Effects of a Mindfulness-Based Intervention on Sustained and Selective Attention in Young Top-Level Athletes in a School Training Setting: A Randomized Control Trial Study

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Christoph Kittler ◽  
Manuel Arnold ◽  
Darko Jekauc
Keyword(s):  
Selective Attention ◽  
Mindfulness Training ◽  
Success Factor ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Randomized Control ◽  
School Training ◽  
Key Success Factor ◽  
Elite Sports ◽  
Training Dosage

Attention is a key success factor in elite sports. Mindfulness training is suspected to be a determinant of attention. The present study was a wait-list controlled investigation of the effects of a mindfulness-based sport psychology program on sustained and selective attention in young elite athletes (n = 137) and the effects of mindfulness training dosage on improving attention scores. In addition, long-term effects were examined. Selective and sustained attention were assessed in a pre–post design using the Frankfurter Aufmerksamkeits-Inventar 2, a go/no-go task. The results of this study indicate that the Berlin Mindfulness-Based Training for Athletes improved both sustained and selective attention in young athletes and that more training in the same amount of time resulted in higher scores in the assessment. The data also indicate that students who continued to practice independently after the intervention had higher scores in the long-term measure.

scholarly journals Promoting the creation of Innovation Ecosystems: the case of the University of Porto

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos Melo Brito
Keyword(s):  
Growth And Development ◽  
Success Factor ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Innovation Ecosystems ◽  
The University ◽  
Key Success Factor ◽  
Knowledge Valorisation

Universities are increasingly acting as promoters of innovation, economic growth and regional development, a trend that has attracted the attention of both policy makers and researchers. The objective of this paper is to contribute to a deeper understanding of the role of higher education institutions as dynamic promoters of growth and development. The University of Porto is used as a case study to explore how universities can act as innovation ecosystems leaders and integrators. The main contributions of the paper are threefold. First, the case puts in evidence a key success factor: the talent to transform the knowledge produced by universities into valuable solutions for companies and other organisations. Second, links between universities and industry must assume a long-term and relational nature rather than an intermittent and transactional character. Finally, the success of university-based ecosystems depends on the integration of a diversity of actors, resources and competences. This means that a sustainable strategy of innovation and knowledge valorisation requires an approach that fosters both internal and external networking.

scholarly journals Effects of Prenatal Mindfulness-Based Childbirth Education on Child-Bearers’ Trajectories of Distress: A Randomized Control Trial

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marissa Danielle Sbrilli ◽  
Larissa G. Duncan ◽  
Nancy Bardacke ◽  
Heidemarie K. Laurent
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Randomized Control Trial ◽  
Perinatal Period ◽  
Preliminary Evidence ◽  
Mindfulness Training ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Dispositional Mindfulness ◽  
Post Intervention ◽  
Treatment As Usual ◽  
Randomized Control

Abstract Background. The perinatal period is a time of immense change, which can be a period of stress and vulnerability for mental health difficulties. Mindfulness-based interventions have shown promise for reducing distress, but further research is needed to identify long-term effects and moderators of mindfulness training in the perinatal period. Methods. The current study used data from a pilot randomized control trial (RCT) comparing a condensed mindfulness-based childbirth preparation program—the Mind in Labor (MIL)—to treatment as usual (TAU) to examine whether prenatal mindfulness training results in lower distress across the perinatal period, and whether the degree of benefit depends on child-bearers’ initial levels of risk (i.e., depression and anxiety symptoms) and protective (i.e., mindfulness) characteristics. Child-bearers (N=30) in their third trimester were randomized to MIL or TAU and completed assessments of distress—perceived stress, anxiety, and depressive symptoms—at pre-intervention, post-intervention, six-weeks post-birth, and one-year postpartum. Results. Multilevel modeling of distress trajectories revealed greater decreases from pre-intervention to 12 months postpartum for those in MIL compared to TAU, especially among child-bearers who were higher in anxiety and/or lower in dispositional mindfulness at baseline. Conclusions. The current study offers preliminary evidence for durable perinatal mental health benefits following a brief mindfulness-based program and suggests further investigation of these effects in larger samples is warranted.Trial registration: The ClinicalTrials.gov identifier for the study is: NCT02327559. The study was retrospectively registered on June 23, 2014. https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02327559

scholarly journals Effects of technology-based mindfulness training on wellbeing and stress

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tatjana Schauer ◽  
Sarah Diefenbach
Keyword(s):  
Mindfulness Training ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Positive And Negative Affect ◽  
Smartphone Apps ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Single Item ◽  
Indirect Measures ◽  
Design Factors ◽  
Interesting Alternative

More and more people practice mindfulness to reduce stress and improve their wellbeing. In this regards, technology-based interventions such as smartphone apps provide an interesting potential. Our study explores effects on users' perceived wellbeing and stress on the example of the mindfulness-based app My Blossom. Forty-four new users answered four online questionnaires in one-week intervals, containing established multi-item wellbeing and stress scales for as well as single-item direct explicit questions about perceived changes in wellbeing and stress. In combination, these two forms of assessment provided insights to what degree users are conscious of a possible change and whether these perceptions are in parallel to the more indirect measures. Paired t tests show significant improvements in positive and negative affect, mood and stress in both scales and overall ratings after three weeks of mindfulness-training with My Blossom compared to the pre-intervention baseline. These findings suggest mindfulness-training in form of an app as an interesting alternative to mindfulness-trainings under instructions of a physically present trainer and the power to increase wellbeing and decrease stress. Future research should concentrate on the specific mechanisms and possible design factors of app-based mindfulness-trainings (e.g., variety of training offers, degree of guidance, reminder functions) as well as long term effects.

scholarly journals Effects of Prenatal Mindfulness-Based Childbirth Education on Child-Bearers’ Trajectories of Distress: A Randomized Control Trial

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marissa Danielle Sbrilli ◽  
Larissa G. Duncan ◽  
Nancy Bardacke ◽  
Heidemarie K. Laurent
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Randomized Control Trial ◽  
Perinatal Period ◽  
Preliminary Evidence ◽  
Mindfulness Training ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Dispositional Mindfulness ◽  
Post Intervention ◽  
Treatment As Usual ◽  
Randomized Control

Abstract The perinatal period is a time of immense change, which can be a period of stress and vulnerability for mental health difficulties. Mindfulness-based interventions have shown promise for reducing distress, but further research is needed to identify long-term effects and moderators of mindfulness training in the perinatal period. The current study used data from a pilot randomized control trial (RCT) comparing a condensed mindfulness-based childbirth preparation program—the Mind in Labor (MIL)—to treatment as usual (TAU) to examine whether prenatal mindfulness training results in lower distress across the perinatal period, and whether the degree of benefit depends on child-bearers’ initial levels of risk (i.e., depression and anxiety symptoms) and protective (i.e., mindfulness) characteristics. Child-bearers (N=30) in their third trimester were randomized to MIL or TAU and completed assessments of distress—perceived stress, anxiety, and depressive symptoms—at pre-intervention, post-intervention, six-weeks post-birth, and one-year postpartum. Multilevel modeling of distress trajectories revealed greater decreases from pre-intervention to 12 months postpartum for those in MIL compared to TAU, especially among child-bearers who were higher in anxiety and/or lower in dispositional mindfulness at baseline. The current study offers preliminary evidence for durable perinatal mental health benefits following a brief mindfulness-based program and suggests further investigation of these effects in larger samples is warranted.Trial registration: The ClinicalTrials.gov identifier for the study is: NCT02327559. The study was retrospectively registered on June 23, 2014. https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02327559

scholarly journals Effects of prenatal mindfulness-based childbirth education on child-bearers’ trajectories of distress: a randomized control trial

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marissa D. Sbrilli ◽  
Larissa G. Duncan ◽  
Heidemarie K. Laurent
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Randomized Control Trial ◽  
Perinatal Period ◽  
Preliminary Evidence ◽  
Mindfulness Training ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Dispositional Mindfulness ◽  
Post Intervention ◽  
Treatment As Usual ◽  
Randomized Control

Abstract Background The perinatal period is a time of immense change, which can be a period of stress and vulnerability for mental health difficulties. Mindfulness-based interventions have shown promise for reducing distress, but further research is needed to identify long-term effects and moderators of mindfulness training in the perinatal period. Methods The current study used data from a pilot randomized control trial (RCT) comparing a condensed mindfulness-based childbirth preparation program—the Mind in Labor (MIL)—to treatment as usual (TAU) to examine whether prenatal mindfulness training results in lower distress across the perinatal period, and whether the degree of benefit depends on child-bearers’ initial levels of risk (i.e., depression and anxiety symptoms) and protective (i.e., mindfulness) characteristics. Child-bearers (N = 30) in their third trimester were randomized to MIL or TAU and completed assessments of distress—perceived stress, anxiety, and depressive symptoms—at pre-intervention, post-intervention, six-weeks post-birth, and one-year postpartum. Results Multilevel modeling of distress trajectories revealed greater decreases from pre-intervention to 12-months postpartum for those in MIL compared to TAU, especially among child-bearers who were higher in anxiety and/or lower in dispositional mindfulness at baseline. Conclusions The current study offers preliminary evidence for durable perinatal mental health benefits following a brief mindfulness-based program and suggests further investigation of these effects in larger samples is warranted. Trial registration The ClinicalTrials.gov identifier for the study is: NCT02327559. The study was retrospectively registered on June 23, 2014.

scholarly journals Selective Attention Modulates Neural Substrates of Repetition Priming and “Implicit” Visual Memory: Suppressions and Enhancements Revealed by fMRI

2005 ◽  
Vol 17 (8) ◽  
pp. 1245-1260 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrik Vuilleumier ◽  
Sophie Schwartz ◽  
Stéphanie Duhoux ◽  
Raymond J. Dolan ◽  
Jon Driver
Keyword(s):  
Selective Attention ◽  
Visual Memory ◽  
Striate Cortex ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Neural Substrates ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Repetition Effects ◽  
Behavioral Studies ◽  
The Right

Attention can enhance processing for relevant information and suppress this for ignored stimuli. However, some residual processing may still arise without attention. Here we presented overlapping outline objects at study, with subjects attending to those in one color but not the other. Attended objects were subsequently recognized on a surprise memory test, whereas there was complete amnesia for ignored items on such direct explicit testing; yet reliable behavioral priming effects were found on indirect testing. Event-related fMRI examined neural responses to previously attended or ignored objects, now shown alone in the same or mirror-reversed orientation as before, intermixed with new items. Repetition-related decreases in fMRI responses for objects previously attended and repeated in the same orientation were found in the right posterior fusiform, lateral occipital, and left inferior frontal cortex. More anterior fusiform regions also showed some repetition decreases for ignored objects, irrespective of orientation. View-specific repetition decreases were found in the striate cortex, particularly for previously attended items. In addition, previously ignored objects produced some fMRI response increases in the bilateral lingual gyri, relative to new objects. Selective attention at exposure can thus produce several distinct long-term effects on processing of stimuli repeated later, with neural response suppression stronger for previously attended objects, and some response enhancement for previously ignored objects, with these effects arising in different brain areas. Although repetition decreases may relate to positive priming phenomena, the repetition increases for ignored objects shown here for the first time might relate to processes that can produce “negative priming” in some behavioral studies. These results reveal quantitative and qualitative differences between neural substrates of long-term repetition effects for attended versus unattended objects.

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