Neurophysiological studies may explain how breathing techniques normalize stress response, emotion regulation, and autonomic and neuroendocrine system function. Breath practices have been shown to reduce symptoms of stress, anxiety, insomnia, post-traumatic stress disorder, mass disasters, depression, and attention deficit disorder. Technology-assisted breathing interventions facilitate therapeutic breathing by using either static cues such as a breath pacer or real-time feedback based on physiological parameters such as heart rate variability. The empirical literature indicates that technology-assisted breathing can be beneficial in mental health treatment, though it may not be appropriate for all individuals. Initial in-person training and evaluation can improve results.
Neurophysiological studies may explain how breathing techniques normalize stress response, emotion regulation, and autonomic and neuroendocrine system function. Breath practices have been shown to reduce symptoms of stress, anxiety, insomnia, post-traumatic stress disorder, mass disasters, depression, and attention deficit disorder. Technology-assisted breathing interventions facilitate therapeutic breathing by using either static cues such as a breath pacer or real-time feedback based on physiological parameters such as heart rate variability. The empirical literature indicates that technology-assisted breathing can be beneficial in mental health treatment, though it may not be appropriate for all individuals. Initial in-person training and evaluation can improve results.
Biological systems are particularly prone to variation, and the authors argue that such variation must be regarded as important data in its own right. The authors describe a method in which individual differences are studied within the framework of a general theory of the population as a whole and illustrate how this method can be used to address three types of issues: the nature of the mechanisms that give rise to a specific ability, such as mental imagery; the role of psychological or biological mediators of environmental challenges, such as the biological bases for differences in dispositional mood; and the existence of processes that have nonadditive effects with behavioral and physiological variables, such as factors that modulate the response to stress and its effects on the immune response.
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I have to confess that I was not a very good teacher when I began my career, at least not in my mind. Oh, I wanted to be, very much so, in some respects to honor the many teachers who so profoundly influenced my life. But while I was good enough to pass muster for tenure purposes, as hard as I tried, I simply wasn’t as good as I wanted to be.
<p>Introduces a series of papers on Buddhism and cognitive science in a special section of <em>Pacific World : The Journal of the Institute of Buddhist Studies</em>. The author discusses the points of contact between Buddhism, psychology, Western phenomenology, and the cognitive sciences, showing ways in which they are similar and offering ways they can contribute to each other's analysis of the mind and experience. (Zach Rowinski 2004- 06-10)</p>
Stimulated by a recent meeting between Western psychologists and the Dalai Lama on the topic of destructive emotions, we report on two issues: the achievement of enduring happiness, what Tibetan Buddhists call sukha, and the nature of afflictive and nonafflictive emotional states and traits. A Buddhist perspective on these issues is presented, along with discussion of the challenges the Buddhist view raises for empirical research and theory.
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Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) is an evidence-based program that combines mindfulness and cognitive therapy techniques for working with stress, anxiety, depression, and other problems. Building Competence in Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy provides the first transcript of an entire 8-week program. This intimate portrayal of the challenges and celebrations of actual clients give the reader an inside look at the processes that occur within these groups. The author also provides insights and practical suggestions for building personal and professional competence in delivering the MBCT protocol.
Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) is an evidence-based program that combines mindfulness and cognitive therapy techniques for working with stress, anxiety, depression, and other problems. Building Competence in Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy provides the first transcript of an entire 8-week program. This intimate portrayal of the challenges and celebrations of actual clients give the reader an inside look at the processes that occur within these groups. The author also provides insights and practical suggestions for building personal and professional competence in delivering the MBCT protocol.
In primates, during times of need, calling for help is a universal experience. Calling for help recruits social support and promotes survival. However, calling for help also can attract predators, and it is adaptive to inhibit calls for help when a potential threat is perceived. Based on this, we hypothesized that individual differences in calling for help would be related to the activity of brain systems that mediate goal-directed behavior and the detection of threat. By using high-resolution positron emission tomography in rhesus monkeys undergoing social separation, we demonstrate that increased [18F]-fluoro-2-deoxy-d-glucose uptake in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and decreased uptake in the amygdala independently predict individual differences in calling for help. When taken together, these two regions account for 76% of the variance in calling for help. This result suggests that the drive for affiliation and the perception of threat determine the intensity of an individual's behavior during separation. These findings in monkeys are relevant to humans and provide a conceptual neural framework to understand individual differences in how primates behave when in need of social support.
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Four studies examined the effects of nature on valuing intrinsic and extrinsic aspirations. Intrinsic aspirations reflected prosocial and other-focused value orientations, and extrinsic aspirations predicted self-focused value orientations. Participants immersed in natural environments reported higher valuing of intrinsic aspirations and lower valuing of extrinsic aspirations, whereas those immersed in non-natural environments reported increased valuing of extrinsic aspirations and no change of intrinsic aspirations. Three studies explored experiences of nature relatedness and autonomy as underlying mechanisms of these effects, showing that nature immersion elicited these processes whereas non-nature immersion thwarted them and that they in turn predicted higher intrinsic and lower extrinsic aspirations. Studies 3 and 4 also extended the paradigm by testing these effects on generous decision making indicative of valuing intrinsic versus extrinsic aspirations.
Despite the call for multilevel observation of negative affect, including multiple physiological systems, too little empirical research has been conducted in infants and young children, and physiology-affect associations are not consistently reported. We examined changes in heart rate, respiratory sinus arrhythmia, and preejection period in 24-month-olds across four increasingly challenging, emotion-eliciting tasks. We predicted that changes in cardiac reactivity would be systematically related to changes in negative affect. Results largely support the predictions with one important exception. With increasing distress across the tasks, HR increased and RSA decreased. However, no significant changes in PEP were observed. HR was associated with negative affect during all tasks, and changes in HR were related to changes in negative affect. PEP and negative affect were associated, but only marginally so. Within-subject analyses confirmed the predicted associations. Finally, the associations between physiology and negative affect were different for boys and girls. We discuss these results in the context of implications for future research on cardiac-affect associations in young children.
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Children with anxious temperament (AT) are particularly sensitive to new social experiences and have increased risk for developing anxiety and depression. The young rhesus monkey is optimal for studying the origin of human AT because it shares with humans the genetic, neural, and phenotypic underpinnings of complex social and emotional functioning. In vivo imaging in young monkeys demonstrated that central nucleus of the amygdala (Ce) metabolism is relatively stable across development and predicts AT. Transcriptome-wide gene expression, which reflects combined genetic and environmental influences, was assessed within the Ce. Results support a maladaptive neurodevelopmental hypothesis linking decreased amygdala neuroplasticity to early-life dispositional anxiety. For example, high AT individuals had decreased mRNA expression of neurotrophic tyrosine kinase, receptor, type 3 (NTRK3). Moreover, variation in Ce NTRK3 expression was inversely correlated with Ce metabolism and other AT-substrates. These data suggest that altered amygdala neuroplasticity may play a role the early dispositional risk to develop anxiety and depression.
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Background
The cerebellum is a brain region recognized primarily in the coordination of movement and related accessory motor functions. In addition, emerging evidence implicates the cerebellum in cognitive processes and suggests that this brain region may be subject to experience-dependent plastic changes in structure. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the role of early environmental deprivation in the maturation of the cerebellum and aspects of cognitive development.
Methods
Structural MRI volumes of 12 cerebellar sub-regions from 31 previously-neglected and 30 typically developing children were compared to subjects’ corresponding neuropsychological test scores.
Results
Neglected children had smaller volume of the superior-posterior cerebellar lobes. Moreover, superior-posterior lobe volume was found to mediate neuropsychological test performance differences between groups, with larger volumes yielding better outcomes on tests of memory and planning.
Conclusions
These data support the importance of experience-dependent plastic changes in cerebellar structure and highlight the role of the cerebellum in higher cognitive functions.
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<p>Abstract A diversity of methods have been used to study cerebral asymmetries associated with emotion. Many different conceptual schemes have also been invoked to guide research on this topic. The purpose of this article is to survey the critical methodological and conceptual issues in this area of research. Research in this area must acknowledge the multi-componential nature of emotion. Asymmetries associated with the perception of emotional information and the posing of emotional expressions are not necessarily the same as those that accompany the actual production of emotion. Asymmetries vary along the rostral/caudal plane both in their magnitude and direction, as well as in their functional significance. Research in this area must explicitly take this variable into account. Different measures of asymmetry do not reflect the same underlying process and so cannot be used interchangeably. In particular, behavioural measures which lack extensive localising validation, must be used with caution. Finally, the nature of the causal connection between alterations in asymmetric activation and emotion is not a simple one and extant data indicate that an asymmetric shift is not sufficient for the production of emotion. This fact has serious implications for the types of experimental designs that must be used to adequately test for relations between cerebral asymmetry and emotion. The article concludes with a discussion of some of the major outstanding questions that will occupy a central position in the future research agenda in this area.</p>
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The anterior medial prefrontal (AMPFC) and retrosplenial (RSC) cortices are active during self-referential decision-making tasks such as when participants appraise traits and abilities, or current affect. Other appraisal tasks requiring an evaluative decision or mental representation, such as theory of mind and perspective-taking tasks, also involve these regions. In many instances, these types of decisions involve a subjective opinion or preference, but also a degree of ambiguity in the decision, rather than a strictly veridical response. However, this ambiguity is generally not controlled for in studies that examine self-referential decision-making. In this functional magnetic resonance imaging experiment with 17 healthy adults, we examined neural processes associated with subjective decision-making with and without an overt self-referential component. The task required subjective decisions about colors-regarding self-preference (internal subjective decision) or color similarity (external subjective decision) under conditions where there was no objectively correct response. Results indicated greater activation in the AMPFC, RSC, and caudate nucleus during internal subjective decision-making. The findings suggest that self-referential processing, rather than subjective judgments among ambiguous response alternatives, accounted for the AMPFC and RSC response.
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The term cognition refers to unconscious mechanisms in the mind that bring about representations. Social cognition may be defined as any cognitive process that involves other people. These processes can be involved in social interactions at a group level or on a one-to-one basis. This chapter identifies the scope of social cognition and recent research on the mechanisms of social cognition and its component processes in the brain. The study of social cognition uses the same measures as any other area of cognitive science. Some measures are especially helpful in the study of communication and emotion. These include: autonomic responses, brain activity, neuronal activity, scalp electrical impulses, cerebral blood flow, and non-verbal behavior. Mechanisms of social cognition are thought to be crucial for reading faces, detecting eye gaze, recognizing emotional expressions, perceiving biological motion, and detecting goal-directed actions and agents. This chapter further discusses how pathology affects social cognition. It also poses some burning questions from interactions in everyday life.
Maltreatment during childhood is a major risk factor for anxiety and depression, which are major public health problems. However, the underlying brain mechanism linking maltreatment and internalizing disorders remains poorly understood. Maltreatment may alter the activation of fear circuitry, but little is known about its impact on the connectivity of this circuitry in adolescence and whether such brain changes actually lead to internalizing symptoms. We examined the associations between experiences of maltreatment during childhood, resting-state functional brain connectivity (rs-FC) of the amygdala and hippocampus, and internalizing symptoms in 64 adolescents participating in a longitudinal community study. Childhood experiences of maltreatment were associated with lower hippocampus–subgenual cingulate rs-FC in both adolescent females and males and lower amygdala–subgenual cingulate rs-FC in females only. Furthermore, rs-FC mediated the association of maltreatment during childhood with adolescent internalizing symptoms. Thus, maltreatment in childhood, even at the lower severity levels found in a community sample, may alter the regulatory capacity of the brain’s fear circuit, leading to increased internalizing symptoms by late adolescence. These findings highlight the importance of fronto–hippocampal connectivity for both sexes in internalizing symptoms following maltreatment in childhood. Furthermore, the impact of maltreatment during childhood on both fronto–amygdala and –hippocampal connectivity in females may help explain their higher risk for internalizing disorders such as anxiety and depression.
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Some children show emotion that is not consistent with normative appraisal of the context and can therefore be defined as context inappropriate (CI). The authors used individual growth curve modeling and hierarchical multiple regression analyses to examine whether CI anger predicts differences in hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activity, as manifest in salivary cortisol measures. About 23% of the 360 children (ages 6-10 years, primarily 7-8) showed at least 1 expression of CI anger in situations designed to elicit positive affect. Expression of anger across 2 positive assessments was less common (around 4%). CI anger predicted the hypothesized lower levels of cortisol beyond that attributed to context appropriate anger. Boys' CI anger predicted lower morning cortisol and flatter slopes. Results suggest that this novel approach to studying children's emotion across varying contexts can provide insight into affective style.
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This appendix focuses on one of the most common scenarios in primary care—chronic non-cancer pain that does not have an easily identifiable physical source, and therefore is difficult to "fix" with simple interventions. Of course, as needed, arrange treatment for any clearly identifiable source that is not resolving with conservative measures. Examples of these include interventional treatments of severe persistent back pain due to verified disc herniation with clinically consistent exam findings, documented nerve impingements amenable to surgical release, or severe joint disease amenable to surgical repair or joint replacement.
This appendix focuses on one of the most common scenarios in primary care—chronic non-cancer pain that does not have an easily identifiable physical source, and therefore is difficult to "fix" with simple interventions. Of course, as needed, arrange treatment for any clearly identifiable source that is not resolving with conservative measures. Examples of these include interventional treatments of severe persistent back pain due to verified disc herniation with clinically consistent exam findings, documented nerve impingements amenable to surgical release, or severe joint disease amenable to surgical repair or joint replacement.
<p>In this chapter from the book <em>Psychology and Buddhism: From Individual to Global Community</em>, Buddhist scholar Richard P. Hayes looks at the Buddhist process toward transforming from a state of mind which tends toward harming oneself and others to one that is healing and able to benefit. He looks at the traditional Buddhist three-fold process of ethics, contemplation, and wisdom. Ethics provides a basis for contemplation by helping the individual avoid actions which may be a cause of gulit, shame, harm, and other obstacles to mental peace. During contemplation, the individual refines mental awareness and eventually applies this refined state of mind to the development of wisdom. Wisdom itself can be looked at as a three-fold process of (1) study, (2) reflection, and (3) cultivation. Through study, the individual learns about the stages of the path and their correct order etc. Reflection begins the process of deep internalization by questioning oneself and comparing oneself to one's spiritual teachers. Cultivation is the process whereby one infuses in one's state of being attitudes and insight conducive to fulfillment. This, in turn affects one's way of acting and speaking so that one's behavior is spontaneously and naturally virtuous and beneficial to oneself and others. (Zach Rowinski 2005-01-02)</p>
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