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.
For this week’s blog post I decided to do more research on the sympathetic nervous system also known as our fight or flight system. The sympathetic nervous system is designed to prepare and amp our bodies to survive threats. Many adaptions occur when this system is activated including shutting down unnecessary systems for survival (reproductive and digestive systems) while other organ/system functioning is increased such as increased heart rate. Our book mentions what the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems are and how we want to work on inducing the parasympathetic system more often and decrease the sympathetic system. Reading this, I decided I wanted to look more in depth into the sympathetic nervous system and why we should work toward reducing its activation.
In an article by Chopra (2011), the sympathetic system has recently become much more active. In the past, the sympathetic system was used mainly to avoid threats and death. If an individual was being hunted by a wild animal, their sympathetic system would kick in for preparation to either fight or flight. Today however, the sympathetic system is much more active, often in many highly stressed individuals. Whether it be due to school, work, family life, or other reasons many people experience something called chronic stress which activates parts of the sympathetic system. When the sympathetic system is active, it causes many individuals to experience high blood pressure, increased heart rate, etc. to either “fight or flight” a situation. The problem with chronic stress is that it activates the sympathetic nervous system for long periods of time.
The body is designed to use the sympathetic nervous system for short periods of time, in order to escape danger. If the sympathetic nervous system is activated for longer periods of time such as those experiencing chronic stress, the consequences can become long term and severe. An example Chopra (2011) provides is the stress hormone cortisol. Cortisol may be released when someone is experiencing chronic stress and too much has been linked to an increase in fat around organs. So why is that a big deal? An accumulation of this fat around organs (visceral fat) is very dangerous as these fat cells secrete certain hormones that may cause problems in the liver, brain, pancreas, and more. Chronic stress can also cause other problems such as constipation, weaker immune systems, and more thus overall causing many health problems.
Research from this article (Chopra 2011) also suggests that chronic stress negatively impacts the brain. In experiments performed on mice and studies done on individuals with PTSD, researchers have found that stress hormones such as cortisol can actually shrink dendrites within the hippocampus. The hippocampus is a structure of the brain involved with memory and learning thus shrinking it negatively impacting those functions. In addition to shrinking the hippocampus, the amygdala grows or increases. The amygdala helps regulate emotional reactions. When this is increased and the hippocampus decreased, individuals are left with an increase in anxiety and a decrease in memory of events that led up to or caused the individual’s emotional fear.
Chopra finishes his article with ways in which one may learn to relax and reduce stress. One of the top ways to reduce stress was the use of meditation. Meditation helps relax one’s mind and body causing an increase in the parasympathetic system and a decrease to the sympathetic system. Using meditation daily may help decrease blood pressure, stress hormones, and can overall benefit one’s health. Perhaps if more people implemented mediation within their daily lives, chronic stress would significantly decrease as would global health problems.
Terms: parasympathetic nervous system, sympathetic nervous system, chronic stress, amygdala, hippocampus, PTSD, fight or flight, dendrites, cortisol, stress hormones, meditation, anxiety
Chorpa, D. (2011). Stress and the brain. Retrieved from: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/deepak-chopra/effect-of-stress-on-health_b_907029.html
From this week’s readings I became interested with the concepts disenchantment and equanimity. The example of the sage Ramana Maharshi from the book (that he meditated for the majority of his life and was able to be disconnected enough from the pain of a tumor growing in his arm to make the statement “Poor Arm” with a smile) caught my interest. I thought that studying about someone who devoted their life to meditation could teach me about what meditation is capable of and help me reflect on my own experiences.
The beginning of Ramana’s life is actually relatable. I often imagine these sages coming out of the womb in lotus pose, meditating and being enlightened! However, Ramana started out an average boy and it’s not until he’s seventeen years old and has a near death experience that he decides to spend his life focusing on spirituality. This near death experience wasn’t what I expected either; he was in his Uncle’s house and healthy at the time when he felt death come over him. He became disconnected from his body and felt deep understanding for what his sense of self was and that this “I” was separate from any connections to the world. However, instead of actually dying, he awakens and changes his life. His main philosophy centered on discovering the true self, which can be understood when he said “know who you are and all else will be known.”
He rejects his family and goes to Tiruvannamalai, a holy place, to spend his time meditating. Something I found interesting about this story was the resistance that his family put up towards him leaving and pursuing a life of meditation. Ramana was from India, where meditation is common along with collectivism. In this instance, these two things conflicted with each other. Anyway, his mother eventually becomes a spiritual woman, joins him, and he takes care of her when she becomes sick. Curiously, he is later quoted encouraging people not to renounce their families for a holy or meditative life and that “the obstacle is in the mind”, which can be faced anywhere.
His meditative experiences were also interesting. There were times where Ramana would spend entire days continuously meditating. Before he became famous and deemed wise, small children would throw stones at him, so he had to keep moving his spot and eventually people came to watch over him.
In interviews with him he tells about how its possible to balance both work and meditation, but that people must get rid of the false identity that the mind constructs to make them believe that these are incompatible. Another statement that he made that I particularly liked is “Practice is necessary. It is like training a roguish bull confined to his stall by tempting him with luscious grass and preventing him from straying”. From my own experience, this seems like an accurate quote of beginning meditation and I find it comforting that the mind can be as Ramana puts it, “strengthened”. This statement also seems to be consistent with the readings for this class, since they also describe meditation as changing your brain and using your mind in a different way.
Just like Buddha’s Brain told, Ramana was unconcerned by his eventual cancer. He had the tumor removed once, it grew back, and he then had the option to amputate it. He said “there is no need for alarm. The body is itself a disease. Let it have its natural end. Why mutilate it? Simply dressing of the affected part will do.” His attitude with his illness was a perfect example of disenchantment and being aware of the pain, but not having to react to the demand characteristics. People described that he lived in such a way that it was as if he was merely a witness to what was happening; his concept of self and body were that distinct. While I certainly am not any more likely to move to India and spend my entire days meditating, exploring Ramana has helped give me the perspective that the things getting in my way during meditation are constructs of the mind and that with practice I can strengthen this skill.
key terms: disenchantment, equanimity, I/the true self, demand characteristics
Sources: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcvuctV0FJo
http://www.arunachala.org/ramana/life/
http://ramana-maharshi.weebly.com/meditation.html
The topic I chose to research more for this week was a statement that was made in the book that said a benefit to meditation was that meditation could improve attention. The specific article that the book quoted and I used for my research was by Tang et al. 2007 called “Short-term meditation training improves attention and self-regulation”. This article talked of a study that used integrated mind-body training methods of meditation and how they were better at helping people control attention and stress than just a normal relaxation technique. I found this to be interesting because when reading the quote from the book it never talked about IMBT. The idea that meditation can help with attention and stress I personally think to be true but would have liked if the study done were longer. In this study they only trained the participants and ran the study for 5 days, which I don’t think is long enough. The control group had just been taught a normal relaxation technique rather than IMBT. The technique IMBT uses many types of meditation techniques like imagery, breathing adjustment, body relaxation, and mindfulness training. Because of this I can see this type of meditation as more beneficial than just a normal relaxation technique. Learning about how mediation can affect attention is very interesting to me because I have such bad attention. The study also talked about how with this increase in attention there is also an increase in controlling stress in ones life. This goes along with what the book was discussing in activating the PNS. Activation of the PNS helps to relieve stress, which can have many health benefits. The article overall was very interesting, it went into the biological side of stress and how the findings in their study showed that IMBT helped with biological causes of stress. I hope the results of this study are the same as my experiences with meditation because I hope to have better attention and a better grasp on handling stress.
Key terms: attention, meditation, PNS, biological, imagery, body relaxation, and breathing.
http://www.pnas.org/content/104/43/17152.full
Meditation has multiple benefits, and may be able to help you with the problem you suffer from, or reduce the risk of a potential problem. A recent Yale University stud shows that people who meditate may actually alter their brain state. Meditation produces less activation in the “default mode network”, a center of the brain linked to self-centered thoughts. This brain alteration shows that people who meditate may be more mindful of their surroundings, and less focused on the self, or “me-behavior”. Meditation can decrease your risk for ADHD, Alzheimer’s, and multiple other disorders. However, today, I’m going to look into the benefits that meditation poses in the form of sleep. An article found on PsychologyToday urges individuals to take short ten to fifteen minutes breaks every ninety minutes. Because we live in an intensely electronic, and fast passed world, we often find ourselves feeling groggy, and lethargic. The reason to take this break every ninety minutes is because it considers with they ongoing cycle between alpha and beta waves experienced during the day. After ninety minutes we see a decrease in our beta (the waves that keep us energetic), and an increase in our alpha waves (the waves the produce a sluggish, groggy feeling). The study conducted by Kaul, Passaflume, Sergent, and O’Hara found that meditation may actually decrease an individuals need for sleep. They tested individuals (both male and female) ranging in age between nineteen and twenty-three. These individuals had no prior meditation experience, and were given simple instruction with a few days to practice. This study looked to address a long standing question of whether meditation provides a restoration similar to that of non-REM sleep, therefore reducing ones need for sleep. The study showed that meditation served as a performance-enhancing restoration for those who were practicing it after sleep deprivation. They also looked into subjects with a history of meditation, and found that those individuals do indeed sleep less than those in the study with no previous exposure (5.2 vs 7.8). In conclusion “Meditation appears to provide at least a short term improvement in reaction time performance, and may also provide a longer term reduction in sleep need roughly equal to the time spent in meditation.”
However, meditation should not be used as a replacement for sleep, because meditation cannot produce the necessary REM sleep outcomes. Our brains require REM sleep to process information received during the day, and organize. Although, if you are feeling sleepy meditation can probably help you feel energized and stimulated.
Sleep is the best meditation.
-Dalai Lama
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/focus-forgiveness/201112/sleep-cycles-and-rebooting-your-brain-meditation
http://news.yale.edu/2011/11/21/tuning-out-how-brains-benefit-meditation
http://www.biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1744-9081-6-47.pdf
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/d/dalailama111631.html
This week, I wanted to explore more on the amygdala and its contribution to human actions. In the article (2008), “Oxytocin increases gaze to the eye region of human faces,” Guastella, Mitchell, and Dads hypothesized that the neuropeptide oxytocin may enhance and treat relationships (such as parent-child bonds and coping distress), and it may also diminish social deficits that are found in disorders, such as schizophrenia and autism. In animals, oxytocin was found to decrease aggression and social avoidance and, in fact, work quite the opposite way.
Although there has not been much research on the effects of oxytocin, the results that have been found is that oxytocin increases the identification of emotion within the eye, builds trust, benefits of social support during social stress tasks, and reduces responsiveness to social threat stimuli. In a study of 30 men, those who were given oxytocin were more likely to gaze at the eyes during the face perception tests, and could tell the emotions of each face better. The eyes are a place of interpersonal communication where threat, interest, and emotion can be detected in others. Those give oxytocin gazed longer and more intently on the eye region when administered the face perception tests.
It has been found that oxytocin administration reduces the activation in the amygdala, particularly when a social threat stimulus is shown. A theory for this result is that it helps people feel more ease when viewing faces.
This article relates to the readings through its discussion of the amygdala. The amygdala and the ACC are the two primary areas of emotion that motivates individuals. Because oxytocin decreases activation in the amygdala, people can feel safer and not overreact to threats. By connecting with others/not seeing them as threats and forming a more secure sense of attachment, people can relate to others and relax. In a way, oxytocin is “Cooling the Fires” (Ch. 5) within the amygdala.
Key terms: Emotion, face recognition, oxytocin, peptide, social cognition, amygdala
Guastella, A.J., P.U.B. Mitchell, and M. R. Dads. 2008.
Oxytocin increases gaze to the eye region of human
faces. Biological Psychiatry 305:3-5.
This week I decided to do some research on exactly what is Equanimity. Equanimity is a tool for self-exploration, a sublime emotion of the Buddhist practice, and a way of balancing the body and mind. Equanimity comes from the Latin words aequus and animus, which mean balanced and spirit, respectively. Equanimity translates to two different Pali words used by the Buddha, each representing a different aspect of equanimity. The most known translation is upekkha, meaning “to look over.” It refers to the ability to see things without being caught in by them. The second translation is tatramajjhattata, from the words Tatra(all theses things) Majjha (middle) and Tata (to stand or pose). Put together, the word is then “to stand in the middle of all this.” This is referring to a sort of balance stemming from inner stability. The balance of equanimity lies between suppression and identification.
Equanimity has been said to be a protection from the “eight worldly winds” of Buddhism: praise and blame, success and failure, pleasure and pain, fame and disrepute. The thought is that while being equanimous, you experience things without reacting to them. If you react to something and it’s bad, then your reaction is a prolongation of your suffering. If you react to something that’s positive, then you may identify or fixate on it, which is assuring negative feelings later when you no longer have the cause of the good feelings. So while you would like to be equanimous to not succumb to the feelings of failure, pain or disrepute, you would also not want to fixate on pleasure, success, or praise. The key of this is to simply allow things to arise and pass with their natural rhythms.
There are seven mental qualities that support the development of equanimity: virtue, faith (or the sense of assurance that accompanies it, rather), a well-developed mind, a sense of well being, wisdom, insight, and freedom. Equanimity has it’s place not only in Buddhism, but also in Christianity, Judaism and Islam. Being equanimous has been likened to reducing friction in a mechanical system, it simply makes everything easier.
I looked up how to practice Equanimity meditation, and it was not what I would’ve expected. This would be an active meditation rather than the passive mediation that I kind of associate with all meditation. The thought is that while meditating as you normally would, you would think about an issue you have experienced and then try to build a deeper sense of detachment. After you’ve meditated enough so that issue has been placed to rest, you have reached the ‘balance point’ and then you must start to develop the equanimity. Of course it is not as simple as thinking about what you want to not be so concerned about and then magically no longer being concerned, at least not entirely. You must not focus on anything that you still have strong feelings about; otherwise your mind will go astray. This is where the balance of letting things run their course comes in. After you have developed a good sense of equanimity, you should not experience strong negative emotions, as they will likely just wash over you and be done. You must not also try to fix, remove, or prevent any problems or feelings, as these are ‘baited hooks’ and our mind may easily be caught away. Being caught in thoughts regarding an issue is a way of ruminating, and is the opposite of being equanimous. It’s certainly a bit confusing to focus on unfocusing your mind in an attempt to loose concern over an issue that you can’t be actively trying to remove. It is interesting though, and I am going to try it once I have something that I need to not concern myself with.
Terms: Equanimity, meditation, active meditation, passive meditation, suppression, identification, eight worldly winds, balance point
www.shinzen.ort/Retreat%20Reading/artEquanimity.pdf
www.insightmeditationcener.org/books-articles/articles/equanimity/
www.wikihow.com/Practice-Equanimity-Meditation
I tried to find some research articles in our library database about some of the more suspect things in the book, but, alas, I couldn’t find anything (which does nothing to allay my skepticism). However, I did find an article discussing the efficacy of meditation on positive thinking, from the Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research, which seemed extremely interesting and may provide some more substantiary evidence to the claims raised in the chapter (although, the section on meditation was one of the few sections actually cited).
The article discussed a cross-sectional study done in Karnataka, India with fifty subjects ranging from 15 to well over 45 years of age, half of which meditated, half of which did not. The participants were then given the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire, a self-report instrument designed to test levels of happiness and self-satisfaction. The data collected is EXTREMELY interesting. The mean happiness scores of the meditators were significantly higher than those that didn’t meditate (p> .001). And, unless I have my stats backwards, that is a really high standard. The usual is p > .05 or .01. Moreover, there was no difference found in socioeconomic status or age. The years of meditation practice also did not influence the participants’ levels of happiness or self-satisfaction.
I’m quite astounded and almost giddy to see a legitimate research article, though perhaps not in a highly respected journal, discuss the positive effects of meditation on one’s well-being. Oh yeah, for the purpose of the study, happiness was operationally defined as life satisfaction and well being, as opposed to desire satisfaction. The potential benefits of this are quite extraordinary. Should we implement meditation practices in our schools, in our society, and make it mainstream there is a MASSIVE potential for a huge culture shift.
For example, positive emotions are strongly correlated with high self-esteem and lend assistance to coping methods in our youth. I can’t even begin to describe what this means. In the low income schools where we have high rates of crime, much of that crime, according to Gorton’s Offender Rehabilitation course, is due to the youth and offenders setting their default on criminal life. They don’t know how to cope maturely and don’t try to figure it out because they don’t believe in themselves. With an increase in happiness, they’re likely to look into determining more mature coping methods and NOT fall back on what they’ve always done. Happy individuals are less likely to lash out, less likely to spiral into depression after traumatic events and engage more with society and the people around them.
Additionally, a positive well-being has been linked with increased levels of physical health. As such, the financial ramifications of this are also quite high. If we have to spend less on crime, rehabilitation, health needs, mental health needs, that frees up money to do so much more. We can either, a) lower taxes and increase the freedom of spending (which could, in turn, heighten levels of autonomy, and thereby happiness), or b) spend the extra money on our poor, bettering our infrastructure, etc.
Even if the sole benefit of institutionalizing meditation is that our people are happier, that’s enough for me. Depression runs rampant among our society, youth particularly; suicidality rates are than ever, especially among young men; and there is a consistent theme of materialization in contemporary life. Increased levels of happiness would decrease all of these things, which are arguably good. Honestly, I’d be in favor of going the way of Bhutan and simply measuring levels of happiness to determine the “success” of our country, as opposed to the GDP.
Terms: happiness, well being, meditation, depression, positive thinking
M G, R., B, S., E, S., & S Rai, K. (2013). Efficacy of rajayoga meditation on positive thinking: an index for self-satisfaction and happiness in life. Journal Of Clinical And Diagnostic Research: JCDR, 7(10), 2265-2267. doi:10.7860/JCDR/2013/5889.3488
M G, R., B, S., E, S., & S Rai, K. (2013). Efficacy of rajayoga meditation on positive thinking: an index for self-satisfaction and happiness in life. Journal Of Clinical And Diagnostic Research: JCDR, 7(10), 2265-2267. doi:10.7860/JCDR/2013/5889.3488
This week I decided to step away from the scientific article paper, and write a little bit about what “Equanimity” really is and where it came from. Wikipedia defines equanimity as “a state of psychological stability and composure which is undisturbed” (“equanimity”, 2013). From what I found, equanimity started as a Hindu term which attempts to describe Brahman. Equanimity doesn’t just show up in Hinduism, it also appears in texts of Stoicism, Buddhism, Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. What all these religious texts have in common is that they are trying to explain self-realization and an ultimate state of being within the mind.
The way I can relate to this state of being is when you are in total concentration of meditation. When a stimulus from the outside world has little to no effect and this state of mental awareness is effortless. It is the collection of understanding and yet being totally open at the same time. It is the goal of many meditators because of its “all-beingness”.
There really isn’t a whole lot of information of “equanimity” because it is thought to be different for everyone and is expressed as an experience that is indescribable. Through my vast readings of internet blog posts and articles, I’ve found that equanimity is a step in the path to enlightenment. The other factors of enlightenment are: Mindfulness, Investigation, Energy, Joy and, Tranquility.
The whole idea is really lacking literature of accredited and not accredited sources, which makes this topic quite difficult to write about. From my understanding I’ll try and set up an example of what equanimity might actually feel like. During your meditation, you might start to feel a light sense of letting go, to the point where you feel more one with your surroundings without reacting to them. You are still conscious and aware, but not reactive. Equanimity isn’t a state of mind; rather it is used to describe our true nature. It is the top of the pillar of achievable mindfulness. Unfortunately you cannot desire equanimity, because then you are using it as a means to an end, and that won’t work.
As a quick side note, I’m quite disappointed in my exploration blog for this week. There were so many other interesting topics, but I had already spent too much time trying to research what equanimity was. I’m really looking forward to what other people have to talk about!
Terms: Equanimity, tranquility, Stoicism, Buddhism, Judaism, Islam, and Christianity, Hinduism, self-realization.
Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equanimity
http://www.shinzen.org/Retreat%20Reading/artEquanimity.pdf
http://rightmindprograms.wordpress.com/2013/09/03/218/
For my exploration blog I looked into neuroplasticity/brain plasticity. In my exploration blog last week I found some information about phantom limb so I wanted to look more into it as it relates to brain plasticity. I didn’t think it would be that difficult but it really was. It was actually kind of hard to find any studies about neuroplasticity that sounded remotely interesting. Even fewer reports were written in a way that someone without extensive knowledge of the brain and medical technology would be able to understand. Some websites had information available but I wanted to use a real research article.
The article I settled on was Changes in Gray Matter Induced by Learning and talked about gray matter plasticity. The experiment studied the effects learning to juggle has on gray matter and neuroplasticity in the brain. It used 20 adults who had never juggled before. Prior to beginning the juggling, all participants receive MRI scans of their brain. Over the course of the experiment, scans were repeated one week, two weeks, and one month after juggling training began. After juggling training stopped, volunteers were also given MRIs after two and six months to see how long-lasting the effects of learning to juggle lasted. The MRIs conducted during the period of time the participants were juggling found an increase in the middle temporal area of the visual cortex. After the participants stopped juggling, the effects on the brain reversed and returned to their state before the experiment. The same thing happened with gray matter in the frontal and temporal lobes. Increases were seen as early as one week into the study indicating the brain’s incredible plasticity.
Overall, I found this study boring but something that did interest me about this study was the decrease of gray matter after people stopped juggling. It makes me wonder if they will have also lost the ability to juggle when they lost the gray matter. I also browsed other studies that found evidence for neuroplasticity. One study saw changes in white matter when people learned a foreign language. In high school I took Spanish for three years but now I have only a fraction of the knowledge of the Spanish language that I did back then. I wonder how my brain changed as I stopped learning Spanish. Software programs such as Lumosity have capitalized on the brain’s ability to adapt. They have commercials and market themselves as ways to “train your brain” and increase your awareness and intelligence. They tell people of all the advantages a sharper mind brings. In retrospect, I think researching one of the studies the Lumosity company conducted through their Human Cognition Project would have been more interesting.
Terms: neruroplasticity, gray matter, white matter, MRI, brain plasticity, middle temporal area of the visual cortex
Boyke, J., Driemeyer, J., Gaser, C., and May, A. (2008). Changes in gray matter induced by learning—Revisited. PLoS ONE 3(7): e2669. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0002669
http://www.lumosity.com/hcp
The topic I wanted to look into this week is the amygdala and the role it plays in motivational activity. I wanted to look into the amygdala more because I love neuroscience and I enjoy learning anything I can about our brains. I am very interested in understanding the large role that such a small part of our brain is able to play in our day to day lives and attitudes.
The amygdala is located in the temporal lobe. It can be found on both hemispheres of the brain in the spot where your ear and eye meet if you drew an imaginary line through them. It is often considered to be almond shaped but that is not very accurate. It is sometimes described as the hub of a wheel. It receives information from the thalamus, hippocampus, and cortex. It then uses that information to help process individual stimuli as well as to understand the significance of complex situations. In a broader sense, the amygdala helps process the meaning of our emotions and it is where stimuli are triggered.
When I think about the functions of the amygdala I think that it controls the larger emotions such as fear, excitement, and sadness. Fear has been the most studied emotion because it tends to be the easiest emotion to test since it is something we have to respond to. It is much harder to emit a sad or happy emotion from someone consistently. In the video I watched the neuroscientists mentioned that most of our research is based on negative emotions. I hadn’t thought of that before doing this blog and it does seem to make sense. We don’t have nearly as many studies on happiness as we do on depression and fear, etc. It also makes me think about how hard studying our emotions can be.
The amygdala works closely with our emotion. It is directly connected to the visual, audio, olfactory, and touch systems. The amygdala puts all of these things together and decides how to react to them. It might make your blood pressure rise, your heart race, and your stress hormones release just by using the sensory information given to it. The amygdala also receives information from higher order systems such as the prefrontal cortex and higher order association areas of the brain. If you can picture all of that information feeding into the amygdala it is easy to understand why it is described as the hub of a wheel. It has a bunch of spokes that tons of different information comes into it on and then it fires back with its processed response.
The amygdala is able to take in information from the environment and uses the information to make associations that later help your brain predict either negative or positive outcomes. It creates Pavlovian associations where it takes stimulus 1 and stimulus 2 and it uses that information to form adaptive behavior. One example I found particularly interesting is when we look at someone. Our brain goes through a lot just by simply glancing at another person. For instance, when we look at someone our amygdala “looks up” the proper emotion to fit who we’re looking at and then it effectively sets off our biological reactions to those emotions. If I look up and see an attractive guy my heart is likely going to begin racing and I will probably have an increase in hormones.
Knowing that our amygdala helps control so much of our emotions and reactions to stimuli helps me understand how important it is in also allowing my body to slow down, relax, and get to a state that I would be able to meditate. I now know that I can blame my amygdala for how hard it is for me to actually get to a meditative state. When there is a multitude of environmental cues happening while you are attempting to meditate that activates your amygdala and when you should be trying to relax it is hypersensitive of your surroundings. I like being able to see the connection between our brains and how they work in regards to the idea of mindfulness and relaxation. I think by being aware of why my body struggles with meditating, I can be more preventative of negative stimuli and possibly be more effective in my attempts to meditate and relax.
The Amygdala in 5 minutes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDD5wvFMH6U
This video was extremely helpful in explaining the amygdala in its basic form and then going into detail about its location and the cues it receives that cause it to react.
Amygdala Pretext/Paratext
http://www.cddc.vt.edu/host/weishaus/Skull-2/pre-2p.htm
This source helped to talk about the amygdala’s functions and its different reactions to stimuli.
The Amygdala, Fear, and Memory
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=6&ved=0CFQQFjAF&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.researchgate.net%2Fpublication%2F10780137_The_amygdala_fear_and_memory%2Ffile%2F9fcfd50c8e66261e99.pdf&ei=74vqUtnlN6ONygH92IGoAg&usg=AFQjCNEaJ6VuuqBkS3zUOB9J7fgrmbWiew&bvm=bv.60444564,d.aWc
This is a PDF so you still have to download and open this file before being able to read it. This source was helpful to me in understanding the amygdala’s role in the emotion of fear.
Terminology: amygdala, neuroscience, temporal lobe, hemisphere, thalamus, hippocampus, cortex, prefrontal cortex, stimuli, emotions, fear, visual, audio, olfactory, stress hormones, Pavlovian associations, environmental cues, relaxation, meditation, mindfulness
Today for my exploration blog, I decided to take a look at another research article that was cited in chapter 4 of H&M. During the discussion about positive thinking in the book, they referenced an article about how negative memories are vulnerable to change soon after it has been recalled. The article it cites was an experiment conducted on fear conditioning and extinction.
The article started with explaining some basics of fear conditioning. They start by stating that when fearful memories are formed, they are initially liable or easily altered but eventually become more consolidated into persistent traces through the synthesis of new proteins. Essentially, fearful memories, when first created, can be easily changed but eventually become more ingrained into memory as your brain builds new pathways. They go on to say that when a consolidated fearful memory is retrieved or remembered, the memory goes through the processes of reconsolidation and extinction. Reconsolidation is a process in which the memory once again becomes susceptible to change and is once again ingrained when new brain proteins are formed. This period lasts for several hours after the memory is recalled. Extinction refers to the reduction of fear expression to a conditioned stimulus due to increased exposure to the stimulus. Extinction is helpful in reducing fear responses, but is not permanent because instead of modifying the existing memory, it leads to the formation of a new memory that suppresses the initial fear response.
The article mentions that previously, it has been found that the reconsolidation of fearful memories can be blocked with the use of drugs. These studies were done with rats. However, in this study, the researchers were hoping to find a way to block reconsolidation of fearful memories without the use of drugs because most of the drugs could not be administered to humans.
The researchers hypothesized that if extinction training was applied during the liability window (the several hours after a memory is retrieved in which the memory is susceptible to change) of the reconsolidation period of a retrieved memory then the conditioned stimulus would be reevaluated as less threatening or the stored trace to the fearful memory would be weakened, making it more difficult to recall and thus preventing the return of fear.
The experiment was conducted with five experimental groups of rats. The rats were fear conditioned to being shocked using a tone. The tone would sound, then the rats were shocked; this lead to the rats displaying a fear response when the tone sounded, whether or not a shock was delivered. The lability window for rat memory was reported to last about 6 hours. After the groups of rats were fear conditioned, two groups of rats were given the extinction training within 10 minutes and 1 hour, during the lability window. Another two groups were given the training at 6 hours and 24 hours, outside the lability window. The fifth control group was not given the training. The rats were then tested for their response to the conditioned stimulus both 24 hours after training and 1 month after training. The response within 24 hours was consistent between groups, but after one month, the freezing or fear response the stimulus differed between groups. The two groups that were given the extinction training within the lability window of reconsolidation did not show increased freezing whereas the two groups that received training outside the window, as well as the control group, did show increased freezing. This shows that the fear response to the tone was lessened in the rats that received extinction training within the lability window of memory reconsolidation. Essentially, the fearful memory could be rewritten as a less threatening memory when the conditioned stimulus is presented repeatedly (without the unconditioned stimulus, in this case pain) within the period of time when the memory is malleable.
The study was incredibly interesting and presents an interesting idea that negative memories can possibly be rewritten as nonthreatening if the right therapy is applied to the memory. The fact that it can be done without drugs is even better. I don’t think this could really be applied to all negative memories, seeing as a new positive memory needs to be created to replace that memory within a certain time frame of recollection, but it does seem like it could be applied to things like phobia therapy.
Terms: Negative memories, positive memories, fear conditioning, consolidation, retrieval, extinction, conditioned stimulus, response, unconditioned stimulus, lability window, phobias
Link to article: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3625935/pdf/nihms-277365.pdf
Oddly enough I choose to further look into the area of chapter five that briefly explained that touching the lips can stimulate the PNS and cause sensations of soothing because after reading this I noticed that I actually touch my lips a lot. Weird, I agree but I because of this I wanted to learn more about it and possibly why I do this. By doing this I learned that it can reduce stress, lower blood pressure and possibly strengthen your immune system. I also learned that this is a common sign of an individual being nervous, while also relating to one biting their nails while at the same time stimulating the parasympathetic fibers in their lips unconsciously, and unknowingly making them more alert of their surroundings in which helps your body to chill out and return back to a calm state. This also pertains to feelings of eating and helping you be in tune with your body knowing when your full rather than over eat or eat out of boredom. It was hard to find articles of this area alone, most of them involved other things one can do and unconsciously does to stimulate the PNS. How it helps you to relax, feel calm, support health, and learn to read your body.
http://www.wisebrain.org/ParasympatheticNS.pdf
http://charlotteord.blogspot.com/2013/09/practical-tips-for-reducing-stress.html
http://www.entheos.com/ideas/brian-johnson/1400/activating-the-parasympathetic-nervous-system
I chose to explore the topic of inner strength more. I found the readings explanation of how meditation can increase inner strength to be unsatisfactory because it seemed to be more ‘fluff’ than science. It was difficult to find a research article that specifically focused on inner strength because the term itself isn’t necessarily scientific. I searched for multiple synonyms and settled with confidence, wellbeing, and emotional stability. I found a research article that focused on mindfulness meditation in those with anxiety and depression. I decided that this would be a good article to focus on because the implication is that those with anxiety and depression struggle with ‘inner strength’ or rather confidence, wellbeing, and emotional stability.
The article discussed a meta-analysis that found a decrease in relapse in patients that had used mindfulness meditation. Patients also reported decreased anxiety, anger, worry, and symptoms of depression. This article also discussed that meditation can be used to combat depression and anxiety in those with physical disorders. Overall, it appears that coping skills are greatly increased with mindfulness meditation. I believe that this accurately reflects at least one aspect of inner strength. Patients are able to regulate their emotions better, which leads to an overall better wellbeing.
Terms: Inner strength, mindfulness meditation, anxiety, depression, confidence, wellbeing, emotional stability
http://web.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=c337778f-59d3-4282-8581-442d3be4b4d8%40sessionmgr198&vid=2&hid=126
Edenfield, T.; Saeed, S.A. (2012). An update on mindfulness meditation as a self-help treatment for anxiety and depression. Psychology Research and Behavior Management, 5 5131-141.
I chose to do more research on how major depression actually rewires the brain and the effects of meditating. Major Depression Disorder has significant neurobiological consequences. Those consequences are long-lasting. Even with the first bout of MDD, there is an imprint left in the brain the rewires how the bran its functions. Most commonly used to treat depression are anti-depressants which are effective. It is also important for the patient to have a positive perspective.
To truly treat MDD, it is essential to restore the brain to its normal functioning state. This can be done by increasing 5-HT and the NE neurotransmission. By using the duel reuptake inhibitors increases the likely hood of allowing the brain to go back to its original state before the MDD occurred.
To be honest, I had quite the hard time reading this article and I found it to be a bit over my head in the neuroscience area. From what I read and understood. It seem as if the article focuses more on the lasting effects on MDD rather than how meditation as a possible treatment. When I read the book, I was under the assumption that the article would address meditation more but it seems that the book took one concept from the article and ran with it. That isn’t to say that what the book quoted was completely off from the purpose of the article but I would have liked to been lead to an article that was o relevant.
From what I understand, the article focuses on the long lasting effects on MDD but it mentioned the a positive perspective would be most beneficial in the patients recovery. Though the article did not directly state those but from my knowledge of meditation, mediation would prove aid in keeping a positive perspective. Mediating would enable the patient to keep a peace of mind and reflect with in
Mediation, Major Depression Disorder, neurobiology, long lasting, treatment, anti-depressant, 5-HT, NE neurotransmitters.
This week I decided to look into equanimity in terms of what it is and where the principle comes from. Prior to this weeks readings I had heard of equanimity but I was not exactly sure what it was. I understood that it had something with the ability to maintain a sense of calm or a block from drastic emotion during daily life. This allows for a clearer head and prevents one from getting wrapped up in high emotional struggle each day.
From my online readings I was able to obtain a much clearer definition of equanimity by starting with some of its origin. Equanimity is one of the four sublime states of mind that are frequently taught by the Buddha. Equanimity, or upekkha, is the fourth state. Equanimity falls after loving-kindness, compassion, and sympathetic joy. These states are seen as sublime because they are the ideal way in which we should conduct ourselves. Achieving and maintaining these states is said to bring bliss, peace, and reduce the struggles of existence.
From the readings I also ascertained that equanimity is a very practiced art. It is not something that can be easily developed. Each sublime state seems to be the stepping stone into the next. As a person progresses through these stages they achieve a sense of oneness. The thoughts and feelings of I and individual features begin to withdraw as an open awareness and focus develops.
Equanimity comes from the Pali word upekkha. Upekkha has a rough translation to the ability to see beyond, or to see without being caught up in what you see. It can also be translated as seeing with patients or wisdom. This wisdom allows one to separate the raw emotion and feeling from the moment and allow one to experience events as they actually are. One article described it as the grandparent effect, explaining that grandparents love and are attentive to their grandchildren but their experience of having kids allows them to look past the ongoing drama of their grandchildren. It is through time and experience that one gains the knowledge and skills necessary to foster equanimity.
http://www.insightmeditationcenter.org/books-articles/articles/equanimity/
http://www.buddhanet.net/ss06.htm
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/nyanaponika/wheel006.html
Terms: Equanimity, calm, emotion, Buddha, upekkha, compassion, sublime states
I realize now that equanimity can be achieved through daily meditation. The topic that I found the most interesting was equanimity. In the book, equanimity is described as not reacting to your reactions, whatever they are. Equanimity is one of the most sublime emotions of Buddhist practice. It is the ground for wisdom and freedom and the protector of compassion and love. The Buddha described a mind filled with equanimity as “abundant, exalted, immeasurable, without hostility and without ill-will.” “A person is present in the world but not upset by the world.” In my opinion, everyone could learn from this quote. One of the problems that students frequently deal with is stress so living by this motto can help a person psychologically and physically.
The article I chose, Astin & Keen (2006), sought out to find a correlation between spiritually and its role in higher education. Astin & Keen wanted distinguish the personal qualities in people that were considered to be highly developed spiritually and had a sense of equanimity. They also compared the differences between individuals with high equanimity and low equanimity and their performance in school. The sample of the study included 3,700 college juniors whom were asked to respond to more than 150 short statements having to do with spirituality. Astin & Keen (2006) identified 19 different subsets, each consisting of statements that cluster together. Cluster meaning that a set of statements that students tended to answer in a similar way. Some of the cluster names included Spiritual Quest, Religious Engagement, Charitable Involvement, and Equanimity.
Next, the authors suggested that in order to capture the particular qualities that characterizes the concept of spiritually and equanimity one must think about actual people who meet the criteria for these characteristics. Some of the exemplars used were the Dalai Lama and Nelson Mandela. Although these individuals display a high level of equanimity, it does not mean that these individuals never experience emotional conflict. Everyone has been through hardships and tough times. With this said, how an individual deals with his or her problems reflects their character. People like Nelson Mandela and the Dalai Lama were clearly angry and frustrated with what was happening in their home countries, but it was their sense of equanimity that enabled them to act upon these powerful emotions with dignity, determination, logic and passion. Viktor Frankl was a psychiatrist that survived the Nazi death camp. His horrific experience led him to develop an existential therapeutic approach and coin the terms “making meaning.” This approach was never about denying or masking but always about locating the touchstone of possibility that created fresh meaning. According to Astin & Keen, Dr. Frankl discovered that being able to make meaning in times of hardship provides the clearest evidence that the quest for meaning lies at the heart of the human spirit. Basically, equanimity involves the capacity to frame and reframe meaning under stress while maintaining a sense of deep of composure and centeredness.
The results of this study where not surprising to me. Students with higher scores on Equanimity tended to show relatively high levels of self-esteem and relatively low levels of psychological distress. Equanimity shows a modest positive association with the student’s college grade-point-average. Equanimity is also modestly related to the student’s expressed level of satisfaction with college. These finds suggest that Equanimity may contribute not only to students’ academic performance but also their level of satisfaction with the overall college experience. With these findings, I would advise universities and high schools to make the effort to teach a course in Equanimity & Meditation. In my opinion, I think that it would be very beneficial for students academically and psychologically.
Key Terms: Equanimity, education, clusters, Nelson Mandela, the Dalai Lama, making meaning, Viktor Frankl, meditation, spiritually
Astin, A. W., & Keen, J. P. (2006). Equanimity and spirituality. Religion and Education, 33(2), 39-46.
For my topic I did a more in depth analysis of how meditation helps to activate the parasympathetic nervous system. I found a site that is promoting the use of meditation for health reasons. They give a few testimonials along with how a person can work with their doctor to come up alternative practices to manage one’s health. As we read from our pervious chapters the parasympathetic nervous system cause the heart rate and breathing to slow down, and improve blood flow. It is thought that some kind of meditations can actually increase the activity in the parasympathetic nervous system which would then help regulate a persons’ organs, and muscles. It also helps control body functions such as heartbeat, sweating, breathing, and digestion.
I also found a study that actually compared the parasympathetic nervous system of a group of non-meditators verses meditators. They tested their response to deep breathing, orthostatic tolerance, and Valsalva. Both groups range from ages 25 to 75. In the deep breathing test the E: I ratio was higher in meditators than the non-meditators. They also found similar findings in the other two test which supported their hypothesis. Another interesting thing they discovered was they found that the blood pressure was significantly lower in those that meditated than the non-meditators. These findings all supported their hypothesis that the regular practice of meditation increases the activity found in the parasympathetic nervous system.
I chose these two sites because I believe it is a good idea to explore the possibilities in the medical field that involve meditation. If a person with high blood pressure went to their doctor and told them that they would like to try meditating I believe the medical professional would support that choice. They may even be able to help them find groups that can work with them to achieve this.
http://nccam.nih.gov/health/meditation/overview.htm
http://www.ijrpbsonline.com/files/51-3276.pdf