Two studies examined the role of mindfulness in romantic relationship satisfaction and in responses to relationship stress. Using a longitudinal design, Study 1 found that higher trait mindfulness predicted higher relationship satisfaction and greater capacities to respond constructively to relationship stress. Study 2 replicated and extended these findings. Mindfulness was again shown to relate to relationship satisfaction; then, using a conflict discussion paradigm, trait mindfulness was found to predict lower emotional stress responses and positive pre- and postconflict change in perception of the relationship. State mindfulness was related to better communication quality during the discussion. Both studies indicated that mindfulness may play an influential role in romantic relationship well-being. Discussion highlights future research directions for this new area of inquiry.

Components of heart rate variability have attracted considerable attention in psychology and medicine and have become important dependent measures in psychophysiology and behavioral medicine. Quantification and interpretation of heart rate variability, however, remain complex issues and are fraught with pitfalls. The present report (a) examines the physiological origins and mechanisms of heart rate variability, (b) considers quantitative approaches to measurement, and (c) highlights important caveats in the interpretation of heart rate variability. Summary guidelines for research in this area are outlined, and suggestions and prospects for future developments are considered.

Heart rate variability (HRV), the beat-to-beat variation in either heart rate or the duration of the R-R interval – the heart period, has become a popular clinical and investigational tool. The temporal fluctuations in heart rate exhibit a marked synchrony with respiration (increasing during inspiration and decreasing during expiration – the so called respiratory sinus arrhythmia, RSA) and are widely believed to reflect changes in cardiac autonomic regulation. Although the exact contributions of the parasympathetic and the sympathetic divisions of the autonomic nervous system to this variability are controversial and remain the subject of active investigation and debate, a number of time and frequency domain techniques have been developed to provide insight into cardiac autonomic regulation in both health and disease. It is the purpose of this essay to provide an historical overview of the evolution in the concept of heart rate variability. Briefly, pulse rate was first measured by ancient Greek physicians and scientists. However, it was not until the invention of the “Physician’s Pulse Watch” (a watch with a second hand that could be stopped) in 1707 that changes in pulse rate could be accurately assessed. The Rev. Stephen Hales (1733) was the first to note that pulse varied with respiration and in 1847 Carl Ludwig was the first to record RSA. With the measurement of the ECG (1895) and advent of digital signal processing techniques in the 1960’s, investigation of HRV and its relationship to health and disease has exploded. This essay will conclude with a brief description of time domain, frequency domain, and non-linear dynamic analysis techniques (and their limitations) that are commonly used to measure heart rate variability.

There has been substantial interest in mindfulness as an approach to reduce cognitive vulnerability to stress and emotional distress in recent years. However, thus far mindfulness has not been defined operationally. This paper describes the results of recent meetings held to establish a consensus on mindfulness and to develop conjointly a testable operational definition. We propose a two-component model of mindfulness and specify each component in terms of specific behaviors, experiential manifestations, and implicated psychological processes. We then address issues regarding temporal stability and situational specificity and speculate on the conceptual and operational distinctiveness of mindfulness. We conclude this paper by discussing implications for instrument development and briefly describing our own approach to measurement.

Mindfulness is an attribute of consciousness long believed to promote well-being. This research provides a theoretical and empirical examination of the role of mindfulness in psychological well-being. The development and psychometric properties of the dispositional Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS) are described. Correlational, quasi-experimental, and laboratory studies then show that the MAAS measures a unique quality of consciousness that is related to a variety of well-being constructs, that differentiates mindfulness practitioners from others, and that is associated with enhanced self-awareness. An experience-sampling study shows that both dispositional and state mindfulness predict self-regulated behavior and positive emotional states. Finally, a clinical intervention study with cancer patients demonstrates that increases in mindfulness over time relate to declines in mood disturbance and stress.

ABSTRACT We address 3 critiques raised by Grossman (2011) of self-report measures of mindfulness and the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS) and Mindful Attention Awareness Scale-Adolescent (MAAS-A) in particular. Grossman questioned whether self-report measures actually assess mindfulness, whether the construct of mindfulness can be understood apart from mindfulness training, and whether there is empirical evidence to support the validity of mindfulness measures. In response we discuss established theory that attention (and secondarily meta-awareness) is core to the meaning of mindfulness and is the central feature of the MAAS and MAAS-A. We then argue that mindfulness is an inherent capacity that varies between and within persons and is not, as Grossman claimed, a concept applicable to only a trained few. Further, as assessed by the MAAS and MAAS-A, mindfulness is associated with the same variety of outcomes as mindfulness training is theorized to yield. Finally, we provide considerable evidence that the MAAS and MAAS-A are valid instruments. We conclude that although construct measurement is inevitably imperfect, such efforts are critical to building basic knowledge and refining effective interventions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved).

ABSTRACT Empirical research has demonstrated associations between heart rate variability (HRV) and the regulation of emotion and behavior. Similarly, self-regulation of attention to one’s experience of the present moment in an accepting and nonjudgmental manner is an essential characteristic of mindfulness that promotes emotional and behavioral regulation and psychological well-being. The present study investigated the relationship between mindfulness and HRV. A total of 23 undergraduate psychology students completed a recently developed measure of mindfulness, the mindful breathing exercise (MBE), which assesses the ability to mindfully stay in contact with one’s breath during breathing meditation. Moreover, indices of HRV were measured during a short version of the MBE. As predicted, positive correlations were found between indices of HRV and mindfulness. The findings demonstrate that the ability to mindfully regulate one’s attention is associated with higher HRV, a physiological correlate of physical and psychological health, and therefore support on a physiological level the potential benefit of the implemented mindfulness exercises in mindfulness-based clinical interventions.

This study examined the construct and criterion validity of the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS) in cancer outpatients, using matched community members as controls. Cancer outpatients ( n=122) applying for enrollment in a mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) program completed the MAAS and measures of mood disturbance and stress. Local community members ( n=122) matched to the patients on gender, age, and education level completed the same measures. The single-factor structure of the MAAS was invariant across the groups. Higher MAAS scores were associated with lower mood disturbance and stress symptoms in cancer patients, and the structure of these relations was invariant across groups. The MAAS appears to have appropriate application in research examining the role of mindfulness in the psychological well-being of cancer patients, with or without comparisons to nonclinical controls.

This review aims to integrate the constructs of mindfulness and emotion regulation. Research into both of these areas is relatively new, and while several reviews have emerged for each area independently, none has directly proposed a conceptual integration. The current review explores how key axioms and assumptions of traditional psychological models of emotion regulation and the psychological interventions that are derived from them (e.g., cognitive behavior therapy) differ fundamentally from mindfulness-based approaches in terms of the underlying processes they address. Accordingly, mindfulness and emotion regulation are each reviewed, followed by a conceptual integration. Fundamental difficulties arising from the attempt to integrate the two domains are highlighted, especially as to the “reality” of thoughts, the relationship between thoughts and emotions, and the need to move beyond a valence model of emotion. Finally, a model is proposed outlining the likely critical processes and mechanisms that underlie “mindful emotion regulation.”

ABSTRACT This qualitative study explores the effects of qigong, an ancient Chinese mindfulness practice involving movement, on master's-level counseling students. Students responded in writing both after an initial experience of qigong and after practicing the movements for 15 weeks during a mindfulness-based course in self-care. Themes of physical, emotional, and mental changes were present in both sets of responses. Additional themes of familiarity with the practice as well as group consciousness and interdependence emerged in the final experience of qigong. The results of this study indicate qigong is a contemplative practice that could have positive outcomes for counseling students. Because of its accessible nature, immediate results, and ability to foster connectedness, qigong is currently underutilized as a form of teaching mindfulness.

Abstract Initial well-controlled studies have suggested that mindfulness training interventions can improve a broad range of mental and physical health outcomes (e.g., HIV pathogenesis, depression relapse, inflammation, drug abuse), yet the underlying pathways linking mindfulness and health are poorly understood. In this article, we offer a mindfulness stress buffering account to explain these health outcomes, which posits that mindfulness-based health effects are mostly likely to be observed in high-stress populations for which stress is known to affect the onset or exacerbation of disease pathogenic processes. We then offer an evidence-based biological model of mindfulness, stress buffering, and health.

Mindfulness meditation training has stress reduction benefits in various patient populations, but its effects on biological markers of HIV-1 progression are unknown. The present study tested the efficacy of an 8-week Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) meditation program compared to a 1-day control seminar on CD4+ T lymphocyte counts in stressed HIV infected adults. A single-blind randomized controlled trial was conducted with enrollment and follow-up occurring between November 2005 and December 2007. A diverse community sample of 48 HIV-1 infected adults was randomized and entered treatment in either an 8-week MBSR or a 1-day control stress reduction education seminar. The primary outcome was circulating counts of CD4+ T lymphocytes. Participants in the 1-day control seminar showed declines in CD4+ T lymphocyte counts whereas counts among participants in the 8-week MBSR program were unchanged from baseline to post-intervention (time treatment condition interaction, p=.02). This effect was independent of antiretroviral (ARV) medication use. Additional analyses indicated that treatment adherence to the mindfulness meditation program, as measured by class attendance, mediated the effects of mindfulness meditation training on buffering CD4+ T lymphocyte declines. These findings provide an initial indication that mindfulness meditation training can buffer CD4+ T lymphocyte declines in HIV-1 infected adults. Clinical Trials Registration: clinicaltrials.gov, Identifier: NCT00600561.

The psychological construct of mindfulness refers to an awareness that emerges by intentionally paying attention to the present experience in a non-judgmental or evaluative way. This particular quality of awareness has been associated to several indicators of physical and psychological health, and can be developed using mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs), and therefore MBIs have been successfully applied as preventive and complementary interventions and therapies in medicine and psychology. Together with quiet sitting and lying meditation practices, mindful physical exercises such as “mindful walking” and “mindful movement” are key elements in MBIs and couple muscular activity with an internally directed focus, improving interoceptive attention to bodily sensations. In addition, MBIs seem to share similar mechanisms with physical fitness by which they may influence cardiovascular responses to stress. Based on these facts, it is feasible to raise the question of whether physical training itself may induce the development of that particular quality of awareness associated with mindfulness, or if one’s dispositional mindfulness (the tendency to be more mindful in daily life) could moderate the effects of exercise on cardiovascular response to stress. The role of mindfulness as a mediator or moderator of the effect of exercise training on cardiovascular responses to stress has barely been studied. In this study, we have hypothesized pathways (moderation and mediation) by which mindfulness could significantly influence the effects of physical fitness on cardiovascular responses to stress and have discuss potential practical ways to test these hypotheses.

AbstractThe present study examined the reliability and validity of a Chinese translation of the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS). Three questionnaires, the MAAS, the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), and the brief version of the World Health Organization's Quality of Life (WHOQOL-BREF), were completed by 263 Chinese undergraduates (207 males, 56 females). Seventy of these students were assessed again with the MAAS after 2002days to evaluate the scale's test–retest reliability. Results from confirmatory factory analysis indicated that a one-factor solution fit the MAAS data satisfactorily. Reliability coefficients, including Cronbach's alpha, Guttman split-half, item–total correlations, and test–retest, were also satisfactory. Addressing validity, the MAAS was negatively correlated with PANAS negative affect and positively associated with PANAS positive affect as well as with the quality of life indexed by the WHOQOL-BREF. The Chinese version of the MAAS appears to be a reliable and valid instrument to assess levels of mindfulness in a Chinese college population.

Abstract$ \overline r = 0.27 $ averaged across all studies and dependent variables. The effects differed widely across dependent variables. Moreover, we found large differences between the effect sizes reported for complete Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction (MBSR) programs vs. “pure” meditation. MBSR seems to have its most powerful effect on attaining higher psychological well-being, whereas pure mindfulness meditation studies reported the largest effects on variables associated with the concept of mindfulness. This raises the question if some effect sizes found for MBSR might be partly inflated by effects that are not attributable to its mindfulness meditation component. Future theorizing should address meditation-specific concepts more extensively to account for the changes in healthy practitioners.

Training in mindfulness is a well-supported therapeutic strategy for pain conditions, though short-term mindfulness training for acute pain is not always effective. To explore the possibility that initial attempts at mindfulness in people without previous training may drain self-regulatory resources, the current study used a student sample (N65=6563) to test the hypothesis that brief instruction in mindfulness would lead to reduced pain tolerance on a cold pressor task, compared to more familiar strategies for coping with acute pain. We also investigated whether high heart rate variability (HRV), a physiological indicator of self-regulatory capacity, would predict pain tolerance. Higher HRV predicted greater pain tolerance only in the control group, suggesting that applying unfamiliar mindfulness strategies while attempting to tolerate pain more rapidly sapped self-regulatory strength.

There has been great interest of late in trying to capture the benefits of meditation by scanning meditators brains. In this paper, we argue that a successful neuroscience of mindfulness needs to be based on an adequate psychological analysis. We present a definition of mindfulness based on four psychological processes that are relatively well understood, and we show how this model may help organize neuroimaging research and create a bridge to clinical applications. This framework provides an approach to neuroscience research grounded in psychological principles and theory. We propose that this is critical for advancing scientific endeavors such that the knowledge gained helps improve the human condition.

Although mindfulness has been generally linked to superior emotional functioning, several areas remain unclear. In extending prior work, the current report evaluated the link between trait mindfulness and physiological patterns of recovery from negative emotion and investigated possible associations between trait mindfulness and emotion differentiation. After completing a trait mindfulness measure, 80 healthy volunteers were block-randomized (matched on gender and relatively high versus relatively low trait mindfulness) to complete either emotional (EN) or neutral (NE) writing tasks first. In the EN order, participants wrote about an upsetting experience and, in the NE order, about the events of an average day. In partial support of expectation, relatively more mindful men showed greater physiological reactivity to an emotional task followed by superior recovery, but only in the EN order; supplementary analyses suggest that greater non-reactivity scores among males may be involved in the physiological regulation of emotional stress. As expected, relatively more versus relatively less mindful participants also differentiated more among discrete negative emotions but, again, only in the EN order. Taken together, findings offer preliminary evidence that the more differentiated emotional responding associated with aspects of trait mindfulness may facilitate more adaptive responding under stress and contribute to superior mental and physical health.

Abstract The theory of dynamical systems (sometimes called chaos theory) has emerged in the past two decades as a powerful tool for understanding the evolution of complex systems. Attempts to develop psychoanalysis along the lines of nineteenth century physical science have proven unsatisfactory. The theory of dynamical systems provides another route for development. It suggests that prediction should aim at describing the overall evolution of systems and that the possibilities for such evolution are broader than classical theory suggested. It also shows that complex systems often involve structures that repeat basic features on several different levels of observation. This suggests a method for systematically exploring the overly rich data of psychoanalysis.

BACKGROUND: The trait of mindfulness varies among meditation-na茂ve individuals and is associated with attentional and autonomic regulation, two neurocognitive functions that become impaired in addiction. It was hypothesized that alcohol dependent inpatients with comparatively high levels of trait mindfulness would exhibit significant autonomic recovery from stress-primed alcohol cues mediated by greater attentional disengagement from such cues. METHODS: 58 alcohol dependent inpatients participated in affect-modulated psychophysiological cue-reactivity protocol and a spatial cueing task designed to assess alcohol attentional bias (AB). Associations between trait mindfulness, alcohol AB, and an index of autonomic activity, high-frequency heart rate variability (HFHRV), were examined via multivariate path analysis. RESULTS: Higher trait mindfulness was significantly associated with less difficulty resisting the urge to drink and greater HFHRV recovery from stress-primed alcohol cues. After statistically controlling for the correlation of mindfulness and perceived difficulty resisting drinking urges, the association between mindfulness and HFHRV recovery was partially mediated by attentional disengagement from alcohol cues (model R(2) = .30). DISCUSSION: Alcohol dependent inpatients higher in mindfulness are better able to disengage attention from alcohol cues, which in turn predicts the degree of HFHRV recovery from such cues. Trait mindfulness may index cognitive control over appetitive responses reflected in superior attentional and autonomic regulation of stress-primed alcohol cue-reactivity.

Mindfulness meditation is increasingly well known for therapeutic efficacy in a variety of illnesses and conditions, but its mechanism of action is still under debate in scientific circles. In this paper, we propose a hypothetical causal model that argues for the role of mindfulness in positive reappraisal coping. Positive reappraisal is a critical component of meaning-based coping that enables individuals to adapt successfully to stressful life events. Mindfulness, as a metacognitive form of awareness, involves the process of decentering, a shifting of cognitive sets that enables alternate appraisals of life events. We review the concept of positive reappraisal in transactional stress and coping theory, then describe research and traditional literature related to mindfulness and positive reappraisal, and detail the central role of mindfulness in the reappraisal process. With this understanding, we present a causal model explicating the proposed mechanism. The discussion has implications for clinical practice, suggesting how mindfulness-based integrative medicine interventions can be designed to support adaptive coping processes.

Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) is an established program shown to reduce symptoms of stress, anxiety, and depression. MBSR is believed to alter emotional responding by modifying cognitive-affective processes. Given that social anxiety disorder (SAD) is characterized by emotional and attentional biases as well as distorted negative self-beliefs, we examined MBSR-related changes in the brain-behavior indices of emotional reactivity and regulation of negative self-beliefs in patients with SAD. Sixteen patients underwent functional MRI while reacting to negative self-beliefs and while regulating negative emotions using 2 types of attention deployment emotion regulation-breath-focused attention and distraction-focused attention. Post-MBSR, 14 patients completed neuroimaging assessments. Compared with baseline, MBSR completers showed improvement in anxiety and depression symptoms and self-esteem. During the breath-focused attention task (but not the distraction-focused attention task), they also showed (a) decreased negative emotion experience, (b) reduced amygdala activity, and (c) increased activity in brain regions implicated in attentional deployment. MBSR training in patients with SAD may reduce emotional reactivity while enhancing emotion regulation. These changes might facilitate reduction in SAD-related avoidance behaviors, clinical symptoms, and automatic emotional reactivity to negative self-beliefs in adults with SAD.

Following previous research which has suggested that mindfulness meditators are less affected by emotional stimuli, the current study examined the hypothesis that mindfulness meditation is associated with decreased emotional engagement, by inducing moods and asking participants to generate as many autobiographical memories opposite in valence as possible. Experienced mindfulness meditators took twice as long as non-meditators to generate the first opposite mood memory yet generated the same total number of memories as non-meditators. Contrary to the initial hypothesis, results indicate that mindfulness may be associated with increased emotional engagement, increased contact with emotions, and rapid recovery from the emotional experience. The effect of mindfulness on implicit and explicit aspects of emotion is discussed, as well as potential implications for treatment of related disorders.

<h2 class="secHeading" id="section_abstract">Abstract</h2><h4 id="absSec_N2420f370N2a9dc738">Objective</h4><p id="">Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) is a structured group program that employs mindfulness meditation to alleviate suffering associated with physical, psychosomatic and psychiatric disorders. The program, nonreligious and nonesoteric, is based upon a systematic procedure to develop enhanced awareness of moment-to-moment experience of perceptible mental processes. The approach assumes that greater awareness will provide more veridical perception, reduce negative affect and improve vitality and coping. In the last two decades, a number of research reports appeared that seem to support many of these claims. We performed a comprehensive review and meta-analysis of published and unpublished studies of health-related studies related to MBSR.</p><h4 id="absSec_N2420f370N2a9dc798">Methods</h4><p id="">Sixty-four empirical studies were found, but only 20 reports met criteria of acceptable quality or relevance to be included in the meta-analysis. Reports were excluded due to (1) insufficient information about interventions, (2) poor quantitative health evaluation, (3) inadequate statistical analysis, (4) mindfulness not being the central component of intervention, or (5) the setting of intervention or sample composition deviating too widely from the health-related MBSR program. Acceptable studies covered a wide spectrum of clinical populations (e.g., pain, cancer, heart disease, depression, and anxiety), as well as stressed nonclinical groups. Both controlled and observational investigations were included. Standardized measures of physical and mental well-being constituted the dependent variables of the analysis.</p><h4 id="absSec_N2420f370N2a9dc7f8">Results</h4><p id="">Overall, both controlled and uncontrolled studies showed similar effect sizes of approximately 0.5 (<em>P</em>&lt;.0001) with homogeneity of distribution.</p><h4 id="absSec_N2420f370N2a9dc888">Conclusion</h4><p id="">Although derived from a relatively small number of studies, these results suggest that MBSR may help a broad range of individuals to cope with their clinical and nonclinical problems.</p>

Respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA, or high-frequency heart-rate variability) is frequently employed as an index of cardiac vagal tone or even believed to be a direct measure of vagal tone. However, there are many significant caveats regarding vagal tone interpretation: 1. Respiratory parameters can confound relations between RSA and cardiac vagal tone. 2. Although intraindividual relations between RSA and cardiac vagal control are often strong, interindividual associations may be modest. 3. RSA measurement is profoundly influenced by concurrent levels of momentary physical activity, which can bias estimation of individual differences in vagal tone. 4. RSA magnitude is affected by beta-adrenergic tone. 5. RSA and cardiac vagal tone can dissociate under certain circumstances. 6. The polyvagal theory contains evolution-based speculations that relate RSA, vagal tone and behavioral phenomena. We present evidence that the polyvagal theory does not accurately depict evolution of vagal control of heart-rate variability, and that it ignores the phenomenon of cardiac aliasing and disregards the evolution of a functional role for vagal control of the heart, from cardiorespiratory synchrony in fish to RSA in mammals. Unawareness of these issues can lead to misinterpretation of cardiovascular autonomic mechanisms. On the other hand, RSA has been shown to often provide a reasonable reflection of cardiac vagal tone when the above-mentioned complexities are considered. Finally, a recent hypothesis is expanded upon, in which RSA plays a primary role in regulation of energy exchange by means of synchronizing respiratory and cardiovascular processes during metabolic and behavioral change.

OBJECTIVE-To determine whether a mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) intervention is effective for reducing psychosocial distress (i.e., depression, psychosocial stress) and the progression of nephropathy (i.e., albuminuria) and for improving the subjective health status of patients with type 2 diabetes.<br/>RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS-Patients with type 2 diabetes and microalbuminuria were randomized to a mindfulness-based intervention (n = 53) or a treatment-as-usual control (n = 57) group. The study is designed to investigate long-term outcomes over a period of 5 years. We present data up to the first year of follow-up (FU).<br/>RESULTS-At FU, the MBSR group showed lower levels of depression (d = 0.71) and improved health status (d = 0.54) compared with the control group. No significant differences in albuminuria were found. Per-protocol analysis also showed higher stress reduction in the intervention group (d = 0.64).<br/>CONCLUSIONS-MBSR intervention achieved a prolonged reduction in psychosocial distress. The effects on albuminuria will be followed up further.

AbstractThe aim of this study was determine the effectiveness of a mindfulness-based stress-reduction (MBSR) program on quality of life (QOL) and psychosocial outcomes in women with early-stage breast cancer, using a three-arm randomized controlled clinical trial (RCT). This RCT consisting of 172 women, aged 20–65 with stage I or II breast cancer consisted of the 8-week MBSR, which was compared to a nutrition education program (NEP) and usual supportive care (UC). Follow-up was performed at three post-intervention points: 402months, 1, and 202years. Standardized, validated self-administered questionnaires were adopted to assess psychosocial variables. Statistical analysis included descriptive and regression analyses incorporating both intention-to-treat and post hoc multivariable approaches of the 163 women with complete data at baseline, those who were randomized to MBSR experienced a significant improvement in the primary measures of QOL and coping outcomes compared to the NEP, UC, or both, including the spirituality subscale of the FACT-B as well as dealing with illness scale increases in active behavioral coping and active cognitive coping. Secondary outcome improvements resulting in significant between-group contrasts favoring the MBSR group at 402months included meaningfulness, depression, paranoid ideation, hostility, anxiety, unhappiness, and emotional control. Results tended to decline at 1202months and even more at 2402months, though at all times, they were as robust in women with lower expectation of effect as in those with higher expectation. The MBSR intervention appears to benefit psychosocial adjustment in cancer patients, over and above the effects of usual care or a credible control condition. The universality of effects across levels of expectation indicates a potential to utilize this stress reduction approach as complementary therapy in oncologic practice.

Meditation is the practise of training attention and has increasingly become implemented in mainstream healthcare. The current study compared non-meditators with two general approaches to meditation as follows: concentrative and insight-oriented. The latter entails focusing attention on a single object, whereas the former opens attention, in an accepting and non-judgmental way, to whatever arises within the mind. Compared to non-meditators, both meditation approaches demonstrated significantly enhanced mindfulness and also indicated lower perceived stress. However, when compared to non-meditators, only insight-oriented meditators reported significantly greater subjective well-being (SWB), which is thought to arise from the expansion of attention to unwholesome thoughts, cultivating acceptance of such thoughts, and therefore decreasing the surrounding emotional context. Nonetheless, no significant difference was noted on SWB between concentrative and insight-oriented meditators.

The practice of mindfulness meditation was used in a 10-week Stress Reduction and Relaxation Program to train chronic pain patients in self-regulation. The meditation facilitates an attentional stance towards proprioception known as detached observation. This appears to cause an “uncoupling” of the sensory dimension of the pain experience from the affectivel evaluative alarm reaction and reduce the experience of suffering via cognitive reappraisal. Data are presented on 51 chronic pain patients who had not improved with traditional medical care. The dominant pain categories were low back, neck and shoulder, and headache. Facial pain, angina pectoris, noncoronary chest pain, and GI pain were also represented. At 10 weeks, 65% of the patients showed a reduction of ≥33% in the mean total Pain Rating Index (Melzack) and 50% showed a reduction of ≥50%. Similar decreases were recorded on other pain indices and in the number of medical symptoms reported. Large and significant reductions in mood disturbance and psychiatric symptomatology accompanied these changes and were relatively stable on follow-up. These improvements were independent of the pain category. We conclude that this form of meditation can be used as the basis for an effective behavioral program in self-regulation for chronic pain patients. Key features of the program structure, and the limitations of the present uncontrolled study are discussed.

Within the past few decades, there has been a surge of interest in the investigation of mindfulness as a psychological construct and as a form of clinical intervention. This article reviews the empirical literature on the effects of mindfulness on psychological health. We begin with a discussion of the construct of mindfulness, differences between Buddhist and Western psychological conceptualizations of mindfulness, and how mindfulness has been integrated into Western medicine and psychology, before reviewing three areas of empirical research: cross-sectional, correlational research on the associations between mindfulness and various indicators of psychological health; intervention research on the effects of mindfulness-oriented interventions on psychological health; and laboratory-based, experimental research on the immediate effects of mindfulness inductions on emotional and behavioral functioning. We conclude that mindfulness brings about various positive psychological effects, including increased subjective well-being, reduced psychological symptoms and emotional reactivity, and improved behavioral regulation. The review ends with a discussion on mechanisms of change of mindfulness interventions and suggested directions for future research.Research highlights? Mindfulness refers to attending to experience on purpose and non-judgmentally. ? Trait mindfulness and meditation practice correlate with psychological well-being. ? Mindfulness intervention programs reduce psychological symptoms and distress. ? Mindfulness instructions reduce emotional reactivity in laboratory studies. ? Mechanisms of mindfulness' effects need to be a focus of future studies.

Electrocardiographic RR intervals fluctuate cyclically, modulated by ventilation, baroreflexes, and other genetic and environmental factors that are mediated through the autonomic nervous system. Short term electrocardiographic recordings (5 to 15 minutes), made under controlled conditions, e.g., lying supine or standing or tilted upright can elucidate physiologic, pharmacologic, or pathologic changes in autonomic nervous system function. Long-term, usually 24-hour recordings, can be used to assess autonomic nervous responses during normal daily activities in health, disease, and in response to therapeutic interventions, e.g., exercise or drugs. RR interval variability is useful for assessing risk of cardiovascular death or arrhythmic events, especially when combined with other tests, e.g., left ventricular ejection fraction or ventricular arrhythmias.

Mindfulness meditation has beneficial effects on brain and body, yet the impact of Vipassana, a type of mindfulness meditation, on heart rate variability (HRV) - a psychophysiological marker of mental and physical health is unknown. We hypothesised increases in measures of well-being and HRV, and decreases in ill-being after training in Vipassana compared to before (time effects), during the meditation task compared to resting baseline (task effects), and a time by task interaction with more pronounced differences between tasks after Vipassana training. HRV (5-minute resting baseline vs. 5-minute meditation) was collected from 36 participants before and after they completed a 10-day intensive Vipassana retreat. Changes in three frequency-domain measures of HRV were analysed using 2 (Time; pre- vs. post-Vipassana) x 2 (Task; resting baseline vs. meditation) within subjects ANOVA. These measures were: normalised high-frequency power (HF n.u.), a widely used biomarker of parasympathetic activity; log-transformed high frequency power (ln HF), a measure of RSA and required to interpret normalised HF; and Traube-Hering-Mayer waves (THM), a component of the low frequency spectrum linked to baroreflex outflow. As expected, participants showed significantly increased well-being, and decreased ill-being. In HF increased overall during meditation compared to resting baseline, while there was a time * task interaction for THM. Further testing revealed that pre-Vipassana only In HF increased during meditation (vs. resting baseline), consistent with a change in respiration. Post-Vipassana, the meditation task increased HF n.u. and decreased THM compared to resting baseline, suggesting post-Vipassana task-related changes are characterised by a decrease in absolute LF power, not parasympathetic-mediated increases in HF power. Such baroreflex changes are classically associated with attentional load, and our results are interpreted in light of the concept of 'flow'-a state of positive and full immersion in an activity. These results are also consistent with changes in normalised HRV reported in other meditation studies. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

BACKGROUND: High-frequency heart rate variability (HF-HRV) is a measure of parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) output that has been associated with enhanced self-regulation. Low resting levels of HF-HRV are associated with nicotine dependence and blunted stress-related changes in HF-HRV are associated with decreased ability to resist smoking. Meditation has been shown to increase HF-HRV. However, it is unknown whether tonic levels of HF-HRV or acute changes in HF-HRV during meditation predict treatment responses in addictive behaviors such as smoking cessation. PURPOSE: To investigate the relationship between HF-HRV and subsequent smoking outcomes. METHODS: HF-HRV during resting baseline and during mindfulness meditation was measured within two weeks of completing a 4-week smoking cessation intervention in a sample of 31 community participants. Self-report measures of smoking were obtained at a follow up 17-weeks after the initiation of treatment. RESULTS: Regression analyses indicated that individuals exhibiting acute increases in HF-HRV from resting baseline to meditation smoked fewer cigarettes at follow-up than those who exhibited acute decreases in HF-HRV (b = -4.89, p = 0.008). CONCLUSION: Acute changes in HF-HRV in response to meditation may be a useful tool to predict smoking cessation treatment response.

Statistical methods can tell qualitative differences between two sets of data, but cannot tell their quantitative differences. The authors measured differences by improving the Fibonacci sequence and its golden section constant τ=(5~(1/2)-1)/2≈0.618. As for x and y(xy), the absolute values of any two numbers, their level l difference is defined as l=|logx(xy)|. As for ages, l0.22, 0.22≤l0.44, 0.44≤l1.00 and l≥1.00 indicate no quantitative difference at all, slight quantitative difference, significant quantitative difference and extremely significant quantitative difference respectively. As for critical unnecessary functions, organs and overall levels, l0.27, 0.27≤l0.47, 0.47≤l0.80 and l≥0.80 and molecular cell levels l0.47, 0.47≤l0.80, 0.80≤l1.27 and l≥1.27 indicate no quantitative difference at all, slight quantitative difference, significant quantitative difference and extremely significant quantitative difference respectively. The authors discussed the initial application of quantitative difference in researches on sports life span, life span and sports effect.

传统的统计方法可以得出两组数据的定性分布差异,而定量差异（QD）可以得出它们的平均值差异。以黄金分割常数为底的对数称为黄金对数,研究发现一个新的自然常数可以表示黄金分割常数,且黄金对数保持不变,称其为自相似常数。自相似常数不但能表示部分基本物理常数,而且能表示部分运动记录和生理极限。用自相似常数表示QD在分子细胞水平、组织器官水平和整体水平功能3个方面与运动成绩的特征参数,并讨论了QD在体育科学中的初步应用。

A number of studies have demonstrated that short-term meditation intervention can lead to greater tolerance and lower pain or distress ratings of experimentally induced pain. However, few attempts have been made to examine the effects of short-term mindfulness-based intervention on the tolerance and distress of pain, when delivered in a therapist-free form. The present research explored the effect of brief mindfulness intervention using pre-recorded instruction on pain experimentally induced by the cold-pressor task. The effects of the mindfulness strategy, the distraction strategy and spontaneous strategy, all through the instructions of pre-recorded voices, were compared. The subjects were drawn from healthy college students and randomly assigned to the aforementioned three groups. Our results showed that compared with using spontaneous strategies, the mindfulness intervention significantly improved the participants' pain tolerance and reduced their immersion distress. The distraction strategy also significantly improved the participants' pain tolerance. However, it did not have a significant effect on the participants' level of distress during the immersion period. Our results suggest that brief mindfulness intervention without a therapist's personal involvement is capable of helping people cope with pain induced by the cold-pressor task. Copyright 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Mindfulness is an increasingly prominent construct in health research but its study has been impeded by a lack of well-validated measures. The Mindful Attention and Awareness Scale (MAAS; Brown and Ryan, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , 84:822–848, 2003) is a promising measure and the goal of the present study was to further validate the MAAS in a large university sample ( n 65=65711). Confirmatory factor analysis supported the unidimensional factor structure of the MAAS in the overall sample. No gender differences in MAAS performance were evident, but the factor structure was not confirmed in the subsample of men, apparently due to power limitations. No categorical differences were evident based on experience with meditation, and MAAS performance was not significantly associated with experience with meditation. These findings are interpreted as broadly supporting the MAAS as a valid measure of mindfulness, but suggesting that novice-level experience with meditation should not be presumed to be associated with greater mindfulness.

Mindfulness has been described as a state of awareness characterized by refined attentional skills and a non-evaluative attitude toward internal and external events. Recently, it has been suggested...

61We examined the relationship between mindfulness and heart rate variability (HRV).61The relationship was examined in the context of high and low generalized anxiety symptoms (GA).61In high GA, but not low GA, mindfulness was associated with higher HRV.

While much attention has been devoted to examining the beneficial effects of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction programs on patients' ability to cope with various chronic medical conditions, most studies have relied on self-report measures of improvement. Given that these measures may not accurately reflect physiological conditions, there is a need for an objective marker of improvement in research evaluating the beneficial effects of stress management programs. Cortisol is the major stress hormone in the human organism and as such is a promising candidate measure in the study of the effects of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction programs. In conjunction with other biological measures, the use of cortisol levels as a physiological marker of stress may be useful to validate self-reported benefits attributed to this program. In the current manuscript, we review the available literature on the role of cortisol as a physiological marker for improvement with regards to mindfulness practice, and make recommendations for future study designs.

Institute of HeartMath, Boulder Creek, California, USA. rollin@heartmath.org

Chaotically advected fluids are both a visual demonstration of stretching and folding leading to chaos and a prototypical example of a multiplicative process with weakly correlated steps. Complementary aspects of the process are studied by means of stretching calculations for different flows under both globally and partially chaotic conditions. Stretching is examined in two different ways: (i) as stretching plots, focusing primarily on stretching at small scales and on the comparison of the spatial distribution of stretching with dye structures and with unstable manifolds, and (ii) as time evolving probability density functions, analyzed using scaling techniques that renormalize the distributions by means of their moments. The first approach leads to the conclusion that the manifold structure generates the striation pattern observed in dye deformation experiments, and that both manifolds and dye patterns agree with stretching plots even at small scales. The second approach demonstrates that the multiplicative nature of stretching generates universal statistics which are reflected in self-similar scaling distributions.

Instantaneous heart rate reflects sympatho-vagal influences on pace-maker activity. Hence computer analysis of heart rate variability might provide a quantitative index of that interaction. The power spectral density (PSD) estimate of heart rate variability was obtained in normal controls and in uncomplicated hypertensives, both at rest and during a non-hypotensive sympathetic stimulus (tilting). In normal controls PSD shows three major peaks of frequencies P1 = 0.07, P2 = 0.12, P3 = 0.25 cycles/beat. P1, which is associated with sympathetic activity, represents only a minor portion of total variability at rest, while becoming predominant with tilting. P2 and P3 are associated with vagal activity, and represent the major part of variability at rest, while they are reduced by tilting. In hypertensive patients PSD is altered, as P1 is already predominant at rest and increases only slightly with tilting. Thus PSD of heart rate variability is capable of detecting an early alteration in sympatho-vagal balance of cardiac control present in uncomplicated hypertension.

Purpose Mindfulness has emerged as an important health concept based on evidence that mindfulness interventions reduce symptoms and improve health-related quality of life. The objectives of this study were to systematically assess and compare the properties of instruments to measure self-reported mindfulness.Methods Ovid Medline (R), CINAHL (R), and PsycINFO (R) were searched through May 2012, and articles were selected if their primary purpose was development or evaluation of the measurement properties (validity, reliability, responsiveness) of a self-report mindfulness scale. Two reviewers independently evaluated the methodological quality of the selected studies using the COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health status Measurement INstruments checklist. Discrepancies were discussed with a third reviewer and scored by consensus. Finally, a level of evidence approach was used to synthesize the results and study quality.Results Our search strategy identified a total of 2,588 articles. Forty-six articles, reporting 79 unique studies, met inclusion criteria. Ten instruments quantifying mindfulness as a unidimensional scale (n = 5) or as a set of 2-5 subscales (n = 5) were reviewed. The Mindful Attention Awareness Scale was evaluated by the most studies (n = 27) and had positive overall quality ratings for most of the psychometric properties reviewed. The Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire received the highest possible rating ("consistent findings in multiple studies of good methodological quality") for two properties, internal consistency and construct validation by hypothesis testing. However, none of the instruments had sufficient evidence of content validity. Comprehensiveness of construct coverage had not been assessed; qualitative methods to confirm understanding and relevance were absent. In addition, estimates of test-retest reliability, responsiveness, or measurement error to guide users in protocol development or interpretation of scores were lacking.Conclusions Current mindfulness scales have important conceptual differences, and none can be strongly recommended based solely on superior psychometric properties. Important limitations in the field are the absence of qualitative evaluations and accepted external referents to support construct validity. Investigators need to proceed cautiously before optimizing any mindfulness intervention based on the existing scales.

Abstract Improvements in stable, or dispositional, mindfulness are often assumed to accrue from mindfulness training and to account for many of its beneficial effects. However, research examining these assumptions has produced mixed findings, and the relation between dispositional mindfulness and mindfulness training is actively debated. A comprehensive meta-analysis was conducted on randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of mindfulness training published from 2003-2014 to investigate whether (a) different self-reported mindfulness scale dimensions change as a result of mindfulness training, (b) key aspects of study design (e.g., control condition type, population type, and intervention type) moderate training-related changes in dispositional mindfulness scale dimensions, and (c) changes in mindfulness scale dimensions are associated with beneficial changes in mental health outcomes. Scales from widely used dispositional mindfulness measures were combined into 5 categories for analysis: Attention, Description, Nonjudgment, Nonreactivity, and Observation. A total of 88 studies (n = 5,787) were included. Changes in scale dimensions of mindfulness from pre to post mindfulness training produced mean difference effect sizes ranging from small to moderate (g = 0.28-0.49). Consistent with the theorized role of improvements in mindfulness in training outcomes, changes in dispositional mindfulness scale dimensions were moderately correlated with beneficial intervention outcomes (r = .27-0.30), except for the Observation dimension (r = .16). Overall, moderation analyses revealed inconsistent results, and limitations of moderator analyses suggest important directions for future research. We discuss how the findings can inform the next generation of mindfulness assessment. (PsycINFO Database Record

Excess body fat, obesity, is one of the most common disorders in clinical practice. In addition, there is a clustering of several risk factors with obesity, including hypertension, glucose intolerance, diabetes mellitus, and hyperlipidemia, which is observed more frequently than by chance alone. This has led to the suggestion that these represent a single syndrome and is referred to as the Metabolic Syndrome. A growing body of evidence suggests that glucocorticoid secretion is associated with this complex phenotype. Continuously changing and sometimes threatening external environment may, when the challenge exceeds a threshold, activate central pathways that stimulate the adrenals to release glucocorticoids. In this review, we will discuss how such processes mediate a pathogenetic role in the Metabolic Syndrome.

Abstract<br/><p class="a-plus-plus">Although alternative methods have been proposed, mindfulness is predominantly measured by means of self-assessment instruments. Until now, several scales have been published and to some degree also psychometrically validated. The number of scales reflects the widespread research interest. While some authors have started to compare the underlying concepts and operationalizations of these scales, up to now no overview has been presented describing, contrasting, and evaluating the different methodological approaches towards measuring mindfulness including questionnaires and alternative approaches. In light of this, the present article summarizes the state of mindfulness measurement. Recommendations on how current measurement practice may be improved are provided, as well as recommendations as to what measurement instruments are deemed to be most appropriate for a particular research context.</p><br/>

In this meta-analysis, we give a comprehensive overview of the effects of meditation on psychological variables that can be extracted from empirical studies, concentrating on the effects of meditation on nonclinical groups of adult meditators. Mostly because of methodological problems, almost of an initially identified 595 studies had to be excluded. Most studies appear to have been conducted without sufficient theoretical background. To put the results into perspective, we briefly summarize the major theoretical approaches from both East and West. The 163 studies that allowed the calculation of effect sizes exhibited medium average effects (r = .28 for all studies and r = .27 for the n = 125 studies from reviewed journals), which cannot be explained by mere relaxation or cognitive restructuring effects. In general, results were strongest (medium to large) for changes in emotionality and relationship issues, less strong (about medium) for measures of attention, and weakest (small to medium) for more cognitive measures. However, specific findings varied across different approaches to meditation (transcendental meditation, mindfulness meditation, and other meditation techniques). Surprisingly, meditation experience only partially covaried with long-term impact on the variables examined. In general, the dependent variables used cover only some of the content areas about which predictions can be made from already existing theories about meditation; still, such predictions lack precision at present. We conclude that to arrive at a comprehensive understanding of why and how meditation works, emphasis should be placed on the development of more precise theories and measurement devices.

The development of the Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy Adherence Scale (MBCT-AS) is described. This 17-item scale measures therapist adherence to the treatment protocol for Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), a treatment for the prevention of recurrence in Major Depressive Disorder. The MBCT-AS assesses therapist behaviours specific to (MBCT) as well as therapy practices that MBCT shares with Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT). To determine the utility of this scale, we compared delivery of group MBCT against group CBT, with independent ratings of taped sessions provided to measure adherence to MBCT and CBT for therapists in both groups. The results showed that: (a) raters can reliably use the MBCT-AS; (b) MBCT therapists demonstrated adherence to the treatment protocol, as measured by the MBCT-AS; and (c) MBCT is distinguishable from CBT on both the MBCT-AS and a scale measuring adherence to CBT (CBT-AS). These findings indicate that the MBCT-AS may be a useful tool for ensuring the proper delivery of MBCT in future research, and may be helpful in determining the elements of MBCT that are unique to that treatment. Copyright 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Abstract Heart rate variability (HRV), the change in the time intervals between adjacent heartbeats, is an emergent property of interdependent regulatory systems that operate on different time scales to adapt to challenges and achieve optimal performance. This article briefly reviews neural regulation of the heart, and its basic anatomy, the cardiac cycle, and the sinoatrial and atrioventricular pacemakers. The cardiovascular regulation center in the medulla integrates sensory information and input from higher brain centers, and afferent cardiovascular system inputs to adjust heart rate and blood pressure via sympathetic and parasympathetic efferent pathways. This article reviews sympathetic and parasympathetic influences on the heart, and examines the interpretation of HRV and the association between reduced HRV, risk of disease and mortality, and the loss of regulatory capacity. This article also discusses the intrinsic cardiac nervous system and the heart-brain connection, through which afferent information can influence activity in the subcortical and frontocortical areas, and motor cortex. It also considers new perspectives on the putative underlying physiological mechanisms and properties of the ultra-low-frequency (ULF), very-low-frequency (VLF), low-frequency (LF), and high-frequency (HF) bands. Additionally, it reviews the most common time and frequency domain measurements as well as standardized data collection protocols. In its final section, this article integrates Porges' polyvagal theory, Thayer and colleagues' neurovisceral integration model, Lehrer et al.'s resonance frequency model, and the Institute of HeartMath's coherence model. The authors conclude that a coherent heart is not a metronome because its rhythms are characterized by both complexity and stability over longer time scales. Future research should expand understanding of how the heart and its intrinsic nervous system influence the brain.

This study investigated, and partially aimed to replicate, important construct validity aspects and the homogeneity of trait mindfulness measures. Specifically, the study set out to examine whether a single dimension can explain the shared variance among these measures as well as the extent to which they converge with one another and in terms of their linkages to the five-factor model (FFM). Two samples completed all trait measures of the construct and one of them additionally completed a measure of the Big Five personality traits. Results showed that a single dimension explains the shared variance among measures based on the original, Eastern conceptualization of mindfulness, although not all of them seem to represent this construct comprehensively. Intercorrelations, dimensionality analysis, as well as linkages to the FFM indicated that the Eastern and Western conceptualizations, and their respective measures, reflect distinct constructs. However, the amount of variance overlap with the FFM was similar across the two conceptualizations.

Mindfulness and heart coherence training (HCT) training are applied increasingly in the treatment of patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain (CMP). Questionnaires have been developed to assess changes in mindfulness but no gold standard is available. Explore the relationship between changes in mindfulness scores and changes in heart coherence after 3 sessions of HCT in patients with CMP and in healthy subjects. Ten patients with CMP and 15 healthy subjects were trained in self-regulation with the use of HCT following a standardized stress relief program developed by the HeartMath Institute. A heart coherence-score (HC-score) was constructed with scores ranging from 0-100 with higher scores reflecting more heart rate variability (HRV) coherency. Change scores, Spearman correlation coefficients, and Wilcoxon Signed Rank test were calculated to test relationships and differences between HC-score, the Mindfulness Attention and Awareness Scale (MAAS) and Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ). A new questionnaire was constructed to explore on which mindfulness-related domains patients with CMP report changes after HCT. Increases were present on HC-score in healthy subjects (P<.01) and in patients (P<.01) between baseline and follow-up. Effect sizes on change on the MAAS and FFMQ were low. Weak (r<0.25) and non-significant correlations were observed in change scores between HC-score and MAAS or FFMQ. Patients reported significant favorable differences on 6 mindfulness related domains in the new questionnaire: breathing rhythm, physical awareness, positive or negative emotions, recognition of stressful situations, thoughts, and tendency to actively self-regulate. In this pilot study, mindfulness as assessed by the MAAS and FFMQ does not appear to improve after HCT. HRV coherency, MAAS, and FFMQ measure different constructs and are weakly related. It is of great importance to choose and develop valid measures that reflect patients' states of mindfulness. Content and face validity of measures of mindfulness may be considered in the light of performance-based measures.

78 homeostasis (feedback error-correction) is inefficient; it cannot be a key regulator. 78 allostasis (predictive error-prevention) is highly efficient; it is the key regulator. 78 allostasis employs a dedicated organ for prediction and control -- the brain. 78 efficient regulation uses a push-pull: non-adapting “stick”+fast-adapting “carrot”. 78 modern life disturbs this mechanism, thereby generating addictive behaviors.

Meditation is the attainment of a restful yet fully alert physical and mental state practiced by many as a self-regulatory approach to emotion management, but the psychophysiological properties and personality traits that characterize this meditative state have not been adequately studied. We quantitatively analyzed changes in psychophysiological parameters during Zen meditation in 20 normal adults, and evaluated the results in association with personality traits assessed by Cloninger's Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI). During meditation, increases were observed in fast theta power and slow alpha power on EEG predominantly in the frontal area, whereas an increase in the normalized unit of high-frequency (nuHF) power (as a parasympathetic index) and decreases in the normalized unit of low-frequency (nuLF) power and LF/HF (as sympathetic indices) were observed through analyses of heart rate variability. We analyzed the possible correlations among these changes in terms of the percent change during meditation using the control condition as the baseline. The percent change in slow alpha EEG power in the frontal area, reflecting enhanced internalized attention, was negatively correlated with that in nuLF as well as in LF/HF and was positively correlated with the novelty seeking score (which has been suggested to be associated with dopaminergic activity). The percent change in fast theta power in the frontal area, reflecting enhanced mindfulness, was positively correlated with that in nuHF and also with the harm avoidance score (which has been suggested to be associated with serotonergic activity). These results suggest that internalized attention and mindfulness as two major core factors of behaviors of mind during meditation are characterized by different combinations of psychophysiological properties and personality traits.

The intimate connection between the brain and the heart was enunciated by Claude Bernard over 150 years ago. In our neurovisceral integration model we have tried to build on this pioneering work. In the present paper we further elaborate our model and update it with recent results. Specifically, we performed a meta-analysis of recent neuroimaging studies on the relationship between heart rate variability and regional cerebral blood flow. We identified a number of regions, including the amygdala and ventromedial prefrontal cortex, in which significant associations across studies were found. We further propose that the default response to uncertainty is the threat response and may be related to the well known negativity bias. Heart rate variability may provide an index of how strongly ‘top–down’ appraisals, mediated by cortical-subcortical pathways, shape brainstem activity and autonomic responses in the body. If the default response to uncertainty is the threat response, as we propose here, contextual information represented in ‘appraisal’ systems may be necessary to overcome this bias during daily life. Thus, HRV may serve as a proxy for ‘vertical integration’ of the brain mechanisms that guide flexible control over behavior with peripheral physiology, and as such provides an important window into understanding stress and health.

The autonomic nervous system (ANS) plays a role in a wide range of somatic and mental diseases. Using a model of neurovisceral integration, this article describes how autonomic imbalance and decreased parasympathetic tone in particular may be the final common pathway linking negative affective states and conditions to ill health. The central nervous system (CNS) network that regulates autonomic balance (central autonomic network, CAN) is closely related and partially overlaps with networks serving executive, social, affective, attentional, and motivated behavior (anterior executive region, AER; and Damasio's [Damasio, A.R., 1998. Emotion in the perspective of an integrated nervous system. Brain Res. Rev. 26, 83–86.] ‘emotion circuit’). A common reciprocal inhibitory cortico-subcortical neural circuit serves to regulate defensive behavior, including autonomic, emotional and cognitive features. This inhibitory cortico-subcortical circuit may structurally, as well as functionally, link psychological processes with health-related physiology. When the prefrontal cortex is taken ‘offline’ for whatever reason, parasympathetic inhibitory action is withdrawn and a relative sympathetic dominance associated with disinhibited defensive circuits is released, which can be pathogenic when sustained for long periods. This state is indicated by low heart rate variability (HRV), which is a marker for low parasympathetic activation and prefrontal hypoactivity. Consistent with this, HRV is associated with a range of psychological and somatic pathological conditions, including immune dysfunction. Finally, we discuss supportive evidence from recent studies of the reflexive startle blink, attention and working memory, which shows that low HRV predicts hypervigilance and inefficient allocation of attentional and cognitive resources.

In the present paper we present the outlines of a model that integrates autonomic, attentional, and affective systems into a functional and structural network that may help to guide us in our understanding of emotion regulation and dysregulation. We will emphasize the relationship between attentional regulation and affective processes and propose a group of underlying physiological systems that serve to integrate these functions in the service of self-regulation and adaptability of the organism. We will attempt to place this network in the context of dynamical systems models which involve feedback and feedforward circuits with special attention to negative feedback mechanisms, inhibitory processes, and their role in response selection. From a systems perspective, inhibitory processes can be viewed as negative feedback circuits that allow for the interruption of ongoing behavior and the re-deployment of resources to other tasks. When these negative feedback mechanisms are compromised, positive feedback loops may develop as a result (of dis-inhibition). From this perspective, the relative sympathetic activation seen in anxiety disorders may represent dis-inhibition due to faulty inhibitory mechanisms.

The intimate connection between the brain and the heart was enunciated by Claude Bernard over 150 years ago. In our neurovisceral integration model we have tried to build on this pioneering work. In the present paper we further elaborate our model. Specifically we review recent neuroanatomical studies that implicate inhibitory GABAergic pathways from the prefrontal cortex to the amygdala and additional inhibitory pathways between the amygdala and the sympathetic and parasympathetic medullary output neurons that modulate heart rate and thus heart rate variability. We propose that the default response to uncertainty is the threat response and may be related to the well known negativity bias. We next review the evidence on the role of vagally mediated heart rate variability (HRV) in the regulation of physiological, affective, and cognitive processes. Low HRV is a risk factor for pathophysiology and psychopathology. Finally we review recent work on the genetics of HRV and suggest that low HRV may be an endophenotype for a broad range of dysfunctions.

Both psychological and neurobiological findings lend support to the long-standing clinical observation that negative affect is involved in the development and maintenance of alcohol dependence, and difficulty coping with negative affect is a common precipitant of relapse after treatment. Although many current approaches to relapse prevention emphasize change-based strategies for managing negative cognitions and affect, acceptance-based strategies for preventing relapse to alcohol use are intended to provide methods for coping with distress that are fundamentally different from, though in theory complementary to, approaches that emphasize control and change. This paper describes the development of Acceptance-Based Coping for Relapse Prevention (ABCRP), a new intervention for alcohol-dependent individuals who are within 6 months of having quit drinking. Results of preliminary testing indicate that the intervention is feasible with this population; and a small uncontrolled pilot study (N = 23) showed significant (P < .01) improvements in self-reported negative affect, emotional reactivity, perceived stress, positive affect, psychological well-being, and mindfulness level, as well as a trend (P = .06) toward reduction in craving severity between pre- and postintervention assessments. The authors conclude that this acceptance-based intervention seems feasible and holds promise for improving affect and reducing relapse in alcohol-dependent individuals, warranting further research.

Mindful individuals orient to ongoing events and experiences in a receptive, attentive manner. This experiential mode of processing suggests implications for the perception of and response to stress situations. Using laboratory-based, longitudinal, and daily diary designs, four studies examined the role of mindfulness on appraisals of and coping with stress experiences in college students, and the consequences of such stress processing for well-being. Across the four studies (’s02=0265026102141), results demonstrated that mindful individuals made more benign stress appraisals, reported less frequent use of avoidant coping strategies, and in two studies, reported higher use of approach coping. In turn, more adaptive stress responses and coping partially or fully mediated the relation between mindfulness and well-being. Implications for the role of mindfulness in stress and well-being are discussed.

Clinical interventions based on training in mindfulness skills are an increasingly common part of psychological practice. Mindfulness training can lead to reductions in a variety of problematic conditions including pain, stress, anxiety, depressive relapse, psychosis, and disordered eating but to date there have been few attempts to investigate the effectiveness of this approach with problematic anger. In this paper, the literature in relation to the theory and treatment of problematic anger is reviewed, with the aim of determining whether a rationale exists for the use of mindfulness with angry individuals. It is concluded that anger as an emotion seems particularly appropriate for the application of mindfulness-based interventions, and the potential mechanisms for its proposed effects in alleviating the cognitive, affective and behavioral manifestations of anger are discussed.

The purpose of this study was to examine the feasibility of testing a psychological approach (hypnosis) to pain reduction in children using the cold pressor paradigm. Children's pain ratings at 10 sec intervals and duration of arm immersion (40 sec maximum) in 15 °C (n = 37) and 12 °C water (n = 29) were assessed in 6–12-year-old children during 2 baseline trials (alternating arms), followed by 2 more trials after randomization to a control or hypnosis treatment condition. Hypnosis was found to reduce pain significantly more than the control condition in both 15 °C and 12 °C water. Hypnotic susceptibility was not strongly related to hypnotic pain reduction. However, age was significant, with younger children showing higher pain ratings and early arm withdrawal rates and less response to hypnosis than older children. In 15 °C water, females had higher pain ratings and early withdrawal rates than males, but this sex discrepancy disappeared in 12 °C water. This study demonstrated the feasibility of the cold pressor paradigm for testing intervention strategies and its potential for enhancing our understanding of pain in children.