BackgroundResting state functional connectivity (RSFC) research among adults indicates abnormalities within and between neural networks during acute depressive episodes, some of which are likely to remain into remission. The examination of RSFC among adolescents within the remitted state of MDD may implicate markers of illness course during a critical developmental window wherein secondary prevention can be implemented.
Methods
RSFC data were collected on a 3.0T GE scanner from adolescents (12–18, M=15.61, SD=1.90; 57% female) in full or partial remission from MDD (rMDD; n=23) and age- and gender-matched healthy controls (HC; n=10). RSFC data were examined using seed-based connectivity of the left amygdala, left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC), and left posterior cingulate cortex (PCC). These seeds were chosen to probe the emotional salience, cognitive control, and default mode networks, respectively.
Results
rMDD adolescents demonstrated relative hyperconnectivity from the left amygdala to the right PCC, as well as from the left dlPFC to the right middle frontal and left inferior frontal gyri (MFG, IFG). Amygdala to PCC connectivity was correlated with greater rumination, dlPFC to MFG connectivity was positively associated with depression severity, and dlPFC to IFG connectivity was inversely associated with mindfulness.
Conclusions
Aberrant functional connectivity within and between neural networks responsible for salience attribution, introspective thought, and executive control can be observed among adolescents in the remitted phase of MDD and is associated with residual clinical symptoms. These patterns may confer risk for future relapse or alternatively, support wellness.
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<p><strong>Creator's Description:</strong> This article presents a new paleographic approach to the Tibetan manuscripts from Dunhuang. By adapting the techniques of forensic handwriting analysis to the Tibetan alphabet, we can identify groups of manuscripts written in the same hand. After introducing this new approach, the present paper applies it to the works of a single scribe, taken as an initial example. Once this particular group of manuscripts has been identified, a range of further insights into this person emerge—his many connections to the kingdom of Khotan, his unique writing style, and his interest in the external ritual practices relating to water and fire offerings, stūpas, rosaries, and the like. This new approach promises to alter significantly our understanding of the Tibetan Dunhuang documents. No longer are we confronted with a mass of undigested material; now we can begin to date and ascribe names to whole swathes of the collection.</p>
<p>Publisher's description: Buddha Mind in Contemporary Art documents the growing presence of Buddhist perspectives in contemporary culture. This shift began in the nineteenth century and is now pervasive in many aspects of everyday experience. In the arts especially, the increasing importance of process over product has promoted a profound change in the relationship between artist and audience. But while artists have been among the most perceptive interpreters of Buddhism in the West, art historians and critics have been slow to develop the intellectual tools to analyze the impact of Buddhist concepts. This timely, multi-faceted volume explores the relationships between Buddhist practice and the contemporary arts in lively essays by writers from a range of disciplines and in revealing interviews with some of the most influential artists of our time. Elucidating the common ground between the creative mind, the perceiving mind, and the meditative mind, the contributors tackle essential questions about the relationship of art and life. Among the writers are curators, art critics, educators, and Buddhist commentators in psychology, literature, and cognitive science. They consider the many Western artists today who recognize the Buddhist notion of emptiness, achieved through focused meditation, as a place of great creative potential for the making and experiencing of art. The artists featured in the interviews, all internationally recognized, include Maya Lin, Bill Viola, and Ann Hamilton. Extending earlier twentieth-century aesthetic interests in blurring the boundaries of art and life, the artists view art as a way of life, a daily practice, in ways parallel to that of the Buddhist practitioner. Their works, woven throughout the book, richly convey how Buddhism has been both a source for and a lens through which we now perceive art.</p>
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- Buddhist Contemplation by Applied Subject,
- Socially Engaged Buddhism,
- Buddhist Contemplation by Tradition,
- Contemplation by Applied Subject,
- Contemplation by Tradition,
- Art and Buddhist Contemplation,
- Photography and Buddhist Contemplation,
- Art and Contemplation,
- Visual art and Buddhist Contemplation,
- Buddhist Contemplation
Calcification rates in stony corals are expected to decline significantly in the near future due to ocean acidification. In this study we provide a global estimate of the decline in calcification of coral reefs as a result of increase in sea surface temperature and partial pressure of CO2. This estimate, unlike previously reported estimates, is based on an empirical rate law developed from field observations for gross community calcification as a function of aragonite degree of saturation (Ωarag), sea surface temperature and live coral cover. Calcification rates were calculated for more than 9,000 reef locations using model values of Ωarag and sea surface temperature at different levels of atmospheric CO2. The maps we produced show that by the time atmospheric partial pressure of CO2 will reach 560 ppm all coral reefs will cease to grow and start to dissolve.
BackgroundMindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) is a group-based clinical intervention program designed to reduce relapse or recurrence of major depressive disorder (MDD) by means of systematic training in mindfulness meditation combined with cognitive-behavioral methods.
Objective
By means of a meta-analysis to evaluate the effect of MBCT for prevention of relapse or recurrence among patients with recurrent MDD in remission.
Method
Electronic databases were searched and researchers were contacted for further relevant studies. Studies were coded for quality. Meta-analyses were performed by means of the Cochrane Collaboration Review Manager 5.1.
Results
Six randomized controlled trials with a total of 593 participants were included in the meta-analysis. MBCT significantly reduced the risk of relapse/recurrence with a risk ratio of 0.66 for MBCT compared to treatment as usual or placebo controls, corresponding to a relative risk reduction of 34%. In a pre-planned subgroup analysis the relative risk reduction was 43% for participants with three or more previous episodes, while no risk reduction was found for participants with only two episodes. In two studies, MBCT was at least as effective as maintenance antidepressant medication.
Conclusion
Results of this meta-analysis indicate that MBCT is an effective intervention for relapse prevention in patients with recurrent MDD in remission, at least in case of three or more previous MDD episodes.
Objective: The use of mindfulness-based therapy (MBT) in oncology settings has become increasingly popular, and research in the field has rapidly expanded. The objective was by means of a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the current evidence for the effect of MBT on symptoms of anxiety and depression in adult cancer patients and survivors. Method: Electronic databases were searched, and researchers were contacted for further relevant studies. Twenty-two independent studies with a total of 1,403 participants were included. Studies were coded for quality (range: 0–4), and overall effect size analyses were performed separately for nonrandomized studies (K = 13, n = 448) and randomized controlled trials (RCTs; K = 9, n = 955). Effect sizes were combined using the random-effects model. Results: In the aggregated sample of nonrandomized studies (average quality score: 0.5), MBT was associated with significantly reduced symptoms of anxiety and depression from pre- to posttreatment corresponding to moderate effect sizes (Hedges\'s g) of 0.60 and 0.42, respectively. The pooled controlled effect sizes (Hedges\'s g) of RCTs (average quality score: 2.9) were 0.37 for anxiety symptoms (p < .001) and 0.44 for symptoms of depression (p < .001). These effect sizes appeared robust. Furthermore, in RCTs, MBT significantly improved mindfulness skills (Hedges\'s g = 0.39). Conclusion: While the overall quality of existing clinical trials varies considerably, there appears to be some positive evidence from relatively high-quality RCTs to support the use of MBT for cancer patients and survivors with symptoms of anxiety and depression.
Objective: The use of mindfulness-based therapy (MBT) in oncology settings has become increasingly popular, and research in the field has rapidly expanded. The objective was by means of a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the current evidence for the effect of MBT on symptoms of anxiety and depression in adult cancer patients and survivors. Method: Electronic databases were searched, and researchers were contacted for further relevant studies. Twenty-two independent studies with a total of 1,403 participants were included. Studies were coded for quality (range: 0–4), and overall effect size analyses were performed separately for nonrandomized studies (K = 13, n = 448) and randomized controlled trials (RCTs; K = 9, n = 955). Effect sizes were combined using the random-effects model. Results: In the aggregated sample of nonrandomized studies (average quality score: 0.5), MBT was associated with significantly reduced symptoms of anxiety and depression from pre- to posttreatment corresponding to moderate effect sizes (Hedges\'s g) of 0.60 and 0.42, respectively. The pooled controlled effect sizes (Hedges\'s g) of RCTs (average quality score: 2.9) were 0.37 for anxiety symptoms (p < .001) and 0.44 for symptoms of depression (p < .001). These effect sizes appeared robust. Furthermore, in RCTs, MBT significantly improved mindfulness skills (Hedges\'s g = 0.39). Conclusion: While the overall quality of existing clinical trials varies considerably, there appears to be some positive evidence from relatively high-quality RCTs to support the use of MBT for cancer patients and survivors with symptoms of anxiety and depression.
Objective: The use of mindfulness-based therapy (MBT) in oncology settings has become increasingly popular, and research in the field has rapidly expanded. The objective was by means of a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the current evidence for the effect of MBT on symptoms of anxiety and depression in adult cancer patients and survivors. Method: Electronic databases were searched, and researchers were contacted for further relevant studies. Twenty-two independent studies with a total of 1,403 participants were included. Studies were coded for quality (range: 0–4), and overall effect size analyses were performed separately for nonrandomized studies (K = 13, n = 448) and randomized controlled trials (RCTs; K = 9, n = 955). Effect sizes were combined using the random-effects model. Results: In the aggregated sample of nonrandomized studies (average quality score: 0.5), MBT was associated with significantly reduced symptoms of anxiety and depression from pre- to posttreatment corresponding to moderate effect sizes (Hedges\'s g) of 0.60 and 0.42, respectively. The pooled controlled effect sizes (Hedges\'s g) of RCTs (average quality score: 2.9) were 0.37 for anxiety symptoms (p < .001) and 0.44 for symptoms of depression (p < .001). These effect sizes appeared robust. Furthermore, in RCTs, MBT significantly improved mindfulness skills (Hedges\'s g = 0.39). Conclusion: While the overall quality of existing clinical trials varies considerably, there appears to be some positive evidence from relatively high-quality RCTs to support the use of MBT for cancer patients and survivors with symptoms of anxiety and depression.
We examined the effects of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) on symptom severity of depression, complicated grief, posttraumatic stress, and working memory in elderly bereaved people with long-term bereavement-related distress. A non-randomized, controlled pilot design was used in a sample of elderly bereaved people (mean age = 77 years) with long-term bereavement-related distress. Results were compared between MBCT intervention group completers (n = 12), intervention group intention to treat (n = 18), and wait list controls (n = 18) at pre- and post-intervention and at a 5-month follow-up. Compared to wait list controls, MBCT reduced depressive symptoms significantly in intervention completers at follow-up (Hedges’ g = 0.84, p = 0.04) with significant interaction between group and time (Hedges’ g = 0.88, p = 0.02). No other significant outcome differences between groups were observed, although the interaction effect on working memory at post-intervention approached a significant level (Hedges’ g = 0.35, p = 0.09). In the wait list group, 29 % had elevated depressive symptoms both before intervention and at follow-up. In the intervention group, 50 % of the completers had elevated depressive symptoms before intervention, but 0 % had elevated symptoms at follow-up. MBCT appears to reduce depressive symptoms in this sample of elderly bereaved people, but further studies of the effects of MBCT in this population are needed for firm conclusions.
We examined the effects of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) on symptom severity of depression, complicated grief, posttraumatic stress, and working memory in elderly bereaved people with long-term bereavement-related distress. A non-randomized, controlled pilot design was used in a sample of elderly bereaved people (mean age = 77 years) with long-term bereavement-related distress. Results were compared between MBCT intervention group completers (n = 12), intervention group intention to treat (n = 18), and wait list controls (n = 18) at pre- and post-intervention and at a 5-month follow-up. Compared to wait list controls, MBCT reduced depressive symptoms significantly in intervention completers at follow-up (Hedges’ g = 0.84, p = 0.04) with significant interaction between group and time (Hedges’ g = 0.88, p = 0.02). No other significant outcome differences between groups were observed, although the interaction effect on working memory at post-intervention approached a significant level (Hedges’ g = 0.35, p = 0.09). In the wait list group, 29 % had elevated depressive symptoms both before intervention and at follow-up. In the intervention group, 50 % of the completers had elevated depressive symptoms before intervention, but 0 % had elevated symptoms at follow-up. MBCT appears to reduce depressive symptoms in this sample of elderly bereaved people, but further studies of the effects of MBCT in this population are needed for firm conclusions.
The intent of the current research was to explore the impact of a specific Tibetan Buddhist meditation course containing a lab for applied practice of modern techniques upon psychological well-being in college students. We evaluated the impact of a semester-long undergraduate Tibetan Buddhist meditation course on the psychological well-being of 205 students and assessed whether changes in well-being were mediated by mindfulness. The course was composed of two weekly lectures regarding the tradition and modern applications of meditation, respectively, and a weekly lab in which the students were taught a survey of related modern contemplative techniques to practice. Students were assessed at the beginning, middle, and end of the course, and their time spent practicing the exercises were prospectively recorded. Participants reported statistically significant increases in self-reported mindfulness, self-compassion, and positive coping and significant decreases in self-reported anxiety. Mindfulness was a significant predictor of changes in self-compassion and anxiety. These results suggest that a large lecture course with weekly meditation practice can have a positive impact on the psychological well-being of students and that some of these changes are mediated by mindfulness.
The intent of the current research was to explore the impact of a specific Tibetan Buddhist meditation course containing a lab for applied practice of modern techniques upon psychological well-being in college students. We evaluated the impact of a semester-long undergraduate Tibetan Buddhist meditation course on the psychological well-being of 205 students and assessed whether changes in well-being were mediated by mindfulness. The course was composed of two weekly lectures regarding the tradition and modern applications of meditation, respectively, and a weekly lab in which the students were taught a survey of related modern contemplative techniques to practice. Students were assessed at the beginning, middle, and end of the course, and their time spent practicing the exercises were prospectively recorded. Participants reported statistically significant increases in self-reported mindfulness, self-compassion, and positive coping and significant decreases in self-reported anxiety. Mindfulness was a significant predictor of changes in self-compassion and anxiety. These results suggest that a large lecture course with weekly meditation practice can have a positive impact on the psychological well-being of students and that some of these changes are mediated by mindfulness. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved)
The ability to focus one's attention underlies success in many everyday tasks, but voluntary attention cannot be sustained for extended periods of time. In the laboratory, sustained-attention failure is manifest as a decline in perceptual sensitivity with increasing time on task, known as the vigilance decrement. We investigated improvements in sustained attention with training (~ 5 hr/day for 3 months), which consisted of meditation practice that involved sustained selective attention on a chosen stimulus (e.g., the participant's breath). Participants were randomly assigned either to receive training first (n = 30) or to serve as waiting-list controls and receive training second (n = 30). Training produced improvements in visual discrimination that were linked to increases in perceptual sensitivity and improved vigilance during sustained visual attention. Consistent with the resource model of vigilance, these results suggest that perceptual improvements can reduce the resource demand imposed by target discrimination and thus make it easier to sustain voluntary attention.
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The capacity to focus one's attention for an extended period of time can be increased through training in contemplative practices. However, the cognitive processes engaged during meditation that support trait changes in cognition are not well characterized. We conducted a longitudinal wait-list controlled study of intensive meditation training. Retreat participants practiced focused attention (FA) meditation techniques for three months during an initial retreat. Wait-list participants later undertook formally identical training during a second retreat. Dense-array scalp-recorded electroencephalogram (EEG) data were collected during 6 min of mindfulness of breathing meditation at three assessment points during each retreat. Second-order blind source separation, along with a novel semi-automatic artifact removal tool (SMART), was used for data preprocessing. We observed replicable reductions in meditative state-related beta-band power bilaterally over anteriocentral and posterior scalp regions. In addition, individual alpha frequency (IAF) decreased across both retreats and in direct relation to the amount of meditative practice. These findings provide evidence for replicable longitudinal changes in brain oscillatory activity during meditation and increase our understanding of the cortical processes engaged during meditation that may support long-term improvements in cognition.
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Mindfulness has been a focus of psychological research and practice in recent decades. Yet, there is limited research on the relationship between mindfulness and vocational decision-making. This study’s purpose was to examine the role of mindfulness in a career context by investigating the relationships among mindfulness, decisionmaking style, negative career thoughts, and vocational identity. The sample included 258 undergraduate students (204 women, 54 men) at a large southeastern U.S. university. Mindfulness was significantly (p < .01) associated with fewer negative career thoughts, external and thinking-based decision-making styles, and higher vocational identity. Multiple regression procedures found that mindfulness, coupled with decision-making style, accounted for 31% of the variance in negative career thoughts and 22% of the variance in vocational identity. These findings suggest that more holistic career counseling interventions could incorporate mindfulness techniques to help reduce anxiety and negative thoughts while increasing self-clarity and problem-solving skills. Future research could include more diverse samples, additional constructs (e.g., choice volition, self-efficacy), and a pretest–posttest design to examine the efficacy of mindfulness-based career interventions.
Contextualizing the back-to-the-land experience with mindfulness, a variant of meditative phenomena, within deep ecology's contention that humankind requires a fundamental shift in consciousness in order to insure ecological sustainability, this study compares and contrasts those variables that explain variance in mindfulness, operationalized as a quasi-religious indicator, with those that explain variance in church attendance, a measure of formal religious behavior. Drawing on a national sample for a mailed questionnaire survey of back-to-the-landers, the study found that the predictor variables for mindfulness share little overlap with those that explain variance for church attendance. The exception is spiritual mindedness, itself a quasi-religious measure, which has a statistically significant relationship with both mindfulness and church attendance. The data suggest, then, that the religious and the quasi-religious are relatively independent spheres of human behavior and sentiment. It would appear, consequently, at least in terms of the back-to-the-land sample and the assumptions of deep ecology, that the adherents of organized religion are not as likely to be disposed towards ecologically sustainable frames of mind as those who center their spirituality on quasi-religious practices such as mindfulness.
The high likelihood of recurrence in depression is linked to a progressive increase in emotional reactivity to stress (stress sensitization). Mindfulness-based therapies teach mindfulness skills designed to decrease emotional reactivity in the face of negative affect-producing stressors. The primary aim of the current study was to assess whether Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) is efficacious in reducing emotional reactivity to social evaluative threat in a clinical sample with recurrent depression. A secondary aim was to assess whether improvement in emotional reactivity mediates improvements in depressive symptoms. Fifty-two individuals with partially remitted depression were randomized into an 8-week MBCT course or a waitlist control condition. All participants underwent the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) before and after the 8-week trial period. Emotional reactivity to stress was assessed with the Spielberger State Anxiety Inventory at several time points before, during, and after the stressor. MBCT was associated with decreased emotional reactivity to social stress, specifically during the recovery (post-stressor) phase of the TSST. Waitlist controls showed an increase in anticipatory (pre-stressor) anxiety that was absent in the MBCT group. Improvements in emotional reactivity partially mediated improvements in depressive symptoms. Limitations include small sample size, lack of objective or treatment adherence measures, and non-generalizability to more severely depressed populations. Given that emotional reactivity to stress is an important psychopathological process underlying the chronic and recurrent nature of depression, these findings suggest that mindfulness skills are important in adaptive emotion regulation when coping with stress.
The high likelihood of recurrence in depression is linked to a progressive increase in emotional reactivity to stress (stress sensitization). Mindfulness-based therapies teach mindfulness skills designed to decrease emotional reactivity in the face of negative affect-producing stressors. The primary aim of the current study was to assess whether Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) is efficacious in reducing emotional reactivity to social evaluative threat in a clinical sample with recurrent depression. A secondary aim was to assess whether improvement in emotional reactivity mediates improvements in depressive symptoms. Fifty-two individuals with partially remitted depression were randomized into an 8-week MBCT course or a waitlist control condition. All participants underwent the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) before and after the 8-week trial period. Emotional reactivity to stress was assessed with the Spielberger State Anxiety Inventory at several time points before, during, and after the stressor. MBCT was associated with decreased emotional reactivity to social stress, specifically during the recovery (post-stressor) phase of the TSST. Waitlist controls showed an increase in anticipatory (pre-stressor) anxiety that was absent in the MBCT group. Improvements in emotional reactivity partially mediated improvements in depressive symptoms. Limitations include small sample size, lack of objective or treatment adherence measures, and non-generalizability to more severely depressed populations. Given that emotional reactivity to stress is an important psychopathological process underlying the chronic and recurrent nature of depression, these findings suggest that mindfulness skills are important in adaptive emotion regulation when coping with stress.
The high likelihood of recurrence in depression is linked to a progressive increase in emotional reactivity to stress (stress sensitization). Mindfulness-based therapies teach mindfulness skills designed to decrease emotional reactivity in the face of negative affect-producing stressors. The primary aim of the current study was to assess whether Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) is efficacious in reducing emotional reactivity to social evaluative threat in a clinical sample with recurrent depression. A secondary aim was to assess whether improvement in emotional reactivity mediates improvements in depressive symptoms. Fifty-two individuals with partially remitted depression were randomized into an 8-week MBCT course or a waitlist control condition. All participants underwent the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) before and after the 8-week trial period. Emotional reactivity to stress was assessed with the Spielberger State Anxiety Inventory at several time points before, during, and after the stressor. MBCT was associated with decreased emotional reactivity to social stress, specifically during the recovery (post-stressor) phase of the TSST. Waitlist controls showed an increase in anticipatory (pre-stressor) anxiety that was absent in the MBCT group. Improvements in emotional reactivity partially mediated improvements in depressive symptoms. Limitations include small sample size, lack of objective or treatment adherence measures, and non-generalizability to more severely depressed populations. Given that emotional reactivity to stress is an important psychopathological process underlying the chronic and recurrent nature of depression, these findings suggest that mindfulness skills are important in adaptive emotion regulation when coping with stress.
The high likelihood of recurrence in depression is linked to a progressive increase in emotional reactivity to stress (stress sensitization). Mindfulness-based therapies teach mindfulness skills designed to decrease emotional reactivity in the face of negative affect-producing stressors. The primary aim of the current study was to assess whether Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) is efficacious in reducing emotional reactivity to social evaluative threat in a clinical sample with recurrent depression. A secondary aim was to assess whether improvement in emotional reactivity mediates improvements in depressive symptoms. Fifty-two individuals with partially remitted depression were randomized into an 8-week MBCT course or a waitlist control condition. All participants underwent the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) before and after the 8-week trial period. Emotional reactivity to stress was assessed with the Spielberger State Anxiety Inventory at several time points before, during, and after the stressor. MBCT was associated with decreased emotional reactivity to social stress, specifically during the recovery (post-stressor) phase of the TSST. Waitlist controls showed an increase in anticipatory (pre-stressor) anxiety that was absent in the MBCT group. Improvements in emotional reactivity partially mediated improvements in depressive symptoms. Limitations include small sample size, lack of objective or treatment adherence measures, and non-generalizability to more severely depressed populations. Given that emotional reactivity to stress is an important psychopathological process underlying the chronic and recurrent nature of depression, these findings suggest that mindfulness skills are important in adaptive emotion regulation when coping with stress.
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