Distinguishing The Cognitive Processes Of Mindfulness: Developing A Standardised Mindfulness Technique For Use In Longitudinal Randomised Control Trials

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ben Isbel ◽  
Mathew J Summers
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Mindfulness Training ◽  
Mindfulness Practice ◽  
Explanatory Framework ◽  
Cognitive Faculty ◽  
Metacognitive Processes ◽  
Capacity Model ◽  
Developmental Progression ◽  
Open Monitoring ◽  
Randomised Control Trials

A capacity model of mindfulness is adopted to differentiate the cognitive faculty of mindfulness from the metacognitive processes required to cultivate this faculty in mindfulness training. The model provides an explanatory framework incorporating both the developmental progression from focussed attention to open monitoring styles of mindfulness practice, along with the development of equanimity and insight. A standardised technique for activating these processes without the addition of secondary components is then introduced. Mindfulness-based interventions currently available for use in randomised control trials introduce components ancillary to the cognitive processes of mindfulness, limiting their ability to draw clear causative inferences. The standardised technique presented here does not introduce such ancillary factors, rendering it a valuable tool with which to investigate the processes activated in this practice.

Healthy Mind Healthy You: An Online Study Comparing Standard Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy with a Brief Mindfulness Program to Improve Well-Being (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louisa G Sylvia ◽  
Mitchell R Lunn ◽  
Juno Obedin-Maliver ◽  
Robert N McBurney ◽  
W Benjamin Nowell ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Therapy ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Mindfulness Training ◽  
Mindfulness Practice ◽  
World Health ◽  
Present Moment ◽  
Intervention Period ◽  
Model Based ◽  
Health Organization

BACKGROUND Mindfulness can improve overall well-being by training individuals to focus on the present moment without judging their thoughts. However, it is unknown how much mindfulness practice and training are necessary to improve well-being. OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to compare standard with brief mindfulness training to improve overall well-being. METHODS Participants were recruited from 17 Patient-Powered Research Networks, online communities of stakeholders interested in a common area of research. Participants were randomized to either a standard 8-session mindfulness based cognitive therapy (MBCT) or a brief 3-session mindfulness training intervention accessed online. Participants were followed for 12 weeks. The primary outcome of the study was well-being as measured by the World Health Organization (WHO)-5 Index. We hypothesized that MBCT would be superior to brief mindfulness training. RESULTS We randomized 4,411 participants, 88% of whom were white and 80% female sex assigned at birth. Baseline WHO-5 score mean was 50.3 (SD = 20.7). Average self-reported well-being in each group increased over the intervention period (baseline to 8 weeks) (model-based slope [95% CI] for MBCT group: 0.78 [0.63, 0.93]; brief mindfulness group: 0.76 [0.60, 0.91]) as well as the full study period (i.e., intervention plus follow-up; baseline to 20 weeks) (model-based slope [95% CI] for MBCT group: 0.41 [0.34, 0.48]; brief mindfulness group: 0.33 [0.26, 0.40]). Change in self-reported well-being was not statistically significantly different between MBCT and brief mindfulness during the intervention period (model-based difference in slopes [95% CI]: -0.02 [-0.24, 0.19], P = .80) or during the intervention period plus 12-week follow-up (-0.08 [-0.18, 0.02], P = .10). During the intervention period, younger participants (P = .05) and participants who completed a higher percentage of intervention sessions (P = .005) experienced greater improvements in well-being across both interventions, effects that were stronger for participants in the MBCT condition. CONCLUSIONS Standard MBCT improved well-being but was not superior to a brief mindfulness intervention. Younger patients and those able to complete more training sessions improved the most. CLINICALTRIAL ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03844321, https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03844321

Impact of Mindfulness on Cognition and Affect in Voice Hearing: Evidence from Two Case Studies

2009 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
pp. 397-402 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine Newman Taylor ◽  
Sean Harper ◽  
Paul Chadwick
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Small Body ◽  
Mindfulness Training ◽  
Post Treatment ◽  
Mindfulness Practice ◽  
Baseline Phase ◽  
Mindfulness Intervention ◽  
Affect And Cognition ◽  
Cognition And Affect

Background: There is a small body of research indicating that mindfulness training can be beneficial for people with distressing psychosis. What is not yet clear is whether mindfulness effects change in affect and cognition associated with voices specifically. This study examined the hypothesis that mindfulness training alone would lead to change in distress and cognition (belief conviction) in people with distressing voices. Method: Two case studies are presented. Participants experienced long-standing distressing voices. Belief conviction and distress were measured twice weekly through baseline and mindfulness intervention. Mindfulness in relation to voices was measured at the start of baseline and end of intervention. Results: Following a relatively stable baseline phase, after 2–3 weeks of mindfulness practice, belief conviction and distress fell for both participants. Both participants' mindfulness scores were higher post treatment. Conclusion: Findings show that mindfulness training has an impact on cognition and affect specifically associated with voices, and thereby beneficially alters relationship with voices.

scholarly journals “Little things do not get to me anymore”: a qualitative study of older adults’ perspectives on initiating exercise and mindfulness practice

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diana C. Parra ◽  
Julie Loebach Wetherell ◽  
Alexandria Van Zandt ◽  
Ross Brownson ◽  
Janardan Abhishek ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Time Management ◽  
Health Benefit ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Mindfulness Training ◽  
Behavioral Changes ◽  
Mindfulness Practice ◽  
Exercise Interventions ◽  
Health Lifestyle

Abstract Background: Mindfulness practice and exercise are ways by which older adults can improve and maintain their physical, emotional and cognitive health. Methods: This single-site qualitative study gathered insights of older adults’ perceptions about initiating and maintaining mindfulness and exercise practices. We carried out focus groups with 41 adults aged 65-85 who had recently initiated Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), structured exercise, or their combination as part of participation in a clinical trial. We used a semi-structured interview to ask them open-ended questions regarding the benefits, barriers and facilitators of participating in mindfulness and/or exercise interventions. The interview also included questions regarding translation of these practices into community settings as well as the long-term maintenance potential of these practices. Results : Older adults indicated that the mindfulness training increased their awareness and self-reflection and fostered a more self-accepting attitude. Furthermore, they improved their self-care habits and reported having better familial and social relationships. The main barrier for both the exercise and mindfulness group was time management. The social benefits and sense of community were some of the primary motivators for older adults in the exercise and/or MBSR interventions. However, the research on how to motivate older adults to initiate healthy behavioral changes also needs to be answered. The benefits of exercise and MBSR are a motivation in and of themselves, as indicated by some of the participants. Conclusions: This study indicates that mindfulness training and exercise can serve as tools to cultivate important health lifestyle qualities among older adults, who are in the midst of mental, social, emotional and physical change. If it were not for the purpose of the research or the incentives provided by the research team, these older adults may have never started the healthy behavioral changes. From the responses, this may indicate that older adults may need more incentives to begin and maintain behavioral changes other than for their own health benefit.

scholarly journals Efficiency and Enhancement in Attention Networks of Elite Shooting and Archery Athletes

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Quanyu Lu ◽  
Pengli Li ◽  
Qiong Wu ◽  
Xinghua Liu ◽  
Yanhong Wu
Keyword(s):  
Elite Athletes ◽  
Environmental Information ◽  
Mindfulness Training ◽  
Mindfulness Practice ◽  
Attention Network Test ◽  
Attention Network ◽  
Attention Networks ◽  
Control Networks ◽  
National Team ◽  
Daily Training

Attention has been theorized as a system comprising three networks that can be estimated reliably by the attention network test (ANT); the three networks are defined as alerting, orienting, and conflict control. The present study aims to identify the attention networks that are crucial for elite shooting and archery athletes and to examine whether mindfulness training can improve elite athletes' attention networks. We compared the performances in ANT between 62 elite athletes (27 F/35 M, 23.66 ± 4.95 years) from the Chinese national team of shooting and archery and 49 athletes (19 F/30 M, 19.53 ± 3.38 years) from a provincial team in China. The results indicate three well-functioned attention networks in both groups, but elite athletes in the national team responded faster overall than athletes in the provincial team (Diff = 28.84 ms, p = 0.006). The 62 elite athletes in the national team then received mindfulness training with varied periods ranging from 5 to 8 weeks, after which the ANT was re-administered. After mindfulness training, the elite athletes improved in orienting (Diffspatial = 10.02 ms, p = 0.018) and conflict control networks (Diffincon = 12.01 ms, p = 0.019) compared with their pre-training performances. These results suggest that elite shooting and archery athletes in the national team are more efficient in all three attention networks, which means that they are able to reach the alerting state faster, make better use of environmental information, and suppress interference from distractors more efficiently. Moreover, the orienting and conflict control networks of the elite shooting and archery athletes can be improved by mindfulness training. We conclude that mindfulness practice should be considered as a useful addition to daily training for shooting and archery athletes.

scholarly journals Mindfulness in Politics and Public Policy

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jamie Bristow
Keyword(s):  
Public Life ◽  
Mindfulness Training ◽  
Mindfulness Practice ◽  
High Stakes ◽  
Transformative Potential ◽  
Policy Narratives ◽  
Key Factor ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Heart And Mind ◽  
Elected Representatives

A key factor in the popularity of mindfulness training in public life is the conviction of grassroots advocates seeking to pass on the benefits they have experienced through personal practice. In this manner, mindfulness training has found its way into the realm of government, with parliamentary programmes seeding ambition among politicians to research and employ its transformative potential at both interpersonal and policy levels. In a high-stakes, adversarial setting, mindfulness practice helps elected representatives to cope with specific challenges, and an inquiry by the UK Mindfulness All-Party Parliamentary Group has contributed to the emergence of mindfulness training in numerous policy narratives. By developing a new kind of familiarity with their own inner lives, a growing number of politicians are finding a new way to approach political discourse, and a corresponding enthusiasm for policy that tackles society’s problems at the level of the human heart and mind. Some are starting to ask whether mindfulness might be more than a targeted intervention for specific issues, and may in fact contribute to the flourishing of society more broadly - marking an important development from concern with individual benefits to benefits for the whole.

scholarly journals On Variation in Mindfulness Training: A Multimodal Study of Brief Open Monitoring Meditation on Error Monitoring

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. 226 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lin ◽  
Eckerle ◽  
Peng ◽  
Moser
Keyword(s):  
Mindfulness Training ◽  
Exact Nature ◽  
Error Monitoring ◽  
Behavioral Performance ◽  
Trait Mindfulness ◽  
Error Related Negativity ◽  
Error Positivity ◽  
Open Monitoring ◽  
Mechanisms Of Mindfulness ◽  
Active Controls

A nascent line of research aimed at elucidating the neurocognitive mechanisms of mindfulness has consistently identified a relationship between mindfulness and error monitoring. However, the exact nature of this relationship is unclear, with studies reporting divergent outcomes. The current study sought to clarify the ambiguity by addressing issues related to construct heterogeneity and technical variation in mindfulness training. Specifically, we examined the effects of a brief open monitoring (OM) meditation on neural (error-related negativity (ERN) and error positivity (Pe)) and behavioral indices of error monitoring in one of the largest novice non-meditating samples to date (N = 212). Results revealed that the OM meditation enhanced Pe amplitude relative to active controls but did not modulate the ERN or behavioral performance. Moreover, exploratory analyses yielded no relationships between trait mindfulness and the ERN or Pe across either group. Broadly, our findings suggest that technical variation in scope and object of awareness during mindfulness training may differentially modulate the ERN and Pe. Conceptual and methodological implications pertaining to the operationalization of mindfulness and its training are discussed.

Formal RTPA Models for a Set of Meta-Cognitive Processes of the Brain

2011 ◽  
pp. 308-324
Author(s):  
Yingxu Wang
Keyword(s):  
Mathematical Model ◽  
Knowledge Representation ◽  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Process Model ◽  
Object Identification ◽  
Time Process ◽  
Metacognitive Processes ◽  
Internal Information ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Object Attribute

The cognitive processes modeled at the metacognitive level of the layered reference mode of the brain (LRMB) encompass those of object identification, abstraction, concept establishment, search, categorization, comparison, memorization, qualification, quantification, and selection. It is recognized that all higher layer cognitive processes of the brain rely on the metacognitive processes. Each of this set of fundamental cognitive processes is formally described by a mathematical model and a process model. Real-time process algebra (RTPA) is adopted as a denotational mathematical means for rigorous modeling and describing the metacognitive processes. All cognitive models and processes are explained on the basis of the object-attribute-relation (OAR) model for internal information and knowledge representation and manipulation.

Mind Training for Innovation

2014 ◽  
pp. 52-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia Connell ◽  
Charlotte Thaarup
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Sharing ◽  
Mindfulness Training ◽  
Mindfulness Practice ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Creative Processes ◽  
Training And Support ◽  
Human Resource Personnel ◽  
Creativity And Innovation ◽  
Mind Training ◽  
And Training

This chapter fills a gap in the innovation literature by exploring why creativity and innovation are important in the workplace and how the process of creativity can be supported through the practice of mindfulness. At the group and organisational levels, the chapter examines what is required of an organisation through an HR perspective in order to facilitate the optimum context for supporting creativity and innovation through knowledge sharing and transfer. There is a key emphasis on an organisation's culture, structure, and ethos, utilising a knowledge-sharing framework, in addition to a focus on the physical workspaces that can support innovative and creative processes. Finally, proposals for managers and human resource personnel interested in building foundations for creativity in the workplace include: mindfulness training and support for mindfulness practice, the reduction of stress to allow creativity to emerge, and group/team support and training. Suggestions for future research are also offered at the end of the chapter.

The Role of Adherence in the Effects of a Mindfulness Intervention for Competitive Athletes: Changes in Mindfulness, Flow, Pessimism, and Anxiety

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 99-117 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Scott-Hamilton ◽  
Nicola S. Schutte
Keyword(s):  
Mindfulness Training ◽  
Composite Score ◽  
Mindfulness Practice ◽  
Somatic Anxiety ◽  
Mindfulness Intervention ◽  
Movement Training ◽  
Competitive Athletes ◽  
High Adherence

This study examined the role of degree of adherence in a mindfulness-based intervention on mindfulness, flow, sport anxiety, and sport-related pessimistic attributions in athletes. Twelve athletes participated in an 8-week mindfulness intervention which incorporated a mindfulness focus on movement training component. Participants completed baseline and posttest measures of mindfulness, flow, sport anxiety, and sport-related pessimistic attributions, and they filled out daily mindfulness-training logbooks documenting their frequency and duration of mindfulness practice. Participants were identified as either high adherence or low adherence with mindfulness-training based on a composite score of logbook practice records and workshop attendance. Athletes high in adherence, operationalized as following recommended practice of mindfulness exercises, showed significantly greater increases in mindfulness and aspects of flow, and significantly greater decreases in pessimism and anxiety than low adherence athletes. Greater increases in mindfulness from baseline to posttest were associated with greater increases in flow and greater decreases in pessimism. Increases in flow were associated with decreases in somatic anxiety and pessimism.

scholarly journals A qualitative study of older adults’ perspectives on initiating exercise and mindfulness practice

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Diana C. Parra ◽  
Julie Loebach Wetherell ◽  
Alexandria Van Zandt ◽  
Ross C. Brownson ◽  
Janardan Abhishek ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Time Management ◽  
Health Benefit ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Mindfulness Training ◽  
Behavioral Changes ◽  
Mindfulness Practice ◽  
Exercise Interventions ◽  
Health Lifestyle

Abstract Background Mindfulness practice and exercise are ways by which older adults can improve and maintain their physical, emotional and cognitive health. Methods This single-site qualitative study gathered insights of older adults’ perceptions about initiating and maintaining mindfulness and exercise practices. We carried out focus groups with 41 adults aged 65–85 who had recently initiated Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), structured exercise, or their combination as part of participation in a clinical trial. We used a semi-structured interview to ask them open-ended questions regarding the benefits, barriers and facilitators of participating in mindfulness and/or exercise interventions. The interview also included questions regarding translation of these practices into community settings as well as the long-term maintenance potential of these practices. Results Older adults indicated that the mindfulness training increased their awareness and self-reflection and fostered a more self-accepting attitude. Furthermore, they improved their self-care habits and reported having better familial and social relationships. The main barrier for both the exercise and Mindfulness group was time management. The social benefits and sense of community were some of the primary motivators for older adults in the exercise and/or MBSR interventions. However, the research on how to motivate older adults to initiate healthy behavioral changes also needs to be answered. The benefits of exercise and MBSR are a motivation in and of themselves, as indicated by some of the participants. Conclusions This study indicates that mindfulness training and exercise can serve as tools to cultivate important health lifestyle qualities among older adults, who are in the midst of mental, social, emotional and physical change. If it were not for the purpose of the research or the incentives provided by the research team, these older adults may have never started the healthy behavioral changes. From the responses, this may indicate that older adults may need more incentives to begin and maintain behavioral changes other than for their own health benefit.

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