicit RS in individuals whit low pre-existing implicit RS and to more widespread increases in explicit RS. On the assumption that MOM practice may enhance the clarity of one's transcendental thoughts and feelings, we argued that MOM allows people to transform their intuitive feelings of implicit RS as well as their explicit RS attitudes.

Mindfulness-oriented meditation improves self-related character scales in healthy individuals.

Previous studies have shown that mindfulness meditation may improve well-being in healthy individuals and be effective in the treatment of mental and neurological disorders. Here, we investigated the effects of an 8-week mindfulness-mediation program on the personality profiles of three groups of healthy individuals with no previous experience with meditation as compared to a control group not enrolled in any training. Personality profiles were obtained through the Temperament and Character Inventory (Cloninger et al., 1993). In the experimental groups, significant increments after the training were obtained in all the three character scales describing the levels of self maturity at the intrapersonal (Self-Directedness), interpersonal (Cooperativeness), and transpersonal (Self-Transcendence) levels. No changes were found in the control group. Strikingly, these effects were significant only in those groups who were engaged in consistent daily meditation practice but not in the group who attended the meditation training but were less consistent in home practice. Since higher scores in the character scales are associated to a lower risk of personality disorder, we propose that the increase of self maturity after the training may be an important mechanism for the effectiveness of mindfulness-oriented meditation in psychotherapeutic contexts.

Mindfulness Through Storytelling for Mental Health of Primary School Children: Impact on Acceptability and Its Associations with Personality.

Purpose: Acceptability of mindfulness-based programs (MBPs) in primary school settings seems to represent a critical factor influencing the intervention effects on children's mental health. This study aims at assessing the acceptability of an MBP delivered through the technique of storytelling, as well as identifying which participants' personality characteristics can influence it. Participants and Methods: Italian children in grades 3-to-5 (n = 147, 47.6% girls) participated in a 24-session MBP, which included 225 minutes of formal mindfulness practices and was delivered by the pupils' school teachers. Children's personality traits were assessed with the junior Temperament and Character Inventory (jTCI), while their subjective experiences and acceptability of the program were investigated using a survey containing open-ended and closed-ended questions. Results: Program acceptability was 2.9 ± 0.7 on a 0-4 scale. Higher jTCI scores of persistence, cooperativeness, and self-transcendence were related to higher ratings in liking the program, finding it useful and engaging themselves in it. Moreover, 57.8% of the children generalized the mindfulness practices in daily life and 93.9% of them declared they would recommend the program to their friends/parents. Five main themes emerged from children's answers on what they learned: "help for difficulties (emotional, mental, and physical)", "calm, relax, tranquility", "resilience, positiveness, personal growth", "self-exploration, interoception", and "attention, concentration, and here-and-now". Conclusion: Program acceptability was generally higher than in similar programs in the literature, and children reported personal gains in various areas related to psychological well-being. The study also suggests which children's personality traits should be considered when proposing an MBP in order to improve its acceptability and utility.

The effect of mindfulness-based interventions on biomarkers in cancer patients and survivors: A systematic review.

Various reviews and meta-analyses have shown the positive effects of mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) on the mental health of cancer patients and survivors. Some studies have also investigated the impact of MBIs on physiological markers of health in oncology, but a systematic review has not been conducted in this field. The current paper aims to fill this gap in the literature. Following preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses 2020 guidelines, data were obtained from the databases of Pubmed, Scopus, Web of Science in May 2022. Twenty-five studies were included. Globally, 35 biomarkers were employed in these studies and were categorized 8 groups (cortisol; blood pressure (BP), heart rate, and respiratory rate; C-reactive protein; telomere length and telomerase activity (TA); genetic signature; cytokines and hormones; leucocyte activation; leucocyte count and cell subpopulation analysis). In seven of these categories of biomarkers, positive effects of MBIs were observed. The most promising results were obtained for cortisol, BP, TA and pro-inflammatory gene expression. However, the generally low number of studies per single biomarker limits the possibility to draw reliable conclusions. The present review presents a comprehensive state-of-the-art for MBIs in oncology on biomarkers, confirming MBIs' potential for improving physiological health in cancer patients and survivors besides those already shown in literature on psychological well-being.

Refractory semantic access dysphasia resulting from resection of a left frontal glioma.

The existence of semantic access disorders is now well established, however the precise cognitive and anatomical underpinnings are still debated. Here we describe the case of a patient that became aphasic after the resection of a left frontal glioma. Detailed lesion reconstruction indicates that the lesion was mostly restricted to the left dorsal and ventral prefrontal cortices and the underlying white matter, but sparing temporal lobes. Critically, the patient showed all the signs of refractory semantic access dysphasia, supporting the association between this syndrome and damage to left prefrontal areas likely to subserve retrieval and selection mechanisms for verbal material.

COVID-19 Pandemic and Internet Addiction in Young Adults: A Pilot Study on Positive and Negative Psychosocial Correlates.

Objective: During and after the lockdowns of the COVID-19 pandemic period, a strain was put on young adults who have taken refuge in the problematic use of internet, social media, gaming, and gambling. This paper aims to investigate possible correlates of Internet Addiction Disorder (IAD), hypothesizing anxiety, depression and perceived stress would promote addiction, while mindfulness skills, resilience and socialization would, conversely, hamper IAD, and promote, consequently, a more functional internet use. Method: A pilot study was carried out with a sample of 31 young adults, recruited through a snowball sampling using social networks. Participants filled out an online questionnaire including the following measures: Internet Use, Abuse and Addiction (UADI), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II); State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-Y); Perceived Stress Scale (PSS); Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ); Mindfulness Attention and Awareness Scale (MAAS); Resilience Scale (RS-14). It was also administered an ad hoc questionnaire for the assessment of socialization behaviour (6 items) and gambling (2 items). Results: All the measures, but socialization, showed adequate reliability. Our sample showed high levels of anxiety, stress, IA and gambling, while presenting low levels of resilience, the mindful skill of no-reactivity and socialization. The first hypothesis was confirmed, finding positive and significant correlations between Internet Addiction on one side and PSS, STAI-Y1, STAY-2, and BDI II on the other side. We also partially confirmed the second hypothesis about UADI negatively correlated with both RS-14 and Mindful Acting. Finally, no correlations were found between Gambling and IA. Conclusions: In conclusion, the more one perceives an emotional overload with less stress-control, high anxiety, and depression, and the less one can leverage on the skills of mindful acting and resilience, the more one uses the internet as a strategy to escape from a threatening reality.

Neuropsychological Functioning in Bilateral versus Unilateral Temporal Lobe Epilepsy.

Although relatively specific anatomo-electro-clinical features of temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) with bilateral ictal involvement (bitemporal epilepsy-BTLE) have been described, differentiating between BTLE and unilateral TLE (UTLE) remains challenging. Surgery is often the treatment of choice for drug-resistant UTLE, whereas its use is more controversial in BTLE. It is currently unclear whether neuropsychological assessment can contribute to the differential diagnosis. We retrospectively reviewed the neuropsychological evaluation of 46 consecutive patients with refractory TLE. Eighteen patients were diagnosed with BTLE on the basis of ictal electro-clinical data, in particular a video EEG recording of at least one seizure simultaneously involving the two temporal lobes without the possibility of lateralizing its onset or at least two different seizures independently arising from the two temporal lobes. Twenty-eight patients were classified as UTLE. Presurgery evaluation data were used in this study. Compared with UTLE, BTLE was associated with a lower intelligence quotient (IQ) and more severe impairment in long-term memory, the latter remaining significant even after controlling for IQ. No significant differences were found between right and left UTLE. In conclusion, BTLE and UTLE are associated with relatively distinct neuropsychological profiles, further supporting their classification as different disorders within the TLE spectrum.

Mechanisms of rule acquisition and rule following in inductive reasoning.

Despite the recent interest in the neuroanatomy of inductive reasoning processes, the regional specificity within prefrontal cortex (PFC) for the different mechanisms involved in induction tasks remains to be determined. In this study, we used fMRI to investigate the contribution of PFC regions to rule acquisition (rule search and rule discovery) and rule following. Twenty-six healthy young adult participants were presented with a series of images of cards, each consisting of a set of circles numbered in sequence with one colored blue. Participants had to predict the position of the blue circle on the next card. The rules that had to be acquired pertained to the relationship among succeeding stimuli. Responses given by subjects were categorized in a series of phases either tapping rule acquisition (responses given up to and including rule discovery) or rule following (correct responses after rule acquisition). Mid-dorsolateral PFC (mid-DLPFC) was active during rule search and remained active until successful rule acquisition. By contrast, rule following was associated with activation in temporal, motor, and medial/anterior prefrontal cortex. Moreover, frontopolar cortex (FPC) was active throughout the rule acquisition and rule following phases before a rule became familiar. We attributed activation in mid-DLPFC to hypothesis generation and in FPC to integration of multiple separate inferences. The present study provides evidence that brain activation during inductive reasoning involves a complex network of frontal processes and that different subregions respond during rule acquisition and rule following phases.

Equality versus self-interest in the brain: differential roles of anterior insula and medial prefrontal cortex.

Everything else being the same, an equal outcome is generally preferred; however, an equitable allocation sometimes is possible only by sacrificing the total amount of resources available to society. Moreover, direct interests may interact with the perception of equality. Here, we have investigated individual preferences, and their neural basis, by employing a task in which an allocation of a fixed amount between the subject and another person (MS condition) or two third parties (TP condition) is randomly determined. The subject can accept or reject the outcome, in the same fashion as the Ultimatum Game: thus an unequal offer may be rejected at the cost of a loss in total amount. Behavioral results show preference for equal outcomes in TP and for equal and advantageous outcomes in MS. An activation of medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), extending to the anterior middle cingulate cortex (aMCC), was found in MS unequal outcomes, particularly for disadvantageous outcomes and consequent rejections. The anterior insula (AI) was active for unequal outcomes, in both MS and TP. We propose that the equal treatment is a default social norm, and its violation is signaled by the AI, whereas aMCC/mPFC activation, negatively correlated to rejections, reflects the effort to overcome the default rule of equal treatment in favor of a self-advantageous efficiency.

fMRI investigation of speed-accuracy strategy switching.

Switching between rapid and accurate responses is an important aspect of decision-making. However, the brain mechanisms important to smoothly change the speed-accuracy strategy remain mostly unclear. This issue was addressed here by using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). On each trial, right-handed healthy participants had to stress speed or accuracy in performing a color discrimination task on a target stimulus according to the instructions given by an initial cue. Participants were capable of trading speed for accuracy and vice versa. Analyses of cue-related fMRI activations revealed a significant recruitment of left middle frontal gyrus and right cerebellum when switching from speed to accuracy. The left superior parietal lobule was activated in the same switching condition but only after the target onset. The anterior cingulate cortex was more recruited, also after target presentation, when speed had to be maintained from one trial to the next. These results are interpreted within a theoretical framework that attributes a role in criterion-setting to the left lateral prefrontal cortex, perceptual evidence accumulation to the superior parietal lobule, and action energization to the anterior cingulate cortex, extending previous findings to the domain of speed-accuracy tradeoff regulations.

Psychotherapeutic Techniques for Distressing Memories: A Comparative Study between EMDR, Brainspotting, and Body Scan Meditation.

OBJECTIVES: We explored the effects of a single 40-min session of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), Brainspotting (BSP), and Body Scan Meditation (BSM) in the processing of distressing memories reported by a non-clinical sample of adult participants. DESIGN: A within-subject design was used. METHODS: Participants (n = 40 Psychologists/MDs) reported four distressing memories, each of which treated with a single intervention. EMDR, BSP, and BSM were compared with each other, and with a Book Reading (BR) active control condition, using as dependent measures, SUD (Subjective Units of Disturbance) and Memory Telling Duration (MTD) on a 4-point timeline: Baseline, Pre-Intervention, Post-Intervention, Follow-up. RESULTS: SUD scores associated with EMDR, BSP, and BSM significantly decreased from Pre- to Post-Intervention (p < 0.001). At Post-Intervention and Follow-up, EMDR and BSP SUD scores were significantly lower than BSM and BR scores (p < 0.02). At both Post-Intervention and Follow-up, BSM SUD scores were lower than BR scores (p < 0.01). A reduction in MTD was observed from Pre- to Post-Intervention for EMDR and BSP conditions (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Overall, results showed beneficial effects of single sessions of EMDR, BSP, or BSM in the processing of healthy adults' distressing memories. Study limitations and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Predictive Factors of Anxiety, Depression, and Health-Related Quality of Life in Community-Dwelling and Institutionalized Elderly during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The COVID-19 health emergency and restrictive measures have increased psychological problems, particularly anxiety and depression, in the general population. However, little is known about mental health conditions and the possible risk and protective factors of specific population groups, such as institutionalized vs. community-dwelling elderly. We investigated the abovementioned aspects in a sample of 65-89-year-old people during the third wave of COVID-19 in Italy. We employed a sociodemographic survey and four questionnaires on health-related quality of life (SF-36), loneliness (UCLA), spirituality (FACIT-Sp), and anxiety/depression (HADS). Our findings suggest that the physical, psychological, and spiritual well-being of the elderly had not been seriously impaired by the events related to the pandemic, although most of the participants reported a worsening of their social life and a moderate/high fear of COVID-19. In regression analyses, these two latter aspects turned out to be predictors of higher anxiety, while spiritual well-being and the possibility to get out of the house/institution emerged as protective factors against anxiety and for preserving quality of life, respectively. Our findings help refine the picture of the condition of the elderly in the aftermath of the pandemic, giving some hints about how to continue supporting their well-being and quality of life.

Effects of Mind-Body Interventions on Adolescents' Cooperativeness and Emotional Symptoms.

BACKGROUND: Mind-body interventions may support the development of adolescents' self-regulation and provide a protective effect against maladaptive outcomes, e.g., internalizing and externalizing problems. The present study aimed at evaluating the effects of mindfulness-oriented meditation training (MOM) and autogenic training (AT) on a group of healthy Italian adolescents' character dimensions, emotional and behavioral difficulties. METHODS: 72 adolescents were randomly assigned to MOM/AT conditions and tested before and after the 8-week trainings through self-report measures (Temperament and Character Inventory 125, TCI; Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire for Adolescents, SDQ-A). Main analyses involved robust and repeated measures ANOVAs, carried out separately for character TCI and SDQ-A scales. RESULTS: After trainings, we found increased levels of cooperativeness and reduced emotional symptoms. Changes in these dimensions were negatively correlated: the more participants increased in their cooperativeness the greater decrease they showed in emotional symptoms. CONCLUSION: Both MOM and AT enhanced a cooperative attitude in adolescents and helped reducing their emotional problems. Therefore, it may be useful to apply these mind-body interventions in school settings as they can have a protective effect on the well-being and psychosocial adjustment of youths, through fostering their character maturity and helping them to better regulate their emotions.

The impact of mindfulness meditation on social and moral behavior: Does mindfulness enhance other-oriented motivation or decrease monetary reward salience?

This perspective article provides an overview of the impact of mindfulness meditation (MM) on social and moral behavior. In mindfulness research, prosocial behavior has been operationalized as helping behavior, altruistic redistribution of funds, reparative behavior, or monetary donation. Studies concerning moral behavior are still scarce. Despite inconsistent evidence, several studies found a beneficial effect of mindfulness on prosocial outcomes (i.e., a higher propensity to spend or give away money for the sake of other individuals). However, since the employed tasks were reward-based, participants' decisions also directly affected their own payoff by reducing it. Crucially, MM also affects self-control circuitry and reduces reward-seeking behaviors and reward salience by making rewards less tempting. We have discussed evidence suggesting how challenging it may be to dissociate the specific weight of enhanced other-oriented motivation from one of the decreased monetary reward salience in explaining meditators' behavior. Future higher-quality studies are needed to address this open issue.

Clinical application of mindfulness-oriented meditation in children with ADHD: a preliminary study on sleep and behavioral problems.

OBJECTIVE: High incidence of sleep problems in children and adolescents with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) has been described. Mindfulness meditation has emerged as a novel approach to sleep disturbances and insomnia remediation. This preliminary study tested the efficacy of Mindfulness-Oriented Meditation (MOM) training on sleep quality and behavioral problems in children with ADHD. DESIGN: Twenty-five children with ADHD aged 7-11 years underwent two programs three times per week for eight-weeks: the MOM training (15 children) and an Active Control Condition (10 children). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Objective and subjective measures of sleep quality and behavioral measures were collected before and after the programs. RESULTS: Positive effects on sleep and behavioral measures were found only in the MOM group. CONCLUSION: Although they are preliminary, our results indicate that MOM training is a promising tool for ameliorating sleep quality and behavioral manifestations in ADHD.