Mapping the Meditative Mind is an initiative that attempts to use mixed methods for understanding the elements (and the relationships between such elements) that make up 1st person phenomenological experience during various meditative practices. Neurobiological substrates that give rise to phenomenological experience underlying different modalities of awareness in mindfulness practice are mapped onto conceptual and computational models.
Psychological resilience, in this context, refers to the ability for an individual to adaptively respond to stress and adversity. Ideally, we would like to understand how mindfulness skills can contribute to decreasing risk and improving resilience from symptom onset through remission and recovery across the spectrum of psychological disorders.
What are the neural circuit changes and predictors of change in response to evidence-based treatments for psychopathology and neuropsychiatric disease states
Dr. Vago and the FNL are investigating the potential long-term effects of exposure to mindfulness training during elementary school, on subsequent health attitudes, resilience to stress, and well-being as adults.
There are many forms of meditation. You may be wondering where to start. Here, I provide my own personal perspective and provide conceptual models that propose to demonstrate how the most common practices function to transform your mind and brain.
Dr. Vago and the FNL are leading studies investigating the effects of meditation on the brain
There are now hundreds of medical and research-focused centers around the globe that incorporate mindfulness and other contemplative practices into core treatment protocol and evidence-based research. Find out about all the centers near you or networked in this community
Dr. Vago and the FNL have been designing systems-based models of contemplative practices that identify the core cognitive, psychological, computational, and neural mechanisms by which practices like meditation and yoga function to achieve their benefits
Dr. Vago’s Ted-X Talk on Self-Transformation Through Mindfulness
LATEST BLOG POSTS
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Meditation and Depression
- Video-Based Online Metta-Meditation Therapy for Depression: A Pilot Trial Evaluating the Acceptability and Feasibility April 22, 2024CONCLUSION: Teaching Metta meditation in a group program for the treatment of depression can be practicably implemented in a video-based therapy and meets with good acceptance by the patients. Further studies on moderators of acceptance and efficacy of video-based therapy are needed.
- The Impact of Outdoor in Nature Mindfulness on the Mental Well-being of Children and Adolescents. A Mental Health and Cross-cultural Approach April 9, 2024CONCLUSION: The findings underscore the potential of mindfulness as a cost-effective and accessible intervention to promote mental health across diverse age groups and settings. Further research should explore the specific mechanisms and long-term effects of this integrated approach to optimize its benefits.
- Measuring Patient-Reported Use and Outcomes From Complementary and Integrative Health Therapies: Development of the Complementary and Integrative Health Therapy Patient Experience Survey April 8, 2024CONCLUSIONS: Validly assessing patient-reported CIH therapy use and outcomes is complex, but possible.
Neuroimaging and Meditation
- Effect of Breathing Meditation Training on Nursing Work Quality, Occurrence Risk of Adverse Events, and Attention Level of Operating Room Nurses February 24, 2024CONCLUSION: The application of breathing meditation training in the special training of operating room nurses can effectively alleviate negative emotions, enhance the mindfulness score, reduce blood pressure and respiratory rate, regulate brain wave frequency, improve the attention state and nursing work quality, and reduce the occurrence risk of adverse events. Future research should conduct longitudinal […]
- Multimodal neuroimaging correlates of spectral power in NREM sleep delta sub-bands in cognitively unimpaired older adults January 16, 2024CONCLUSIONS: Our results show that slow delta is particularly associated with preserved brain structure, and highlight the importance of analyzing delta power sub-bands to better understand the associations between delta power and brain integrity. Further longitudinal investigations with long follow-ups are needed to disentangle the associations among sleep, amyloid pathology, and dementia risk in older […]
- A systematic review and activation likelihood estimation meta-analysis of fMRI studies on arousing or wake-promoting effects in Buddhist meditation November 29, 2023Conventional Buddhist texts illustrate meditation as a condition of relaxed alertness that must fend against extreme hypoarousal (sleep, drowsiness) and extreme hyperarousal (restlessness). Theoretical, neurophysiological, and neuroimaging investigations of meditation have highlighted the relaxing effects and hypoarousing without emphasizing the alertness-promoting effects. Here we performed a systematic review supported by an activation-likelihood estimate (ALE) meta-analysis […]
Mindfulness
- Conduct problems, hyperactivity, and screen time among community youth: can mindfulness help? an exploratory study April 24, 2024CONCLUSION: The current findings suggest a 12-week online mindfulness program may play a positive role in reducing hyperactivity even when accounting for screen time. Our findings advocate the evidence base on the efficacy of MBI in managing hyperactivity.
- Cognitive Behavior Therapy vs Mindfulness in Treatment of Prolonged Grief Disorder: A Randomized Clinical Trial April 24, 2024CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: In this study, grief-focused cognitive behavior therapy conferred more benefit for core prolonged grief disorder symptoms and associated problems 6 months after treatment than mindfulness-based cognitive therapy. Although both treatments may be considered for prolonged grief disorder, grief-focused cognitive behavior therapy might be the more effective choice, taking all factors into consideration.
- Implementation of a Mindful Walking Intervention in Breast Cancer Patients After Their Primary Oncologic Treatment: Results of a Qualitative Study Within a Randomized Controlled Trial April 24, 2024CONCLUSIONS: Study interventions and the study setting triggered processes and reflections on one's own health and situation. However, mindful walking and moderate walking seem to address different resources. This important knowledge may help oncologists and other therapists to assess what type of interventions can best meet the needs and requirements of individual patients.