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.
Many people care greatly about their reputation and that is why I found the section in Chapter 13, “Relax About What Others Think” interesting. It states that we evolved to greatly care about our reputation since it affected whether others in the group would help or hurt an individual’s chances of survival. This section in Chapter 13 guides the reader to not get caught up in what others think, but to be the best you can be with virtue, benevolence, and wisdom.
Bowles’s article (2006) was a kind of a tough read and did not address as much of the statement made in the section I chose from Chapter 13. The jest of the article is about a genetic disposition that favors human altruism exists, which is a result of a gene-culture coevolutionary process where group conflict played a key role. Genetic differences in early human groups are said to have been large enough to create lethal competition between groups, which accounts for the evolution of altruism. Sharing food beyond the immediate family, monogamy, and other forms of reproductive leveling were crucial human practices that presuppose advanced cognitive and linguistic capacities—benefiting the evolution of altruism.
Key words: reputation; survival; virtue; benevolence; wisdom; genetic disposition; altruism; coevolutionary; reproductive leveling; cognitive/linguistic capacities
Bowles, S. 2006. Group competition, reproductive
leveling, and the evolution of human altruism.
Science 314: 1569-1572.
For this weeks exploration blog I decided to research more on the topic of concentration and attention. I wanted to learn more about how mediation could improve concentration and why this happened biologically. Unfortunately I never found an article that I was really pleased with and that discussed everything I was looking for. Of the many articles that I looked through there was only a few that I thought were interesting and helpful. Both talked about how meditation and mindfulness training can improve concentration or mind wandering. The first one was over how this mindfulness training through meditation helped to improve GRE performance substantiality. The study compared two groups one of which was a meditation class and the other was a nutrition class. The results to the study I found very interesting for the fact that the meditation group improved on all areas that were tested much more than the nutrition group. Good nutrition is obvious and beneficial for many reasons but I was surprised and a bit skeptical on how much mediation training could affect ones GRE or test score. The change in GRE scores for before and after the mediation program was an increase in 16 percentile points. A reduction in the activation of the default network, which is a key factor in mind wandering and concentration, was found in both experienced and beginning individuals practicing mediation. This reduction in the default network tied into the next article that I found that focused solely on individuals with a diagnosed ADHD condition. There have been a few studies over the reduction of the default network in individuals that have had meditation experience before and novice meditators but not many over the effect it can have on ADHD and other psychiatric disorders. If meditation can help to improve concentration in others then how would it affect those with a diagnosed condition that impairs concentration was what I was wondering. The study did show that meditation helped in increase concentration and emotional regulation in individuals but that they believed more testing should be done. I found both articles to be somewhat vague in how biologically this increase in concentration happened because both were mostly self-report studies. The common factor I thought was more of mindfulness awareness that then lead to better concentration. With the meditation practice individuals were better able to notice when they were being distracted and ignore distractions that were not relevant to what was need to be focused on. I think that is also what the book is mainly focused on also. You learn how to be mindful of all things and increase those that are beneficial while decreasing the undesirable ones. I would like to learn more about the biological side of how concentration is increased rather than just reading a study that says that meditation does increase concentration.
Key words: concentration, attention, meditation, default network, and mindfulness
http://jad.sagepub.com/content/11/6/737.full.pdf+html
http://pss.sagepub.com/content/24/5/776
I wanted to explore the concepts talked about in Chapter 13, “Relaxing the Self.” Many of the ideas in this chapter seemed to be pseudo-scientific and frankly somewhat insulting. The authors attack the idea of ownership over actions while promoting a detachment of self. I wanted to look more into why the authors took their stance.
I found a research article called “What Is More Important for National Well-Being: Money or Autonomy? A Meta-Analysis of Well-Being, Burnout and Anxiety across 63 Societies”. The researchers used the General Health Questionnaire, the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, and the Maslach Burnout Inventory. They followed 420,599 people from 63 countries over nearly 40 years. They found that more autonomy as associated with individualism was associated with higher national wellbeing. I am not entirely surprised by this as, at least in the United States, individualism is highly valued and sought after. This doesn’t entirely debunk chapter 13, but it does poke a hole in the idea that the self is the “single greatest source of suffering” (page 205).
I read an article about this study that brought up an interesting point about differences in cultures. It is already well known that in most Western cultures the idea of individualism is highly praised but in many Eastern countries there is a much stronger focus on collectivism. In those Eastern countries, high levels of individualism can be associated with anxiety and high levels of stress. I would be interested to see if citizens in those countries use similar amounts of “I” statements or have similar senses of self. I believe that it isn’t necessary to let go of your “self” to work towards a common goal with others, so I would like to see if there is any research that goes on to that effect.
Terms: Individualism, self, collectivism, wellbeing, autonomy
After reading this week’s section of Buddha’s Brain I was angry and skeptical. This was because of the way that the authors were explaining how being cognizant of the self is negative and how there were very few citations in the chapter. So, I decided to explore one of the few citations in the section, which was the review article “Hypo-Egoic Self-Regulation: Exercising Self-Control by Diminishing the Influence of the Self”.
The article explained that being too aware of yourself can cause you to poorly perform on tasks at hand. Self-regulation isn’t the way to handle being distracted by your sense of self though, the authors tell, since in some cases consciously trying to decrease thoughts or a behavior can actually increase them. An example study was given to illustrate this idea. The study dealt with two groups of participants where both had a milkshake. Then they were allowed to eat ice cream, but one group was told to limit their intake while the other group didn’t receive these instructions. The group that was told to restrict, actually ate more. So focusing on behaving one way made them behave the opposite. They called the process of letting go of control hypo-egoic self-regulation.
To implement this method, the goal is to first decrease the amount of time thinking about yourself and to second make the self-thoughts that you do have concrete and about the present. To make your thoughts more concrete, they say to think with statements like how instead of why and to be specific rather than broad. Other tips for achieving this way of thinking include overlearning skills or routines so they become automatic and don’t require additional thinking along with meditating since one of meditation’s purposes is to let incoming thoughts come and go and to be present.
An interesting thing about this method of thinking is how it’s paradoxical in nature, just like our book said. The authors write about the possibilities that paradoxical therapy has for people trying to decrease undesirable behaviors. For example, if an unwanted behavior occurs unintentionally, then the therapy consists of intentionally calling on that behavior. Along with potential for self-regulation of thoughts for people with mental illnesses, like eating disorders or PTSD, there are many other benefits to self-regulation. By decreasing the amount of abstract self-thoughts and limiting self-thoughts to concrete ones, less energy is depleted. Another more obvious reason is to become more effective at performing tasks. Reading this article made me understand more fully what the book was trying to get at. It’s not that our personalities themselves are what’s getting in the way of performing tasks optimally, it’s excessive self-attention.
Key words: the self, hypo-egoic self-regulation, self thoughts, paradoxical, meditation, concentration, being present
http://eds.a.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=becad338-8543-4c10-9e39-02c8aaae9a0e%40sessionmgr4004&vid=3&hid=4113
This week’s readings discuss how meditation may increase concentration. Concentration is an immensely important skill that is useful in many settings such as jobs, school, everyday tasks, and more. One job in particular that requires a great deal of concentration is being in the military. The military trains its soldiers to not only be fit for combat but also to be intellectually equip.
In war/combat, soldiers must be able to make quick decisions and must be able to concentrate at the task at hand. One wrong move or decision could mean the life of one or many soldiers. In an article by Rochman (2009), the military has begun implementing meditation into its training. The goal of this meditation is to mentally prepare soldiers to the tasks at hand, as well as help with transitioning between the battlefield and home life. There was a study conducted on a small group of Marines training for deployment to Iraq. Half of them took an eight-week mindfulness course, meditating for an average of 12 minutes a day, the other half the control group. The results of the study showed that the marines whom actively participated in the meditation slept better, had improved athletic performance and scored higher on emotional and cognitive evaluations than Marines who did not participate in the meditation (Hruby 2012). In an additional survey of soldiers that have participated in meditation, 70% said they felt better able to handle stressful situations and 65% had improved self-control (Rochman 2009). So why does this work?
One reason meditation works could be due to the placebo effect however a more probably reason could be the neuroscience behind meditation. Meditation has been found to change the way blood and oxygen flow through the brain, it strengthens the neural circuits responsible for concentration and empathy. It shrinks the amygdala, an area of the brain that controls the fear response and finally enlarges the hippocampus, an area of the brain that controls memory (Hruby 2012). With these significant results, meditation should be exercised more often, especially in areas that require high-levels of decision making and concentration.
Meditation not only helps improve concentration and mindfulness, but also individuals with PTSD. The Veterans Association has partnered with an organization called Operation Warrior Wellness (OWW) which offers transcendental meditation. Transcendental meditation’s purpose is to teach relaxation, stress reduction and self-development which will help lower PTSD symptoms. Studies conducted on transcendental meditation and PTSD have shown 40-55% reduction in PTSD symptoms as well as depression (Lynch 2013).
Overall it is clear that meditation is beneficial to the military in not only combat situations, but recovery as well. Meditation although not widely used within the military, is increasing in popularity as more research is conducted. Hopefully, more and more jobs, schools, and other organizations begin to see the positive effects of meditation and implement it within their field as well.
Terms: transcendental meditation, PTSD, depression, empathy, amygdala, hippocampus, concentration, mindfulness, emotions, cognition
Hruby, P. (2012). Marines expanding use of meditation training. Retrieved from http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/dec/5/marines-expanding-use-of-meditation-training/?page=all
Lynch, D. (2013). Operation Warrior Wellness: building resilience and healing the
hidden wounds of war. Retrieved from http://www.davidlynchfoundation.org/military.html
Rochman, B. (2009). Samurai mind training for modern American warriors. Retrieved from http://content.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1920753,00.html
For my exploration blog today, I read an article that was cited in the generosity section of chapter 13. The chapter stated from this article that the feeling of envy activates the same neural networks involved in physical pain. I was curious about this since I’ve always found brain activation and emotions interesting.
I was delighted to discover that the article did not only discuss the feeling of envy but also its more or less reverse emotion – schadenfreude. Schadenfreude is the sight happiness or satisfaction we feel from someone else’s misfortune. In the article they discussed how people usually feel schadenfreude when someone whom they envy is met with misfortune. I have always thought this emotion was fascinating and a little humorous, if only because of the song in the musical “Avenue Q” that glorifies it. According to the researchers, the people we envy are usually similar to ourselves, a term they call self-relevant, as well as have some sort of advantage whether it be physical, material, or otherwise in a situation relevant to our own lives. We don’t really experience schadenfreude when faced with the misfortune of those less fortunate then us, or those with whom we have nothing in common. I thought this distinction was interesting since I had never heard it being defined that way. However, it makes sense. I don’t feel any satisfaction when I see the misfortune that befalls people in third world countries, but I will admit I think it is both hilarious and satisfying when I see typically athletic people, like professional athletes, mess up, like missing a dunk or falling on their asses. Though I don’t have much in common with professional athletes, I do enjoy playing sport and envy their talent and position. Thus, when they screw up, it is the teensiest bit satisfying.
During the study, the researchers used 19 volunteers (10 men and 9 women) and gave each 2 functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) tests to see which parts of the brain were activated when hit with the feelings of envy and schadenfreude. An interesting aspect of this study was how envy and schadenfreude were invoked. The participants were each asked to read a scenario involving 4 characters, the protagonist (which the researchers told the participants to imagine as themselves) and 3 target persons. What was interesting were the different profiles of the three target characters. For male participants, Student A was a male who was very similar to the protagonist but had superior quality and ability in whatever domains of comparison were relevant to the participant. Those domains were previously determined from a survey given before the fMRI. This character was classified as SpHi or superior and high relevance. Student B was a female that was superior but not very similar to the protagonist, classified SpLo, superior and low relevance. Finally, Student C was female, mediocre, and dissimilar to the protagonist, classified AvLo, average and low relevance.
During the scenario, two misfortunes befell both Student A and Student C, then the participants self rated the level of envy and the level of schadenfreude they felt for all 3 students on a scale of 1 – 6 with 6 being the highest.
It was found during the study that when intense envy was felt, the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) was activated. This part of the brain is also activated when cognitive conflicts or social pain are experienced. This distinction is interesting because the dorsal ACC is involved in feeling pain ourselves, as opposed to the caudal ACC, which is the center for empathetic pain. Therefore, envy may feel as harmful as social pain, like distress or social exclusion. When schadenfreude was invoked, the ventral striatum was activated. This brain area is a central node of reward processing.
Overall, I thought this article was very interesting and I really enjoyed learning about these different emotions and how they affect the brain. However, nowhere in the article did it mention a connection of envy and physical pain, so I think the citation from the book used the information incorrectly.
Terms: Generosity, envy, schadenfreude, neural processes, brain activation, emotion, fMRI, anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), ventral striatum
Link to article: http://media.rickhanson.net/home/files/papers/EnvySchadenfreude.pdf
For this exploration blog I researched the different brainwaves humans have. The five types of waves are delta, theta, alpha, beta, and gamma waves and they all have characteristic frequencies and relate to different levels of consciousness. Delta waves occur in deep, dreamless sleep and are the slowest of the five types of brainwaves. They occur at frequencies of 0.2hz - 3hz and correspond to a state of total unconsciousness. Theta waves are the second-slowest and occur during light sleep or extreme relaxation. Theta is also a very receptive mental state that has proven useful for hypnotherapy. They occur at frequencies of 3hz - 8hz. Alpha waves are present when a person is awake but relaxed. At this time they are not processing much information. This naturally occurs when you get up in the morning and just before sleep. Alpha activity has also been connected to the ability to recall memories, lessened discomfort and pain, and reductions in stress and anxiety. The frequencies of alpha waves are 8hz - 12hz. Beta waves occur when we are wide awake. This is generally the mental state for most people during the day and the majority of our waking lives. However, many people lack sufficient beta activity, which can cause mental or emotional disorders such as depression, ADD, and insomnia. Stimulating beta activity can improve emotional stability, energy levels, attentiveness and concentration. Beta waves have frequencies of 12hz - 27hz.
Finally there are gamma waves which our reading this week briefly mentioned. Gamma waves occur at frequencies of 27hz and above. There are associated with the formation of ideas, language and memory processing, and various types of learning. Gamma waves are also present during meditation which has been shown in studies involving Buddhist monks. I briefly looked over other studies involving gamma waves as they relate to migraines and also as they relate to cognitive abilities. The Cognitive Enhancement study used 30 participants ranging in age from 6-16 and tested them over a period of 6 weeks. They were given 35 minutes of gamma wave stimulation twice a week during which participants put on headsets and light goggles and completed each session while reclining in a comfortable chair. Before and after the 6 weeks of treatment, each participant was tested using the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-III). Analysis of the test scores from before and after the gamma sessions showed that the 30 participants demonstrated significant progress in a wide variety of tests measuring cognitive abilities. One of the main surprises of the experiment was the relatively low number of sessions needed to improve cognitive abilities. Researchers found a statistically significant increase in the participants’ speed of information processing and visual motor coordination. There was also a significant gain in the participants’ visual short-term memory, sequencing ability, and concentration. Some people think this may be a viable treatment for ADD and ADHD rather than prescription medicines.
I also found some notes about how to best stimulate your gamma brain waves on your own. One website said that practicing loving kindness meditation in particular produces the most gamma waves. You can also listen to binaural beats which are two sounds of similar frequencies presented one to each ear. There are sound clips on YouTube that play gamma sound waves specifically which can be helpful.
Terms: Gamma waves, alpha, beta, theta, delta waves, meditation
http://www.dreamscanbecomereality.com/adhdadd.html
http://www.transparentcorp.com/research/gamma-brain-waves.php
http://www.xing.com/net/chemgr/another-chemistry-kinds-213531/alpha-beta-gamma-the-language-of-brainwaves-31219367
http://mbyl.hubpages.com/hub/What-are-Gamma-Brain-Waves-How-to-produce-more-Gamma-Waves-with-Meditation
I wanted to do my topic on the anterior cingulate cortex and how meditation affects it as well as how it aids in meditating and being attentive. I thought this part of chapter 12 was particularly interesting because I have a hard time actually concentrating when I attempt to meditate. I always have so much on my mind and tons of to-do lists and I really struggle with setting those things aside and understanding that meditating will actually make me more productive. I want to get a better idea of how meditation helps and how our anterior cingulate cortex plays a role in that.
Research has found that doing just 3 hours of mental training can increase the activity in your anterior cingulate cortex and it improves self-regulation. The anterior cingulate cortex works to monitor and resolve conflict between our responses. Studies have shown that after exercising your brain with mental training, your anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) actually is able to resolve conflict quicker and more effectively. When we meditate our ACC is activated and our anxiety levels decrease. They also found that when we’re meditating our ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VPC) has more activity. This is the area of our brains that controls worrying.
I find this subject really interesting because I struggle with being able to stay attentive and clear my mind. I found that the areas of the brain that are directly related with being in control of our thoughts and relieving our anxiety are consistent with the principles of being mindful. Mindfulness seems to be very important in being able to be attentive.
As I read up on these studies I realized that I don’t fully know the function of the anterior cingulate cortex so I decided to look a bit deeper into that. The ACC is involved in our subjective experiences of emotions. It has also been found to be involved in our motor and autonomic control. After doing neuroimaging studies it seems like the ACC has two possible involvements. The first is that it appears to hold cognitive functions. The other is that it is involve in our mood changes. It seems that the ACC is also involved in strategic control. There are still some inconsistencies and questions regarding the ACC. One such question is why it is so active while we are at rest. There is still a lot of research to be done on the ACC. It seemed difficult to find clear cut information because there are still so many questions about its function and what exactly it controls.
The article I read didn’t do a very good job of integrating how the ACC is involved in the meditation process but my guess is that it does appear to be capable of strategic control. I think this would be important when meditating because you have to really be able to control you mind, thoughts, and impulses. I also think it might have something to do with how our mood changes when we meditate. Meditating usually puts people in a more relaxed, stress-free, positive mood. I think there is a good possibility that those mood changes could be partially attributed to our ACC.
I was a little disappointed because I had a tough time finding the information I was actually interested in. I think the two chapters we had to read this week were particularly hard to get through because they seemed to drop the science and turn to self-help. I am always interested in science which is why I jumped on the chance to learn more about the ACC when it was mentioned in the book. However, I wasn’t able to find the information that I really wanted. I did still learn about the ACC and how it plays a role in meditation.
Anterior Cingulate Cortex Regulation of Sympathetic Activity
http://brain.oxfordjournals.org/content/126/10/2119.full
I looked at this site just to get some background information on the anterior cingulate cortex. My main source didin’t explain all of the functions of the ACC and I wanted to be better educated on that.
Short-term Meditation induces White Matter changes in the Anterior Cingulate
http://www.jstor.org/sici?sici=0027-8424(2010)107%3a35%3c15649%3aProceedings+of+the+National+Academy+of+Sciences+of+the+United+States+of+America%3e2.0.TX%3b2-2&origin=EBSCO
I used this source to look into the research and studies that have been done on meditation and the ACC. It gave a good summary of the studies that they ran and the different results of each study.
Terminology: anterior cingulate cortex, meditation, functions, self-regulation, ventromedial prefrontal cortex, attentive, mindfulness, neuroimaging, emotions, relaxed, stress-free, positive, mood
Attention Regulation & Monitoring in Meditation
I chose to further research attention regulation and monitoring in meditation. I was able to find the article sited in the book by Antoine Lutz and Heleen Slagter though EBSCO and decided to use the material I found to write this blog. I choose this because I’m always looking for ways to help focus my own attention because I have the attention span of a fly. The article explains that there are two main types of meditation that are commonly explored. The first being focused attention(FA), the second is open monitoring meditation (OM). It also says that little is known about the long term practice of meditation and the effects it has on the brain. I found this surprising because the book and other things I have read seem to know quite a bit about this. As we have learned in class the article explains that meditation is expected to help with deep states of relaxation, reduce stress, provide a better sense of well being, increase mood, and may be linked to a stronger immune system.
Meditation is based around focusing one’s concentration and focusing on a specific object such as breath. In the process of practicing focused attention meditation you must recognize when your mind begins to wander and learn to redirect your attention the specific object you have chosen to focus on. By doing this the article states that the practice helps to build three specific skills that are connected to attention. The first you become aware of distractions without interrupting your focus on that main object. The second, you learn to maintain uninvolved with the object of distraction. And lastly, learn to regain your attention immediately on your intended object of focus. Eventually, after a long term practice of focused meditation, these three skills and the ability to focus your attention becomes what the article describes as effortlessly. Focusing of attention has been linked with the areas of the brain involved with conflict monitoring, selective attention, and sustaining attention. Not only will focused attention meditation help with one’s improvement in attention, but may also help with an individual’s behavior. Another finding with this long term FA practice is areas of neural activation linked to attention regulation may be reduced and may improve tasks which include both sustained and selective attention. Areas of the brain believed to be positively affected by FA meditation are, the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, dorsal anterior cingulated cortex, bentro-lateral prefrontal cortex, temporal-parietal junction, and frontal eye fields.
When considering OM meditation, FA actually plays a large role in this practice. In this practice the individual acknowledges all that that comes to mind, or happens during the time of meditation rather than direct one’s focus on one specific object. Another aspect of OM meditation is explained as responding to reflexes. This part of the article was difficult for me to understand. I think it’s trying to say that by doing so you have a greater sense of awareness and detail not only throughout your times of practice but even after. You carry it with you and notice more. However, it thin explains that this type of meditation practice does not help the individual to focus their attention on specific tasks. OM meditations main focus is to improve the individuals “reflexive awareness” in the individuals mental life. However, I’m not sure I understand this in the way the article wants me too. With this heightened reflexive awareness OM meditation is also believed to help increase kindliness and compassion, while also help to decrease chances mental illness.
This article was extremely hard to understand, especially the areas that attempted to explain the actually benefits and the reasoning or studies that backed up Monitoring meditation (OM). I stuck with the specific boxes that provided the most detailed information about the two and based my research off them. Simply because the rest of the article seemed to be repetitive and hard to comprehend. All in all, out of the two types of meditation, I enjoyed and am able to make more sense of the focused meditation practice. It relates more to what I have been doing and what others have explained in class. I’ll stick with that.
Terms: attention regulation, focus, focused attention(FA), open monitoring meditation (OM), conflict monitoring, selective attention, sustaining attention, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, dorsal anterior cingulated cortex, bentro-lateral prefrontal cortex, temporal-parietal junction, frontal eye fields, reflexive awareness, kindliness, compassion, mental illness
I decided to do more research on the effects meditation has on concentration. When searching for more information, I found a Times Magazine article that discussed as a study that was interesting and relevant. But! The article did not reference the study and I could not find the original article on EBSCO. I am still going to discuss the article because I trust Times Magazine. Hopefully I am not wrong.
The article looked at how meditation effects concentration. The experiment had 60 participants. Each participant wanted to meditate and was interested in meditation. The participants were divided into two groups, 30 who went to a mediation resort and 30 who wanted to go to the resort but had to wait 3 months before they were able to go. Each participant was given very boring tasks before they went to the meditation resort, at the meditation resort and after they returned from the resort. The test consisted of looking at a line on a computer screen and comparing to the previous line and deciding which is longer. In order to complete this task effectively, focus and concentration was needed. The results confirmed that those who were practicing mediation at the resort, showed more focus towards the tests than those who her on the waitlist for the resort. Not only were there comparisons of the line more accurate at the resort, their accuracy improved while there. The remainder of the article discussed other research on mediation. All interesting and relevant but again, I did not find the actual research articles. Regardless, I enjoyed this article. It confirmed much of what our book had to offer about the effect meditation has on concentration. I thought this was a good summary to the overall book. In order to meditate, you need to be mindful and made a point to achieve meditation and I know that for me, it takes a lot to focus to meditation. But by meditating, I am increasing g my ability to mediation and therefore enhancing my meditation experience.
Terms: meditation, concentration, mindful
http://content.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2008914,00.html
For my exploration blog I wanted to look at consciousness. I started by looking online for random sources, and found some interesting things, but I wanted to try to find a psycarticle about it. I found an exploratory article in The Journal of Science and Healing that examined the consciousness as a nonlocal mind. The last chapter was focused on the ‘self’, which it equated to consciousness. The book then said that consciousness didn’t exist, but it is a concept that we use to explain the sense of identity that comes with ever changing neural activity. It was a really interesting idea to me, so I wanted to look more at consciousness, and the ideas that this article suggested sounded pretty neat, albeit somewhat out-there. The nonlocal mind is the idea of an all-encompassing mode of consciousness that ‘transcends the limitations of the physical senses and space and time.’ They claim that religious, spiritual, ‘mystic’ experiences are accessing parts of the nonlocal mind. This would kind of make sense with what we learned in class about the orientation association area becoming less active during meditation. The part of the brain that defines the border between the ‘self’ and everything else becomes less active, and thus people feel as though they are ‘one with everything’, which could be the nonlocal mind. They talked about how it would relate to spirituality and whether it would hurt religions, but said that it would support a more connected view of the world and would hinder nothing. They then reported a bunch of weird scenarios that they proposed could be explained by this nonlocal mind, such as a psychiatrist seeing a boy with a plastic bag on his head while meditating, only to have a client mention that had happened in his home when he came in for his session. They proposed several experiments that were said to support the theory of this nonlocal mind. They talked about two separate experiments done by Victor V. Chaban and Rita Pizza that found neurons would show activity simultaneously when other neurons were stimulated, when all forms of physical communication between the neurons were shielded. They cited a number of cell-to-cell, brain-to-brain, and person-to-person connections that also supported the theory. They also equated it to the concept in physics of entanglement. This concept was presented by Erwin Schrodinger, who was responsible or the theories that currently lie as the basis for quantum mechanics. Entanglement is when it is ‘impossible to folly describe one event without taking into account one or more other events.’ It is cool when explained by a term of physics, as I have a childlike sense of wonder whenever the word physics is thrown around. Although it is a little out there I think it’s pretty interesting, and like how they cited a neural study, rather than simply weird coincidences.
Dossey, L. (2014, February 10). Spirituality and Nonlocal Mind: A Necessary Dyad. Spirituality in Clinical Practice. Advance online publication.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/scp0000001
Consciousness, nonlocal mind, self, religious, spiritual, mystic, meditation, orientation association area,
After reading about mindfulness and concentration, I decided that I wanted to research more on the relation between mindfulness meditation and cognition functioning. I skimmed through a few articles and found an interesting article that explained how people who underwent extensive mindfulness meditation training showed significant improvements on their mood and cognitive performance, such as increased attention and concentration. The reason that mindfulness meditation is so effective on improving cognitive functions is because it promotes a balance between a relaxed and vigilant state of mind. Mindfulness meditation also supports the awareness of the self and environment. It also increases present state awareness because it teaches individuals to zone out subtle distractions while meditating, such as one’s feelings, thoughts and emotions.
The article I chose to do my blog on (Zeidan et al., 2010) examined whether mindfulness meditation affects cognition and mood when compared to an active control group. They included measures such as the Symbol Digit Modalities Test and the n-back task to measure working memory, processing speed, and executive attention; the forward and backward digit span to measure immediate attention span, and the Controlled Oral Word Association Test to measure verbal fluency. They also used the following measures, the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale, State Anxiety Inventory and the Profile of Mood States, to determine if working memory, sustained attention, visual coding and verbal fluency, would be heighten because of meditation. As well as to find out if brief meditation training, when compared to a group that listened to a book recording, would promote positive mood.
Here is an overview the measures that the authors used in the study. The Profile of Mood States is a 65-item inventory that measures current mood state by rating adjective like statements on a five-point Likert scale, statements such as, “I feel calm.” The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale is a 20-item scale that measures depressive symptomology. Participants were asked to rate statements, based on “last week”, such as “I felt happy” and “I felt depressed” on a four point Likert scale and scores range from 0 to 60 with higher scores indicating higher levels of depression. The Freiburg Mindfulness Inventory is a 14-item assessment that measures the experience of mindfulness. Statements like “I am open to the experience of the present moment”, are rated on a four-point scale. Scores range from 14 to 56 and higher scores indicate a greater degree of mindfulness. The State Anxiety Inventory is a 20-item scale designed to measure state anxiety. Statements like “I am worried”, are rated on a four-point scale with scores ranging from 20-80 and higher scores indicating higher levels of anxiety.
As for the cognitive measures, the Controlled Oral Word Association Test is a measure of verbal fluency in which subjects were asked to say as many words as they can think of beginning with letters “F, A and S” or “C, F and L” within one minute. The Symbol Digit Modalities Test is a measure of complex visual tracking and working memory that requires decoding of a series of numbers listed on paper according to a corresponding template of visual symbols. Participants were given 90 seconds to accurately match numbers with corresponding geometric figures. The forward/backward digit span was used to measure immediate memory span. In the forward digit span, subjects can correctly repeat back a span of up to 16 digits. In the backward version, subjects can recite back a span of up to 14 digits backwards. Higher scores are indicative of higher memory recall. The participants completed all these measures before and after their assigned condition session (i.e. meditation or listened to “The Hobbit” on CD).
In the meditation condition, the participants were instructed to relax, with their eyes closed, and to focus on the flow of their breath occurring at the tip of their nose. If the participants thought of a random thought they were told to passively notice and acknowledge the thought and to simply “let the thought go”, by bring the attention back to the sensation of the breath. The meditation training was conducted by a facilitator with ten years of experience in teaching mindfulness meditation. In the controlled condition, participants were instructed to listen to JRR Tolkein’s The Hobbit on CD.
After all the data was analyzed, Zeidan et al., (2010) concluded that brief mindfulness meditation increased sustained attention. The meditation group, compared to the active control group, showed a greater number of extended runs on the two-back task. The meditation group also showed a significantly greater number of processing ruins involving accurate and sustained working memory differences. Finally, the meditation group was able to maintain focus and accurately retrieve information from working memory under conditions that required more rapid stimulation processing. These are remarkable findings in my opinion. I can say that sometimes I have trouble concentration and sometimes I get easily distracted. After six weeks of meditating daily, I can truly see a difference in my concentration and attention. I do not dose off in class anymore and I find it easier to give the professors my full attention. It almost like I have become smarter.
Zeidan, F., Johnson, S. K., Diamond, B. J., David, Z., & Goolkasian, P. (2010). Mindfulness meditation improves cognition: Evidence of brief mental training. Consciousness and
cognition, 19(2), 597-605.
Terms: mindfulness, concentration, attention, mindfulness meditation, cognitive functioning, mood, awareness, working memory, sustained attention, visual coding, verbal fluency
Gamma waves are brain waves that many neuroscientist debate about. For a longer period of time, scientist believed that Beta waves were the highest brain waves produced by Humans. However, recent EEG studies have indicated that human brains indeed produce what have been referred to as Gamma waves. Brain waves are measured on a Hz scale, and Gamma waves are waves that are above 40Hz, with Beta waves being 12-30Hz. These Gamma waves are not a common occurrence in the human brain, and that is why scientist believed that Beta waves were the highest form of wave we produced. However a recent study conducted by Lutz, Greischar, Rawling, Ricard, and Davidson have shown that “Buddhist practitioners” are capable of producing the elusive gamma wave. In this study, advanced meditators (buddhist practitioners) were compared to beginner meditators (students with one-week of training). The difference in brain waves produced between the two groups is astonishing. The students with no prior experience in meditation, although they expressed an interest, only showed alpha brain waves. The alpha brain wave production showed that the students where in the typical beginner phase of meditation, receiving a calming, tranquil, experience from their meditation. However, the Buddhist practitioners elicited gamma waves, these gamma waves tell us that their body as a whole was working in synchronization. Both the control (beginner) and experimental (advanced) groups were using the same “unconditional loving-kinddness” form of meditation. These gamma waves produce a calmer, less reactive self, but they require constant, long term practice to achieve. To link this back to Henderson, once you are able to produce these gamma waves, you see the positive benefits in your everyday life, and it produces a greater feeling of equanimity. Gamma waves alter from Alpha and Theta waves because they are rapid. Theta waves occur right before sleep, and are present in beginning meditators, causing the drowsiness associated with meditation. Alpha waves are waves that occur in when we are doing remedial tasks that don’t require much attention. Gamma waves are rapid waves, that produces bodily awareness and synchronization. This aids the growing body of empirical support that meditation alters the brain functions, and possible structure as well. These gamma waves are not fully understood, and many push for a continued education on them. So people insist that if you can produce these gamma waves, you can use them as a sort of healing process. However, the problem I see from that is it takes years to produce be able to produce these gamma waves, is it really practical to view that as a healing aid? While I did not focus on this for this weeks blog, I think that the idea of using gamma waves for medical healing is something I might continue to look into.
http://www.project-meditation.org/community/meditation-chatter-box/645-gamma-waves.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbjDXsjBE_8
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/scienceonreligion/2012/03/gamma-waves-help-meditation-change-the-brain/
Lutz, A., Greischar, L. L., Rawlings, N. B., Ricard, M., & Davidson, R. J. (2004). Long-term meditators self-induce high-amplitude gamma synchrony during mental practice. The National Academy of Science of the USA, 101(46), 16369-16373
Terms: Theta, Alpha, Gamma waves, equanimity, meditation, EEG,
For this research topic I went to find studies on meditation and anxiety disorders. Since there are so many studies out there of possible treatments of anxiety, including stress reduction training and meditation studies, I decided to take a different route. I found a study that was a follow up study that checked back in on 22 patients that were diagnosed with anxiety stress disorders. Three years earlier that were put into an experimental group with positive results after being put through an eight week intervention stress reduction program that revolved around mindfulness meditation. In the follow up 18 of the original 22 were analyzed once again to see if they were still benefiting from the program. After repeating the previous measure it showed that in fact they were maintaining a positive increase from the original study.
Interesting enough they found that the subjects within the three years most of them maintain a regular meditation schedule even after the program. They were then able to conclude that an intensive time limited training on stress reduction intervention based on mindfulness can have long term effects on the treatment of people with severe anxiety disorders. This was amazing for me to read. After having seen and heard some much from our in class discussions on how it was helping people near cope with their anxieties it was nice to find an article that followed others even years after the treatment. I believe that more follow-up studies should be conducted so that way we can see what the long term effects of meditation can do.
http://www.communicationcache.com/uploads/1/0/8/8/10887248/three-year_follow-up_and_clinical_implications_of_a_mindfulness_meditation-based_stress_reduction_intervention_in_the_treatment_of_anxiety_disorders.pdf
After Hanson and Mendius made the claim that generosity can increase happiness, I decided to investigate the issue through an empirical source. A study done in University of California- Riverside supported Hanson and Mendius’ claims.
The study was done by a candidate for a Ph.D. in psychology. The researcher designed a longitudinal study with three groups: Givers, Receivers and Control. The givers were told to perform random acts of kindness on the receivers for a four week period, who were under the impression they were a control group. The researcher then measured levels of happiness, desire to engage in further generous behaviors, relationships with fellow social actors, etc.
As stated earlier, the results supported Hanson and Mendius claim that generosity can induce well-being. Interestingly, receivers reported higher levels of happiness immediately, but the wore off rather quickly. However, they persisted in wishing to engage in kind behaviors of their own well after the study ended. Rather surprisingly, the receivers actually reported a negative experience with their peers. While the author didn’t make any suggestions as to why this was, I would guess when friends receive gifts, it could induce jealousy and envy. It may also cause the friends to view the Receiver as needy. If the receiver gloats about the gift, that could cause further problems.
On the other hand, the Givers didn’t report any immediate gains, but over a substantial period of time, their levels of depression went down significantly, levels of well-being and happiness went up. And their peers reported better relationships with said individual. These results lasted for over three months past the end of the study, even though they started a bit later. (I believe this is referred to as the sleeper effect).
My own experience when giving or receiving certainly supports the research. When frequently able to give, I feel much better about myself (most of my self-esteem derives from considering myself as a “good” person. Whatever that means). Additionally, receiving sparks much more temporary pleasure, but if a friend buys me dinner, I’m much more likely to buy dinner for the next friend with whom I catch up. Additionally, I’ve most DEFINITELY found that giving strengthens my relationships with whomever I give to. They appreciate it and I am more cognizant of my appreciation of them. The gift itself doesn’t really matter, but the act of giving seems to go a long way.
Again, the teaching of generosity and well-being could have ramifications far beyond the individual. What would a society full of generous people look like? First, it would probably have a little less suffering. Perhaps even less poverty. People may also be less likely to be violent, when they know the benefits of generosity. I’m sure there will still be plenty of selfishness and violence, but it seems as if teaching mindfulness and generosity would at least lessen the prevalence. Admittedly, this is pure speculation and further research needs to be done to validate these claims (at least I admit they’re claims), but it is certainly worth exploring. I should also admit a bias towards education being the answer to a lot of problems.
Terms: mindfulness, generosity, happiness, wellbeing
http://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/7km5w0kk#page-32