Choose a topic from Tuesday's readings that you were particularly interested in. Your job is to do some more indepth research on that topic. That may mean looking up some of the original research cited in the chapter and finding and reading the original research article. It also could mean searching the internet for other content and information out there on this topic (ranging from videos, news releases, summaries of research findings, others' blog posts, etc).
One you have completed your search and explorations I would like you to clearly state what your topic is, discuss how it relates to the readings, and thoroughly discuss what you learned about this topic from your additional resources.
It is possible to do this assignment with one source (an original research article). I encourage you to use this approach for at least half of these types of assignments. The other method, is to find suitable internet content that helps you learn more about your topic. If you choose this method, I'd like you to provide 3 sources of information (in the form of internet links). Do not be tempted to just discuss each of the links separately. You must synthesize the information, and discuss the topic as a whole.
At the bottom of your post, please include several key terms that reflect your topic, as well as your sources (either the citation for the 1 research article, and link if it is available on line, or 3 links to the internet content you discussed).
Please be prepared to discuss your topic, as a portion of each in-class day will be devoted to hearing from all of you about what you learned.
On page 53 in Dorjee, Chapter 3, it says, “Secular mindfulness also includes a certain level of training in emotional balance because, via enhanced awareness of automatic mental habits, it can lead to cultivation of ways to responding and functioning which are more conducive to well-being.” Mindfulness, which is enhanced through meditation, can help the exploration of consciousness that allows us to step back from automatic thought patterns in order to understand that our thoughts are not fully accurate reflections of reality.
The article (2002), “Metacognitive Awareness and Prevention of Relapse in Depression,” discusses the relationship between metacognitive awareness and depression vulnerability. Metacognitive awareness is a cognitive set in which negative thoughts/feelings are experienced as mental events, rather than as the self. Increasing metacognitive awareness through cognitive therapy (CT) and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) will reduce depressive relapse and recurrence in major depression. It has been suggested that vulnerability to major depression depended upon persistent, dysfunctional attitudes, particularly those involved in a dependence of self-worth that comes from others’ approval or on the success of activities. Patients in CT or MBCT learn to relate differently and more functionally to depressive symptoms and problematic situations. Doing so encodes new relationships to depressive experience by storing more accurate representations in memory. The shift in the cognitive self is called “decentering.” It is important to identify and stand back from negative thoughts/feelings and evaluate the accuracy of their content.
These concepts are important to know when working with depressive patients. Doctors and psychiatrists prescribe not only anti-depressants but vitamin supplements to depressive patients to help relieve symptoms. I think it is also important to note that not only journaling helps relieve depression, but also meditation. By increasing meta-awareness, individuals decenter themselves from negativity and overall improve their well-being.
Key terms: mindfulness, well-being, cognitive therapy, mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, decentering, depression, metacognitive awareness
Teasdale, J.D., Moore, R.G., Mayhurst, H., Pope, M., Williams, S. and Segal, Z.V. (2002) ‘Metacognitive awareness and prevention of relapse in depression’, Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 70: 275-287.
I was really interested in this chapter’s focus on how to increase attention. I decided to look into any therapeutic uses that this could have in those who have ADHD. ADHD is characterized by an inability to maintain attention on one specific item for extended periods of time. Along with attention, patients with ADHD could experience irritability/aggressive outbursts and may require a high level of stimulation to maintain focused. I found a study that gave an 8 week mindfulness training in adolescents with ADHD. The participants were evaluated on their attention abilities using a computer test and their behavior problems and executive functioning were self-reported and reported on by participant’s parents.
The researchers found that after the intervention the adolescents performed better on the computerized tests and self-reported fewer attentional and behavioral problems. Parents and tutors supported this idea with their reports also indicating fewer behavioral problems and higher executive functioning. This effect was strongest 8 week after the termination of the training, but it had waned by the 16 week follow up. This suggests that the mediation needs to be continued to fully experience effects for extending amounts of time. The specific aspects of the training included: awareness of hyperactivity, distractibility, and impulsivity, enhancing attention and self-control, and how to apply mindfulness in stressful situations.
I found this information very interesting partially because it provides more insight into ‘alternative’ treatments for ADHD. Many parents are against medication and it can be very difficult to provide therapy to those who are young. This treatment could be a healthy and potentially effective treatment. I would really like to see a comparison between adolescents who are treated with medication, traditional therapy, and mindfulness training. The article also discussed that this could be particularly helpful for adults with ADHD. In adulthood ADHD usually isn’t as severe and mindfulness training/meditation might be enough to control it.
Terms: Attention, ADHD, mindfulness training, meditation, hyperactivity, distractibility, self-control, stress, treatment
http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=44ec935e-6369-499e-a776-55000cd359d3%40sessionmgr4002&vid=2&hid=4101
For today’s blog, I actually didn’t use one of the articles cited in the book. I did find any of the ones I check out to be interesting. Instead, I found a research article not cited in the book that expanded on the use of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR). The book talked about MBSR as a program developed in the 1970s as a method of improving coping skills in patients with chronic illnesses. Since the 70s were a while ago, I was curious to see if the program was still being practiced today, and what kinds of things were involved in the practice of MBSR.
I found an article that was published very recently (2012) that talked about the use of MBSR in women with cancer. The goal of the MBSR was to use mindful attentiveness to decrease rumination and resting blood pressure. I think it was interesting that they wanted to look at both physical and psychological effects of MBSR on the body.
The article defined MBSR as a group psychosocial intervention consisting of mindfulness meditation and gentle yoga stretches. They define mindfulness as the cultivation of conscious awareness in the present moment in an open and non-judgmental manner. These definitions were similar to the ones we have seen in class, except instead of an entire chapter, the definition is condensed into one sentence. That made it a little easier for me to grasp the concept of mindfulness. Unconsciously, I have been trying to focus more on the open-minded aspect of my mindfulness in everyday life. I don’t know if it is due to my meditation, but I think the readings from this class definitely got me thinking more about being mindful.
The participants in the study were all female cancer patients who were not currently receiving treatment. Interestingly enough, the control group for the experiment came from a group of patients that had been wait-listed for the MBSR treatment. The treatment period lasted for 8 weeks. Participants took questionnaires to evaluate their levels of mindful attention awareness, rumination, as well as attain demographics, medical history, and health behaviors. The patients also measured their own blood pressure using monitors given to them by the researchers. Participants measured their blood pressure after waking on the day of the first and last MBSR class or the start and end of the 8-week waiting period for the control group.
The experiment showed MBSR had a positive effect on mindful-attentiveness and rumination. The MBSR was used to reduce repetitive negative thoughts and instead focus on the present. Measuring differences in blood pressure was a little trickier to compare with a control group however, because people’s blood pressures naturally vary from person to person. The researchers decided to divide both control and experimental groups into “High BP” and “Low BP” groups. When this was done, it was shown that blood pressure did go down for those in the MBSR group that had naturally high blood pressures.
I thought this experiment was interesting because it measured the effect of MBSR on both psychological and physical functions of the body. Meditation as a way to increase mindfulness proves to have a beneficial effect on both high blood pressures, which is beneficial for healthy heart function, and decreasing rumination, which is beneficial for mental health. Not to mention, no one likes a brooder. It’s interesting to see that a program developed about 40 years ago is still in practice today and is helping people with serious health defects. Hopefully, the health benefits of mediation will continue to be studied and used in the future.
Terms: Mindfulness-based stress reduction, attentiveness, meditation, mindfulness, rumination, blood pressure
Link to article: http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.proxy.lib.uni.edu/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=3&sid=8d9e01a2-124c-4aee-8f1a-a9bfb07a4f34@sessionmgr114&hid=115
The reading this week did a lot of discussing of what progress in meditation looks like and what the different levels entail. I found myself really relating to the ‘I’m going to meditate no matter what’ mentality and trying to approach this practice with sheer discipline and willpower. So the topic that I chose for this week is the rookie mistake of meditation: trying too hard. While searching out this topic, I found that a few key ideas were repeated. Effort and strain are different actions and the less you strain in meditation, the better the meditation becomes. Like with other ideas we’ve read for this class, this problem is paradoxical in nature.
One of the articles clarifies that while meditation does require consistent effort, it doesn’t require having to ‘work hard’. Another repeated theme was that the mistakes you make in meditation is part of the learning process and without any mistakes to learn from, progressing to the more advanced levels wouldn’t be possible. I personally found this to be an optimistic outlook on struggling as a beginning meditator. Another clarification that I found helpful, was that one of the articles (without explicitly naming it) mentioned how the purpose of meta-awareness is to be aware of how the process is going, not participating in a chain of thinking about it.
The source that I enjoyed the most (an excerpt from Bhante Gunaratana’s book I found online) stated that one of the most important remedies to trying too hard is to keep a sense of humor and remain relaxed. It brought up the point that ‘master’ meditators are often happy, humorous people (which reminds me of the story of the Dalai Lama that was brought up in class and how upbeat he was). While these people consider meditation to be an integral part of life, they remain light and unburdened by expectation. Bhante Gunaratana wrote in his book that we all will face difficulties in our meditation practice, but that “the way out of a trap is to study the trap itself, learn how it is build.” I just loved this quote because I feel it truly gets at how important being self-aware is and understanding that everyone’s experiences and roadblocks will be different.
http://www.vipassana.com/meditation/mindfulness_in_plain_english_12.php
http://www.holisticshop.co.uk/articles/beginners-meditation-problems
http://www.clarejosa.com/articles/inspirational-messages/are-you-trying-too-hard-to-meditate/
terms: meta-awareness, discipline, willpower, effort, strain, learning, humor, relax, expectation
This weeks chapter was all about attention, and how to improve it through meditation. The chapter talked a little bit about what happens in the brain for focusing and maintaining that attention, but didn’t get too far into it. I am interested in neuroscience, so I decided to read a journal article about the cognitive neuroscience of sustained attention. This article had me utterly confused, and momentarily re-evaluating my academic interests. I can sum the article up pretty well by saying that the neural mechanisms of attention are very complicated. This article had a running focus on “top-down” and “bottom-up” models, which are in reference to their conceptual principles rather than anatomical arrangement in the brain. The top-down processes are knowledge driven, referencing previously acquired knowledge and making expectations, where the bottom-up processes are driven by the characteristics of the stimulus and its sensory context. The article identified a number of brain areas to be important to attention. The right medial frontal, dorsolateral prefrontal, and parietal cortical regions have shown consistent activation when involved in sustained attention tasks. The article referenced the anterior and posterior attention systems, which I can say after looking up a referenced article, reside on the medial side of the frontal lobes and on the lateral side of the posterior parietal lobes respectively. The role of cholinergic inputs was identified as being crucial to sustained attention (cholinergic inputs are simply those that use ACh, acetylcholine). It is suggested that the basal forebrain is important for producing cortical cholinergic inputs, which significantly contribute to the activation of fronto-parietal regions. These fronto-parietal areas, especially in the right hemisphere, are prominently involved in sustained attention, or ‘vigilance’ as the article referred to it.
Terms: attention, prefrontal cortical regions, parietal cortical regions, anterior attention system, posterior attention system, cholinergic inputs, fronto-parietal areas.
Sarter, M.. Givens, B., Bruno, J.P., (2000). The cognitive neuroscience of sustained attention: where top-down meets bottom-up. Brain Research Reviews 35, 146-160.
There are many different models of attention that have been developed throughout history. One of those models is Kahneman’s capacity model of attention. This method is developed around the idea that we have only a certain supply of mental efforts. It looks at how we handle dividing our attention and at what point we reach our limit and the quality of attention we have begins to deteriorate. At first researchers thought that we could only pay attention to one task at a time. The multiple resources theory was developed that actually showed it was easier to perform two different tasks together as long as the stimuli for them were different. This would mean that the less two tasks have in common the easier they are to do at the same time. I think about when people ask you to pat your head and rub your stomach at the same time. This can be hard for some people to do because the motions are very similar.
There are five primary types of attention: focused, selective, sustained, alternating, and divided. Focused attention is when you are not distracted by any other stimuli which requires you to remain very focused. Selective attention is when you decide what stimuli you want to focus your attention on. For instance, if you are in a crowded room and there are many different conversations happening, you usually choose a conversation to listen to or join. When you are listening to that conversation you tend to drown out all of the other conversations. Sustained attention is when you are able to continue focusing on something for a good amount of time. An easy example of this is if we read a book for an hour without getting distracted, for many people that would be really easy. Alternating attention is when you are able to shift your focus between two different tasks without any real trouble. Divided attention is when you are able to focus on two different stimuli at the same time. This is the highest level of attention and the hardest to do. The more you practice and the more similar the stimuli are the easier it is.
It is actually proven that if you practice enough you can perform well in two different tasks at the same time. It all depends on your ability and capacity to stay attentive. I found this research really interesting because I have had people tell me that it is impossible to multitask. I have struggled with deciding if that is true or not because I feel as if I am pretty darn good at multitasking. This study would suggest that your success with multitasking is dependent on the capacity of attention you have as an individual. There may be people with exceptional abilities that are able to hold their attention longer, better, or between more stimuli but they are the exception. Knowing the information that I do it seems that I strive on paying attention to different stimuli. If I don’t have things to distract me I tend to be less productive. I often need music, TV, or food in order to keep my hands busy while I’m doing other things. I think part of this might have to do with the generation that I’m growing up in. One question that I have now is whether our personalities (i.e. extrovert vs. introvert) have anything to do with what form of attention we prefer to use.
Terminology: Kahneman’s capacity model of attention, deteriorate, stimuli, multiple resources theory, focused, selective, sustained, alternating, divided, multitasking, extrovert, introvert
Mindfulness Training for Interpreting Students
http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.proxy.lib.uni.edu/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=6&sid=773f439f-bc8c-4eb6-851b-8d6b13cd56a2@sessionmgr112&hid=101
Chapter three was a difficult one to choose from. And I feel like a lot of subjects mentioned we have already covered in class and has been researched by another student. However, when choosing the subject/topic to research for chapter three, I originally began searching for information and articles over secular meditation. With lots a frustration and very little luck, I decided to go back and review the chapter. Instead of secular meditation I chose to look further into to subject of meta awareness. So the first short article I found was named, Meta-Awareness Mindfulness Meditation Improves Cognition : Evidence of Brief Mental Training. This article focused on the basic findings of long term meditation and how it changes areas of the brain and transforms emotion, balance, and attention. From learning what long term meditation is capable of they were curious as to what brief meta meditation was capable of doing. They explored the effects it had on cognition and mood. After four sessions of meditation with participants who had never practice meditation before found that it had improved not only their mood and awareness, but feelings of anxiousness and reduced fatigue. So, to sum up these findings, positive results of the practice have been found within the very first week. Another article by the name of Meta Cognitive Awareness: Neural Mechanisms of Attentional Control, This article focused on short term meditation and behavior effects. after only six weeks of practice behavior and performance had improved dramatically. Participants appeared to be less distracted and brain activity increased in areas such as the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, anterior insula, and the cingulated cortex. Here meditation silences the many of the brain networks and improves attention, behavior, stateliness and enhances consciousness. Another example provided was when driving or walking to class you don’t remember the drive or passing things you usually notice. Described as being so focused in on a day dream that your mind simply forgets to observe. Meditation practice prevents this sense of oblivion. One thing I would like to read more on that was mentioned in this article/study was the “Salience network”. I have not seen this in any of the books we have read in class, nor anywhere else. I did Google the definition; Saliency is, “the state or quality by which it stands out relative to its neighbors. Saliency detection is considered to be a key attention mechanism that facilitates learning and survival by enabling organisms to focus their limited perceptual and cognitive resources on the most pertinent subset of the available sensory data.” –Wikipedia.
Terms: secular meditation, meta-awareness, mindfulness, cognition, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, anterior insula, cingulated cortex, sensory data, saliency
In this article mindfulness is used to reduce electrically induced pain. Participants were chosen who had no previous mental illness, and no exposure to meditation; however participants did suggest an interest in meditation. They found that a brief three day mindfulness meditation intervention was successful in producing cognitive manipulation, decreasing pain and discomfort experienced by the participant.
Meditation is associated with better health outcomes supported by empirical data, but generalizability is difficult to use due to insecurities in meditation data. The researchers who worked on this experiment were interested in building public awareness of the benefits of meditation. However, they were faced with the problem of a preconceived notion that meditation had a substantial time commitment surrounding it. This study shows that this is not true, the participants in this study were successful in using meditation to ignore the pain after a short three day training session in meditation. Zeidan et al were supplementing Kingston et al, who found that meditation decreased pain in a cold pressor task. Kingston et al used a six week, and three week meditation training. Overall Zeidan et all found through a review of other meditation research that short training periods in meditation are sufficient to produce cognitive changes in reaction towards pain. However, pain was not the only psychomotor outcome effected by meditation, they also saw a reduction in anxiety and increases in relaxation.
Zeidan et al found a successful correlation in their study to the meditation training which proved their hypothesis that meditation training can be done in a short period of time if the subject is interested, and receptive towards the idea of meditation. While these participants only meditated for three consecutive days, with no religious affiliation, they were successful in receiving benefits from meditation in the form of cognitive pain reduction. This study should be an example of how meditation can impact, and elicit change in your daily life. Meditation is not a large time commitment but it does require a marginal amount of time on a daily basis. However, as shown by Zeidan et al the benefits are worth the time commitment.
Zeidan, Fadel., Gordon, Nakia S., Merchant, Junaid., Goolkasian, Paula., 2010. “The effects of brief mindfulness meditation training on experimentally induced pain.” The Journal of Pain, 11(3) 199-209.
Available online at www.sciencedirect.com
Terms: Meditation, Anxiety, Cognitive pain reduction,
This week I read about a study that looked at the effects of “mindfulness training” on cancer patients on their 6 month follow up after treatment. I have put the mindfulness training in quotations because it never really explains exactly what the training is. The study explains some of the parameters of the treatment, but never a guide. I’d guess that from our books reading, this mindfulness training is similar if not exactly the same to the meditation that we are practicing for class. The way that this study labels progress or effectiveness of mindfulness training is through the measurement of stress, anxiety/depression, and five other survey like questionnaires.
The introduction to this study explains the immense amount of stress experienced by those who are diagnosed with cancer. This study is then an attempt to find ways of relieving said stress and maybe making the healing process more comfortable for those involved. This study sites that is has found a strong association between mindfulness training and significantly decreased stress and post-traumatic stress syndromes. I assume it was then logic that brought them to the idea of having cancer patients; probably some of the most stressed people undergo this treatment style.
The measurements for this study were quite extensive and involved 7 different psychological measurements (not including asking for demographical information). These questionnaires were as follows; Percieved Stress Scale (PSS), Hospital Anxiety and Depression (HADS), Impact of Event Scale, Positive States of Mind (PSOM), Coping Self-Efficacy Scale (CSES), Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ), and Meditation Practice.
This study was actually really hard to interoperate because there was so much going on. With the 7 different scales being compared and compiled, it almost gave me more information than I could take it. Basically from what I understand, the mindfulness training and a positive effect on stress and anxiety from all of the psychological tests. The study explains that it isn’t really aware of the exact relation between the training and reduced stress and depression, but the information shows that there was lowered stress and depression.
If you were to ask me if I thought that logically there would be an effect between mindfulness practice and well-being, I would say there would be. With only anecdotal evidence, I can say that meditation has helped through many stressful situations within this last semester of class. I would imagine it would have similar effects for other people especially for those with higher stress levels.
Terms: mindfulness training, mindfulness, well-being, efficacy, stress, meditation.
Bränström, R., Kvillemo, P., & Moskowitz, J. (2012). A randomized study of the effects of mindfulness training on psychological well-being and symptoms of stress in patients treated for cancer at 6-month follow-up. International Journal Of Behavioral Medicine, 19(4), 535-542. doi:10.1007/s12529-011-9192-3
The article that found for this week discussed a study on how attention and mindfulness-based stress reduction can help to decrease a person’s social anxiety disorder. The article discussed how through MBSR a person gains a better ability to recognize and regulate emotions that could result in stress, anxiety, or depression. The study that was done looked at two ways of attentional deployment. Those were breath-focused attention and distraction focused attention. The study used a number of participants that all had some form of anxiety or depression disorder. The participants were given an assessment before and after a two-month training period in MBSR. During the study the participants were not only trained in sessions but also given CD’s for meditation. The results to the experiment showed that there was a decrease in anxiety and depression from pre to post training. This was only for the breath-focused attention though. In all cases the breath-focused method not only reduced anxiety and depression for individuals but, it also was found to have a neurological effect that increased regulation of emotions, visual processing, and memory in some of the participants. An interesting part of the study discussed how this MBSR related change was similar to changes caused by pharmacological interventions. This was something that I had not read before directly comparing the effects of mediation with the effects of medication. I took a brief look at an article they cited and it said that with adapting behavior and anxiety they were similar in their effects but that when it came to depression medication had a larger effect. They discussed many benefits and clinical implications of MSBS and its effect on SAD. The study was small that the researchers conducted so that was one negative to the study. Another part that I found questionable was that all the participants were diagnosed with different conditions (anxiety, depression, and OCD to name a few) I felt that they should all have the same condition since they all have different symptoms and levels to those symptoms. I would like to look more into the comparison between medicine and mediation in the future.
Key words: attention, mindfulness-based stress reduction, social anxiety, depression, breath-focused, distraction-focused, memory, visual processing, meditation, SAD
http://psycnet.apa.org.proxy.lib.uni.edu/journals/emo/10/1/83.html
In this week’s exploration blog, I found an article that studied intensive meditation and discussed how meditation improved perceptual discrimination and sustained attention. According to MacLean et al., 2010, the ability to focus one’s attention while avoiding distractions is critical for adaptive, goal-directed behavior. Voluntary attention, guided by goals, previous knowledge, or explicit instructions, can be directed to spatial locations and moment in time to improve behavioral accuracy and efficiency. Research has shown that some forms of training, such as practice on video games, can improve performance on untrained attention tasks, suggesting that training and practice may lead to the transfer of learned skills to new situations. With this said, the key goal of this study was to investigate whether meditation training could yield improvements in voluntary sustained attention.
MacLean et al., 2010, emphasized on Shamatha which is the Buddhist practice of the calming of the mind. Shamatha is done by practicing single-pointed meditation most commonly through mindfulness of breathing. The researchers examined the effects of Shamatha training on 60 participants who were divided randomly into two groups: one that began training at a first retreat (n=30) and one that served as a waiting-list control and attended a second retreat (n=30). Since environment contributes to the practice of meditation, I thought that it was interesting that the retreat participants were sent to a remote mountain setting at the Shambhala Mountain Center in Colorado to conduct this experiment. Each day, participants attended two sessions that included group meditation and discussion, practiced in solitude, and had weekly individual meeting with the instructor. Results were assessed at three points during each retreat: before the start of the retreat (pre-training), halfway through the retreat (mid-training), and at the end of the retreat, using a test of sustained visual attention that produced significant decrements in perceptual sensitivity before training. To characterize the relations among perception resource demand, and vigilance, they analyzed (a) discrimination (visual threshold for line-length differences), (b) average sensitivity (during sustained attention), and (c) vigilance (decrement in perceptual sensitivity over time).
At each assessment, participants completed the threshold procedure followed by the sustained-attention task, and also completed the threshold procedure a second time in Retreat 1. In both tasks, participants saw a single vertical line appear at the center of the screen; the line could be either long (frequent non-target) or short (rare target). The task instructions emphasized the importance of speed and accuracy in responding to the short line by pressing the left mouse button. In Retreat 1, all participants performed the threshold procedure again after completing the sustained-attention task, in order to assess short-term changes in discrimination. For retreat 1, at the pre-training assessment point, there were no significant differences between groups. Thus, at the beginning of training, the groups were matched in discrimination ability. There were significantly lower thresholds in the retreat group than in the control group at mid-training assessment and post-training assessment. These results indicate training specific improvements in discrimination. They were no significant group differences in average sensitivity at pre-training, mid-training, or post-training assessment points.
Retreat 2 was specifically design to examine how vigilance changed with training when target parameters were held at constant. Participants completed the threshold procedure before the sustained-attention task at each assessment and were therefore unaware of design modification. In the Retreat 2 group, vigilance decrement did not change with simple task practice before training. However, after training a significant effect emerged and indicated that vigilance improved with training, as the researchers initially predicted. Participants showed significant reductions in the vigilance decrement across the first half if the sustained-attention task during the training period of Retreat 2. These results, along with previous research suggest that meditation training can improve aspects of attention.
Terms: sustained attention, meditation, training, vigilance, discrimination, threshold
MacLean, K. A., Ferrer, E., Aichele, S. R., Bridwell, D. A., Zanesco, A. P., Jacobs, T. L., ... & Saron, C. D. (2010). Intensive meditation training improves perceptual discrimination and sustained attention. Psychological Science, 21(6), 829-839.
For this week’s blog, I found an article discussing ADHD. This particular article is in a question and answer format where Dr. Carl Sherman from UCLA is answering questions about mindful awareness or mindfulness and the practicing meditation to help with ADHD. One question in particular stuck out to me and immediately made me want to start writing the blog. The question was asked, “What if you just can't keep your mind focused? Will the exercise still do any good?” This is what we have been asking and feeling as we’ve dived into meditation. Are we actually doing it? Sherman’s response is exactly what Kim has been reassuring us: “It’s the nature of the mind to be distracted. Mindful awareness isn’t about staying with the breath, but about returning to the breath. That’s what enhances your ability to focus. And this emphasis on re-shifting your attention, of outwitting the mind's natural tendency to wander, is what makes us think this technique could be especially helpful to someone who has AD/HD.” This refocusing is the act of meditation and gaining mindfulness. If you have to refocus and are able to, you are doing it right.
Questions were asked if meditation actually works and Sherman talks about a study he has done. In the study, participants were taught how to meditate by refocusing the mind on breathing and doing this throughout the day. After the study was finished, participant gave an average of 9 from a 1-10 scale sating this mindfulness meditation has been beneficial. It has given the participants the ability to notice that they’re off track and now they have a tool to help them refocus. Sherman was asked if there was scientific evidence to support meditation and his answer was pleasing. “Compared with people who don't meditate, long-time meditators have different EEG and MRI patterns, particularly in the brain's frontal region—the region that is involved with AD/HD. Another study found a rise in the level of the neurotransmitter dopamine during meditative states. Lowered levels of dopamine have been found regularly in people with AD/HD.” Now, I’m a little off put because I didn’t find source for the studies he discussed but from previous discussions in class, we know there that meditation effects the brain as well as the mind. It is encouraging to know that there is something the individual can control when it come to their ADHD as opposed to relying on meds alone. Meditation is a free treatment with no negative side effects. If nothing else, it will not hurt to try it out in hopes to refocus the mind.
Terms: ADHD, meditation, mindfulness, mindful awareness, breath, attention, focus
http://www.additudemag.com/adhd/article/1475-2.html
One of the more interesting things I read about in the previous chapter was the idea of Meta awareness. Meta awareness is a tool that is learned in meditation that brings once focuses back to a starting point. I believe I compared it similarly to a reset button for when you meditate. A better explanation of this is when your mind wanders during meditation and you do not realize it, which would be like having a low Meta awareness. If you do realize right away that your mind has started wandering on different topics during meditation then you have a higher level of Meta awareness. So you can see how this is useful for meditators to have.
For this exploration blog I found a text that describes Meta awareness better and looks at some of the beneficial effects from having a high Meta awareness. Meta awareness is term that is interchangeable with metaconsciousness, which is the state of deliberatively attending to the contents of conscious experience. The differences between conscious, unconscious, and Meta awareness can be explained with the example of mind wandering while reading. It happens with many people, they are just reading along and then they realize that they have no clue what they just read because their mind was on other thoughts. Meta awareness is most likely unique to humans. It represents the ability to step outside one’s own thoughts and reflect upon them. A lack of Meta awareness may be confused with the feeling of never known, like with the problem of recovering memories of sexual abuse. Also Meta awareness is not perfect. Sometimes when a person uses this they can make mistakes and distort from what actually happened. While there is good and bad of Meta awareness the beneficial properties still outweigh the bad.
https://labs.psych.ucsb.edu/schooler/jonathan/sites/labs.psych.ucsb.edu.schooler.jonathan/files/biblio/chin%20%26%20Schooler%20meta-awareness.pdf
This article talks about how increasing attention to any given task will increase productivity and decrease stress, both winners in my book. Additionally, by increasing productivity one’s stress will likely decrease without the additional decrease already given by the attention.
The first example was focusing on ordinary, daily activities as you do them. For example, the article mentioned trying not to think about other things when showering, eating, etc. I get it with eating; one should enjoy the savors of the different flavors. However, I do my best thinking in the shower and I’m not sure I should/need to focus on my showering. Perhaps my roommates will disagree, though, haha.
The most applicable piece of information would be how increased attention affects employment. Employees, nowadays, are expected to do more and are being paid less. Looking at the area of which I am most familiar, higher education, it would certainly seem this is true. Faculty are being expected to do research, teach more classes, develop more engaging pedagogy, serve on committees, help with recruiting, etc., but due to the decrease in state appropriations for higher education, faculty raises are not increasing with the workload. The problem that arises is that employees are working longer and not smarter. Instead of focusing on one thing at a time, our society tends to work on several different things at a time, which, according to Buddhist psychology, decreases productivity and actually negatively affects well-being.
I have definitely seen this in my life. Last semester, before taking the course on meditation, I would start several different emails, start a paper, have an article open and generally be working on some paper or project. Of course, if I saw my Facebook notifications increase or another email pop up, I would drop whatever I was doing to see what it was, which was usually unimportant.
However, this semester, I have been much better at replying to all my emails at once, then reading the article, then starting the paper or project. I have found I work much more quickly. Which has been necessary, given the sheer amount of work I have needed to do this semester. If more employees could do the same thing, the article posits and I tend to agree, society could progress much more quickly, particularly in the mental health of our citizens. While we would definitely be getting more work done, our citizens could begin focus on things that really matter, really lend to our well-being.
However, as usual with meditation, more empirical research needs to be gathered.
Terms: attention, meditation, mindfulness, productivity, stress
http://eds.b.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=2&sid=8569319f-13a7-4cdc-a47c-52f9b53c8cfe%40sessionmgr198&hid=105