WhatsApp - 9892507784 / email - jyotika@excellingsychology.com for psychology tuition \ } Hilzel et al. (mindfulness and brain scans) the psychology that is being investigated ‘© The present researchers investigated whether the practice of mindfulness meditation can increase the volume of neurons in certain brain areas, thereby enhancing the specific functions performed by those areas; © thus, they investigated the following concepts- Mindfulness '* Mindfulness is the ability of fully concentrating on an activity while performing it; ‘© While being mindful an individual focuses completely on the present, that is, on the activity he is performing while completely ignoring any thoughts about the past or future, relevant or irrelevant; '® Mindfulness can be practiced using ‘mindfulness meditation,” described below- Mindfulness Meditation ‘© The present researchers define mindfulness meditation as, “the development of awareness of present-moment experience with a compasstonate, nonjudgmental stance; ‘© Researchers have used mindfulness meditation as a part of psychotherapeutic Programmes recently, and its practice has been found to reduce symptoms of a number of, disorders, including anxiety, depression, substance abuse, eating disorder and chronic pain; © The practice of mindfulness can benefit development in certain brain areas, better understood by the concept of localization of function, as follows- © Jyotika Varmani, Excelling Psychology Holzel etal. (mindfulness and brain scans) httow/alevels.excellinansychology.com 1of 33WhatsApp - 9892507784 / email - jyotika@excellingsychology.com for psychology tuition \ | Localisation of Function ‘© The human brain performs a variety of different functions; © using brain-scanning techniques like the {MRI, neuroscientists keep discovering specific areas in the brain that are highly involved in performing some specific functions; © such investigations are said to look into ‘localisation of function” As a result of such investigations, the hippocampus in the midbrain has been found to be highly involved in memory processes, modulation of emotion and learning; © italso plays a role in regulation of emotion; © decreased volume of the hippocampus is found amongst patients of major depression and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD); Also, the insula underneath the temporal lobe of the brain is found to localise viseeral awareness, that is, awareness of automatic functions inside the body and empathy ‘These two brain structures - the hippocampus and the insula are found to benefit the most in terms of grey matter development from the practice of mindfulness meditation In sum, in line with the above concepts, the present researchers sought to demonstrate that the practice of mindfulness meditation would result in an increase in grey matter in areas like the hippocampus and insula of the brain; subsequently enhancing their localised functions © Jyotika Varmani, Excelling Psychology Holzel etal. (mindfulness and brain scans) httow/alevels.excellinansychology.com 20f 33WhatsApp - 9892507784 / email -jyotika@excelingpsychology.com for psychology tuition . the background to the study © A growing body of literature has shown that different types of training can result in increases in grey matter, that is, in processing units of cells in the brain; © For example, longitudinal studies have shown task-specific increases in brain grey ‘matter as a result of learning of abstract information, motor skills, aerobic training and cognitive skills ‘® Mindfulness meditation neuroimaging studies have also shown such results; © However, most of the brain regions that show increase in grey matter have been reported in only one of these stu © The different results of the studies are likely to be due to differences in participant characteristics, type of meditation practised and data analysis methods, that is, due to differences in research design; and not due to non-benefit of mindfulness meditation; ‘© Specific brain areas have been found to show an mindfulness meditation; © Group differences in the hippocampus and the right anterior insula have each been identified in at least two of the studies of mindfulness meditatior © Furthermore, activation in both regions has been reported during meditative states crease in grey matter in relation to '® Studies of experienced meditators have also suggested the possibility of structural plasticity due to mindfulness meditation; © However, their cross-sectional designs did not exclude the possibility of pre-existing group differences, due to which, cause-effect relationships could not be established © Thus, the present researchers wanted to investigate a cause-effeet relationship between mindfulness meditation and increases in grey matter in the brain by using a more appropriate, longitudinal experimental design © Jyotika Varmani, Excelling Psychology Holzel etal. (mindfulness and brain scans) llinapsychol 30f33WhatsApp - 9892507784 / email -jyotika@excelingpsychology.com for psychology tuition WW the aim(s) of the study © To investigate with the help of a longitudinal study, changes in grey matter associated with a mindfulness-based intervention; © Specifically, to investigate with the help of an 8-week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction course (MBSR; Kabat-Zinn, 1990), changes in grey matter associated with the practice of mindfulness meditation taught in the course © Jyotika Varmani, Excelling Psychology Holzel etal. (mindfulness and brain scans) hilou/alevels excelinansychology.com 40833WhatsApp - 9892507784 / email -jyotika@excelingpsychology.com for psychology tuition . the procedure of the study research method used - Jongitudinal laboratory experiment sample size and demographics N=33; Group-wise details provided as follows- MSBR Participants '* these were individuals enrolled in four MBSR courses held at the Center for Mindfulness at the University of Massachusetts Medical School: © the courses included physician- and self-referred individuals from across New England who were seeking stress reduction; ‘© they were in the age range of 25 to 55 years; © mean age = 38.0 years (S.D. = 4.1 years) ‘© sample size, n= 16; © 6 males; © 10 females ‘© ethnicities of the participants were as follows; © 13 Caucasians; 0 1 Asian; © 1 African American; and © 1 multi-eth ‘© participants had a mean of 17.7 years of edueation (S.D = 1.9 years); © Jyotika Varmani, Excelling Psychology Holzel etal, (mindfulness and brain scans) llinapsychol Sof 33WhatsApp - 9892507784 / email -jyotika@excelingpsychology.com for psychology tuition x py ‘© all were right-handed; ‘© inclusion criteria were as follows- © individuals were included in the study if they self-reported as physically and psychologically healthy and not taking any medications; © they were included if they had had no meditation classes in the past 6 months; m= no more than four classes in the past 5 years; or m= 10 classes in their lifetime; = no contraindications for MRI scanning, such as, metallic implants or claustrophobia, = commitment to attend all eight classes and perform the prescribed daily homework ‘© initial sampling was as follows- © originally, the sample comprised of 8 males and 10 females; © however, due to discomforts during the first MRI scanning se: participants did not return for the second session; © the mean age of the original sample had been 37.89 years (SD = 4.04 years) ion, 2 male Control Group Participants © n=7; © 11 males; © 6 females © their mean age was 39.0 year (SD-9.2 years); ‘© average education = 17.3 years (SD = 1.8 years); ‘© ethnicities of the participants were as follows; © 13 Caucasians; © 2 Asians: © 2 African Americans; and © 1 Hispanic © Jyotika Varmani, Excelling Psychology Holzel etal. (mindfulness and brain scans) q hol 60f 33WhatsApp - 9892507784 / email -jyotika@excelingpsychology.com for psychology tuition x py strengths '¢ usc of strict inclusion criteria to increase internal validity; © inclusion criteria for the MBSR group assured that the effect of mindfulness intervention on grey matter growth in the brain would nor be confounded by the impact of existing expertise in mindfulness meditation on grey matter growth; ‘© inclusion of only right-handed participants to increase reliabili © human physiological processes governed by contralateral principle of the brain - left side of the body regulated by right hemisphere of the brain and vice-versa; including only right-handed participants assured consistent comparison of grey matter growth across participants Himitations ‘© selective sample restricting generalizabi © only individuals enrolled in a specific centre of mindfulness in a specific ‘university represented in the sample; sample might of represent individuals enrolled in other centres of mindfulness or those not enrolled in mindfulness courses at all ‘© skewed ethnic representation, restricting generalizabili © individuals belonging to the Caucasian ethnicity overrepresented in the sample, with very poor representativeness of other ethnicities in the population © Jyotika Varmani, Excelling Psychology Holzel etal. (mindfulness and brain scans) llinapsychol 70f33WhatsApp - 9892507784 / email -jyotika@excelingpsychology.com for psychology tuition x py sampling technique - © paid volunteer sampling (self-selected sampling) for MBSR group; © reimbursement for study participation was a discounted MBSR course fee ‘© unspecified for control group strengths ‘© practically convenient to recruit; © MBSR participants had to make an eight-week long commitment and practise various mindfulness exercises in this duration ; © would be difficult to find participants for such a prolonged commitment using any other sampling technique ‘© sincere performance by volunteers increases validity; © MSBR participants could be trusted to follow the eight-week long schedule of various mindful exercises as committed since they willingly participated in the study; © sincere performance eritical to this study as a lot of unsupervised homework had to be performed by MSBR participants Himitations ‘© not representative of the population that does not volunteer for such tasks; © characteristics specific to those willing to practise MSBR might make them distinctive from the rest of the population; © for example, they may be more present-oriented or attentive by nature which draws them towards mindful meditation; m= this was a likely possibility in the present study as the participants were already enrolled into MBSR courses ‘* possible demand characteristics due to compensation for participation; © discounted fee offer for the MSBR participants could have made them feel obligated to put unusually inereased efforts into mindfulness practice; © therefore, any grey matter growth in them would nor be an outcome of usual ‘mindfulness practice, reducing ecological validity of results © Jyotika Varmani, Excelling Psychology Holzel etal. (mindfulness and brain scans) llinapsychol 80f33WhatsApp - 9892507784 / email -jyotika@excelingpsychology.com for psychology tuition WW experimental design ‘© independent measures design © two groups of participants: 1. MBSR - who practised mindfulness meditation; 2. Control - who did not practise mindfulness meditation’ strengths '* Prevention of earryover effets; © had MBSR participants been made to form the control condition after not practising mindfulness for several weeks, changes in their brain due to mindfulness ‘meditation practice would have persisted: © this would make it difficult to set apart the impact of meditation on their brains, reducing validit ‘© Protection of participants from physical harm; © although MRI scanning is non-invasive, had participants been made to undergo MRT scanning twice, they would be placed at risk to possible damage to their brain from exposure to the intense magnetic field of the scanner Himitations '* Increased possibility of confounding by participant variables; © the MSBR and control group could have differed naturally in terms of neurogenetic ability in their brains; m= the MSBR participants might usually have had a tendency higher growth of brain cells with the passage of time as compared to the control group, on an average, resulting in higher grey matter growth in the MSBR participants ‘* Uneconomical design for researchers © MRI scanning is both, time-consuming and costly; © the researchers would have to conduct the scanning of a reduced number of participants had a repeated measured design been used instead © Jyotika Varmani, Excelling Psychology Holzel etal. (mindfulness and brain scans) llinapsychol 9 0f 33WhatsApp - 9892507784 / email -jyotika@excelingpsychology.com for psychology tuition x py independent variable ‘© Practice of mindfulness meditation, manipulated at two levels; © level 1 - “practice of mindfulness meditation”; and © level 2 - “no praetice of meditation” Operational Definition ‘© Practice of 45-minute audio-tape guided mindfulness exercises, including body scan, yoga, and sitting meditation, daily at home for eight weeks © level 1 = practice of the aforementioned routine: © level 2 = no practice of the aforementioned routine: strengths ‘© Increased validity due to longitudinal presentation; © the MBSR participants were made to practise the mindfulness meditation programme for 8 weeks; © this gave temporal validity to the results obtained from them since over the long term, fluctuating participant variables like mood, attentiveness, health, etc. that can impact mindfulness get balanced out ‘© Increased reliability due to standardized presentation; © the programme was presented in a very consistent format with a fixed duration of the sessions, fixed total duration, fixed number of exercises to be performed, etc. © Jyotika Varmani, Excelling Psychology Holzel etal. (mindfulness and brain scans) llinapsychol 10 033WhatsApp - 9892507784 / email -jyotika@excelingpsychology.com ees WW limitations ‘# Reduced validity duc to lack of supervision of participants during practice; © participants practised the mindfulness exercises independently, hence, it could only be assumed that they did it with the sincerity that the researchers expected of them; © itis possible that they did not practise the programme as expected. '* Reduced validity due to inclusion of a passive control group: © including an active control group exposed to some placebo control group such as practising diary writing or listening to audiotapes with motivating messages for 8 weeks for the same duration that participants performed mindfulness exercises would give more valid proof of effectiveness of mindfulness practice to the researchers; this would help rule out the explanation that just practising some relaxing or positive activity for a few weeks changed the brain structure of participants © Jyotika Varmani, Excelling Psychology Holzel etal. (mindfulness and brain scans) hilou/alevels excelinansychology.com 11 0f33WhatsApp - 9892507784 / email -jyotika@excelingpsychology.com for psychology tuition x py Dependent Variables Dependent Variable 1 ‘® Performance on the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) Operational Definition ‘© Mean scores obtained by participants from the mindfulness meditation and control groups respectively on the FEMQ © 2 weeks before (pre) and 2 weeks after (post) participation in the MSBR programme for the experimental participants; and © a two-month spaced pre- and post-measurement for the control participants strengths ‘© Increased validity due to quantitative measurement; © calculation of mean scores gave researchers the opportunity to draw a direct ‘comparison between the experience of the five facets of mindfulness of the MBSR and control group: © thus, there was an objectivity in the measurement as the researchers did not personally interpret which group experienced the mindfulness facets better ‘© Increased reliability due to standardization of the FFMQ © the FFMQ is an established measure being used by researchers and practitioners since 2006 for the measurement of mindfulness facets; © it is highly standardized owing to its fixed format of responses, fixed number of questions, fixed order of questions, etc. © Jyotika Varmani, Excelling Psychology Holzel etal. (mindfulness and brain scans) llinapsychol 12 0f33WhatsApp - 9892507784 / email -jyotika@excelingpsychology.com ees WW limitations '* Reduced validity duc to use of self-report measurement; © some participants possibly overreported their experiences on the five facets due to social desirability - because awareness, attention, etc. are known to be desirable practices; some participants could have also. misreported their experiences due to ‘unintentional difficulty reealling how they have been experiencing the mindfulness facets after completion of 8 weeks of practice '® Reduced scope of findings due to absence of qualitative measurement © the FFMQ does not investigate why participants are experiencing or not experiencing certain facets of mindfulness investigation - or how their experience with mindfulness practice is; such information would be useful in obtaining a more detailed picture of the influence of mindfulness meditation on the experiences of participants © Jyotika Varmani, Excelling Psychology Holzel etal. (mindfulness and brain scans) hilou/alevels excelinansychology.com 1b0f33WhatsApp - 9892507784 / email -jyotika@excelingpsychology.com for psychology tuition x py Dependent Variable 2 © Change in grey matter of the brain as measured using MRI scanning Operational Definition ‘© Mean change in grey matter in the apriori regions of interest - the left hippocampus and the insula; and in the rest of the brain from- © 2 weeks before (pre) and 2 weeks after (post) participation in the MSBR programme for the experimental participants; and © atwo-month spaced pre-and post-measurement for the control participants strengths ‘© Increased validity due to quantitative measurement; © ealeulation of mean scores gave researchers the opportunity to draw a direct ‘comparison between changes in the grey matter of the MSBR and control group; © thus, there was an objectivity in the measurement as the researchers did not personally interpret which group had an increase in grey matter ‘© Increased validity due to use of brain seanning technology; © MRTis very eredible technology for investigating the structure of the brain; © it is mot subject to any kind of human error in the counting and reco changes in grey matter of the brain Timitations '* Possibly decreased validity from the general effects of learning new mater © the researchers quote that neurogenesis in the hippocampus is related to general learning of any type and not just to the learning of mindfulness in particular; © since the control group was passive in this study and did not perform any general learning other than mindfulness, a comparison could not be drawn with the experimental group to rule out this possibility © Jyotika Varmani, Excelling Psychology Holzel etal. (mindfulness and brain scans) llinapsychol 14 0f33WhatsApp - 9892507784 / email -jyotika@excelingpsychology.com for psychology tuition x py . Controls (selected examples) It was ascertained that the MBSR and control groups did not differ in age by means of significance testing; © this ensured that age was not a participant variable resulting in differences in grey ‘matter changes in the brain ‘The MBSR participants recorded the amount of time they spent engaged in mindfulness exercises each day; © it was found from past investigation into the MSBR programme that participants show lot of differences with regard to how much they comply with the recommended duration of daily practice; © im this way, individual differences in compliance could be investigated as a potential confounding factor in the effectiveness of MSBR in grey matter changes The five subscales on the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire FFMQ were shown to have adequate to good internal consistency; © this helped ensure that any results obtained on the questionnaire were not due to measurement error because of unreliability of the instrument Age and gender were entered as nuisance variables in their analysis by the researchers; © since the MSBR and control groups were not identical in age and gender, the impact of these variables needed to be eliminated from the final result found on grey matter changes It was ascertained that the three homework exer were not significantly correlated with each other; © this helped ensure that each of the exercises was individually contributing to any increase in grey matter; and were thus, equally valid es, namely, body sean, yoga and sitting © Jyotika Varmani, Excelling Psychology Holzel etal. (mindfulness and brain scans) llinapsychol 15 0f33WhatsApp - 9892507784 / email -jyotika@excelingpsychology.com for psychology tuition x py procedure/tasks Description of the MBSR Program ‘© The MBSR program consists of eight weekly group meetings lasting for 2 and a half hours each; ‘© It also includes one full day meeting, that lasts for 6 and a half hours during week six of the course; ‘® Formal mindfulness training exercises aim at developing the capacity for mindfulness in terms of awareness of present-moment experiences with a compassionate, non-judgmental stance; ‘© The formal training program includes the following three components 1, Body Sean - During a body scan, attention is sequentially focused on the entire ‘¢ sensations in each region are observed with nonjudgmental awareness, ending with an awareness of the body “as a complete whole”. 2, Mindful Yoga - Mindful yoga includes gentle stretching exercises and slow movements that are coordinated with the breath; * focus is kept on bringing full awareness to the moment-to-moment experience and a non-harming attitude towards the body; ‘© participants are encouraged to investigate what feels appropriate for themselves and to respect their body's limitations, 3. Sitting Meditation -Sitting meditation practices begin with awareness of the sensations of breathing; © they then moye to include awareness of different modalities (such as sounds, sight, taste, other body sensations, thoughts and emotions); © later, focus is kept on open awareness meditation, wherein the field of awareness is increased to include anything that appears in consciousness, or a simple awareness of one's presence in the here and now. © Jyotika Varmani, Excelling Psychology Holzel etal. (mindfulness and brain scans) llinapsychol 16 0f33WhatsApp - 9892507784 / email -jyotika@excelingpsychology.com for psychology tuition x py Implementation of the MBSR Program '* Daily practice of mindfuiness was implemented as follows - © participants in the MBSR group received audio recordings containing 45-min guided mindfulness exercises of body scan, yoga, and sitting meditation that they ‘were instructed to practise daily at home; © to facilitate the integration of mindfulness into daily life, they were also taught to practise mindfulness informally in everyday activities such as eating, walking, ‘washing the dishes, or taking a shower: © participants were asked to record the amount of time they spent on the mindfulness practices they spent at home everyday. ‘* During meetings, the following was done- © the formal mindfulness exereises were practised; © questions relating to the practice of mindfulness in everyday life were clarified; and © didactic instruction was given on using mindfulness for coping with stress in daily Assessment © MRI scanning was done at two time points for MSBR participants; © it was done once 2 weeks before participation in the programme and 2 weeks after participation in the group; control group participants were also scanned at the same time two time points; there was an average time of $6.25 days (SD = 4.5 days) in between scanning sessions for the MBSR group; and © 65.67 days (SD = 1.22 days) for the control group ‘© Both MSBR and control group participants answered the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFM) at the two time points stated above © Jyotika Varmani, Excelling Psychology Holzel etal. (mindfulness and brain scans) llinapsychol 17 0f33WhatsApp - 9892507784 / email -jyotika@excelingpsychology.com for psychology tuition x py material* Procedural Material '® Audio Recordings of Meditation Exercises © 45-minute audio recordings were provided to participants; © these contained instructions for performing body sean, yoga and sitting meditation at home; © see procedure for more details Measurement Material ive Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) © the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) was developed by Baer et. al. in 2006; itis a 39-item scale; it measures five factors of mindfulness 1. observing - attending to or noticing internal and external stimuli, such as sensations, emotions, cognitions, sights, sounds, and smells; 2. describing - noting or mentally labelling these stimuli with words; 3. acting with awareness - attending to one's current actions, as opposed to behaving automatically or absent-mindedly; 4. non-judging of inner experience - refraining from evaluation of on sensations, cognitions, and emotions; and. 5. non-reactivity to inner experience - allowing thoughts and feelings to come and go, without attention getting caught up in them. © Responses to the items are given on a S-point Likert-type scale; © this seale ranges from “I” meaning “never or very rarely true’ to “5° meaning ‘very often or always true’; The five subscales have shown adequate to good internal consistency 's ‘© Material for MRI Scanning © High-resolution MRI data were acquired with a Siemens Magnetom Avanto 1.5 T. scanner with standard head coil; © Data sets of the whole brain were collected using a T1 weighted MPRAGE-sequence, consisting of 128 sagittal slices © Jyotika Varmani, Excelling Psychology Holzel etal. (mindfulness and brain scans) llinapsychol 18 0f 33WhatsApp - 9892507784 / email -jyotika@excelingpsychology.com ees WW standardisation (selected examples, see procedure section above for elaboration of each of the following points) ‘* The frequency and duration of weekly meetings was the same for every participant in the MBSR group; The audiotapes provided to each MBSR participant for the practice of the three mindfulness exercises was exactly the same; ‘The MRI assessment for each participant of the MBSR group and the control group was done using the exact same equipment and using the exact same procedure; Each participant of each group had to answer the exact same questionnaire - the FFMQ for the assessment of the impact of mindfulness on five factors of mindfulness © Jyotika Varmani, Excelling Psychology Holzel etal. (mindfulness and brain scans) hilou/alevels excelinansychology.com 1903WhatsApp - 9892507784 / email -jyotika@excelingpsychology.com for psychology tuition x py data analysis* Quantitative Analysis only ‘© Amount of mindfulness practice © this was analysed as the mean total duration of meditation practised by the MSBR. group over the 8-week meditation period; m= this mean duration was analysed separately for the three homework exercises as well © the mean duration of daily meditation practice by the MSBR group was also calculated ‘* Improvements in mindfulness (FFMQ Results) © significance testing was performed on the changes in the FFMQ scores for the MSBR and control groups respectively, from pre- to post- testing ‘© Grey matter changes in a priori regions of interest; © any significant change in grey matter concentration in the hippocampus and insula of MSBR and control groups was investigated using MRI scanning © Whole brain analysis, © any significant change in grey matter concentration in any region of the entire brain of MSBR and control group participants were investigated using MRT seanning © Jyotika Varmani, Excelling Psychology Holzel etal. (mindfulness and brain scans) llinapsychol 20 of 33,WhatsApp - 9892507784 / email -jyotika@excelingpsychology.com for psychology tuition ethical issues regarding the study In general, the study was approved by the Institutional ReviewBoards (IRBs) of Massachusetts General Hospital and the University of Massachusetts Medical School attesting to the fact that the study was conducted ethically ‘* informed consent followed; © itis specified in the study report that written informed consent was obtained from all participants suggesting that this guideline was maintained ‘© right to withdraw maintained; © itis mentioned in the report that due to discomforts during the first MRI scanning session, two participants did not return for the second session; © this indicates that this right was made available to participants © confidentiality maintained; © only group demographies in terms of total number of participants, mean age, distribution of genders and ethnicities have been presented in the study report; © no such detail that could help identify any individual participant has been revealed ‘© right to privacy maintained; © only information about the mindfulness meditation practice and increase in grey matter of the brain collected - for which participants had given consent, © therefore, no such behaviours of participants looked into that would count as intruding into personal information © lack of deception maintained; © participants were not misled about any part of the procedure of the study; © they knew the reasons for practising the mindfulness exercises and for their brain scanning © Jyotika Varmani, Excelling Psychology Holzel etal. (mindfulness and brain scans) httow/alevels.excellinansychology.com 21 of 33WhatsApp - 9892507784 / email - jyotika@excellingsychology.com for psychology tuition W © physical harm not done = MRIis a non-intrusive brain technique; m= it was taken care of that participants showed no contraindications for MRI scanning, such as metallic implants and claustrophobia; only physically and psychologically healthy participants were included in the MBSR group © psychological harm not done = mindfulness practice is known to be beneficial to participants; 1m there was no such exercise that could cause any emotional disturbance to participants © debriefing unspecified; © though not explicitly mentioned in the report, participants can be assumed to have been debriefed since the study was cleared by the ethical committee; they were aware of the purpose and procedure; and no deception or harm was cause - so there was no particular necessity of debriefing © Jyotika Varmani, Excelling Psychology Holzel etal. (mindfulness and brain scans) httow/alevels.excellinansychology.com 22 of 33WhatsApp - 9892507784 / email -jyotika@excelingpsychology.com for psychology tuition x p the results of the study* Quantitative Analysis only ‘* Amount of mindfulness practice © MBSR participants reported spending a mean of 22.6 hours (SD = 6.3 hours) engaged in formal homework exercises for the complete 8-week cours © This was split over the three types of exercises as follows- m= the amount of body sean practice ranged between 335 and 1002 minutes (mean = 699 minutes, SD = 217 minutes); m= the amount of yoga practice ranged between 103 and 775 minutes (mean = 327 minutes, SD = 194 minutes); and m= the amount of sitting meditation practice ranged between 0 and 755 minutes (mean = 332 minutes, SD = 211 minutes) © For the MBSR practice, all three homework exercises included, the mean was 27 minutes per day ‘© Improvements in mindfulness (FFMQ Results) ‘© The MBSR participants showed significantly higher scores on the FFMQ after ‘the completion of the 8-week mindfulness course on the following three subscales, in order from most to least significant scores - © acting with awareness; © observing: © non-judging of inner-experience © The control group did not show any such significant increase upon post- to pre-test comparison of their scores on the FEMQ © Jyotika Varmani, Excelling Psychology Holzel etal. (mindfulness and brain scans) httow/alevels.excellinansychology.com 23 of 33WhatsApp - 9892507784 / email -jyotika@excelingpsychology.com for psychology tuition WW © Grey matter changes in a priori regions of interest ‘© There was a significant growth of a small cluster of neurons in the left hippocampus of the MBSR group after completion of the 8-week mindfulness intervention as compared to the control group; © Nossueh significant growth was found in the brains of control group participants © There was no significant growth of neurons in the insula of the MSBR group nor control group after completion of the 8-week mindfulness intervention ‘© Whole brain analysis, © Exploratory analysis of the entire brain showed four clusters with significantly greater grey matter concentration at the post compared with the pre-test in the MBSR group, as follows- © one cluster was located in the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC); = PCC is known to play a role in the integration of emotional events of one’ life into. ones memories and therefore, in developing autobiographical memories © one cluster was located in the left temporoparietal junction (TPJ); and = TPJis known to play « role in conscious experience of the self © two clusters were located in the cerebellum = cerebellum is known to play a role in sensory perception, coordination and motor control; as well as regulation of emotion and cognition © Jyotika Varmani, Excelling Psychology Holzel etal. (mindfulness and brain scans) httow/alevels.excellinansychology.com 24 of 33WhatsApp - 9892507784 / email -jyotika@excelingpsychology.com for psychology tuition the eonclusion(s) the psychologist(s) drew from the study '* Concentration of grey matter increases in regions in the hippocampus, posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), left temporoparietal junction (TPJ), and cerebellum in those who practise an 8-week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction course (MBSR; Kabat-Zinn, 1990), © Jyotika Varmani, Excelling Psychology Holzel etal. (mindfulness and brain scans) httow/alevels.excellinansychology.com 25 of 33WhatsApp - 9892507784 / email -jyotika@excelingpsychology.com for psychology tuition x py description and evaluation of the researeh methods used ‘© longitudinal laboratory experiment justification ‘manipulation of independent variables © the independent variable - practice of mindfulness meditation - was manipulated by the researchers to study its impact on the dependent variable - increase in grey matter in the brain © see ‘independent variable" section above ‘© long-term investigation © the practice of mindfulness meditation lasted for as long as eight weeks for the MBSR group; © thus, the experimental manipulation was carried over a long-period - any gtey matter due to practice of mindfulness meditation could be determined only over the long-term strengths ‘© Determination of cause-effect relationship duc to Experimental Manipulation © the researchers ascertained that mindfulness meditation was administered only to the MBSR participants and not the control group participants; © in addition, they took baseline measurements of the grey matter in the brain of both groups pre-test and maintained other controls (see controls section above); © thus, they could conclude with confidence that praetice of mindfulness as per the MBSR programme was the reason for the inerease in grey matter of certain areas in the brain '* Increased Temporal Validity due to Long-Term Investigation © had MBSR participants practised mindfulness meditation for only a single session, fluctuating participant variables like mood, attentiveness, health, ete. could have confounded their practice of the meditation; © however, since they were practising the mindfulness meditation on a daily basis over an eight-week period, the effects of such variables must have balanced out over several sessions of practice © Jyotika Varmani, Excelling Psychology Holzel etal. (mindfulness and brain scans) httow/alevels.excellinansychology.com 26 of 33WhatsApp - 9892507784 / email -jyotika@excelingpsychology.com for psychology tuition x py limitations '* Reduced Scope of Findings duc to Narrow Investigation © mindfulness meditation could have several other benefits such as experience of better moods, improvement in relationships, better concentration on work tasks, etc.; such benefits could have been investigated using more quantitative measures or preferably, qualitative measures; however, being an experiment, the dependent variable was precisely defined as increase in grey matter in the brain and hence, only those benefits to behaviour could be investigated that were known to be associated with increase in grey matter in certain areas from past research ‘© Time-consuming and Expensive due to Long-Term Investigation © Practically, longitudinal investigation of mindfulness meditation required the organization of several meetings for several MBSR participants, which was time-consuming and expensive as researchers paid part of the fee; further, analyses had to be performed of participants’ records of how much time they spent practising mindfulness meditation to check whether it was a confounding factor in changes in grey matter - this was also a very effortful process © Jyotika Varmani, Excelling Psychology Holzel etal. (mindfulness and brain scans) httow/alevels.excellinansychology.com 27 of 33WhatsApp - 9892507784 / email - jyotika@excellingpsychology.com for psychology tuition WW sues and debates consideration of how the study relates to psychological application of psychology to everyday world) - life (application of the findings of the study to the real ‘© Enrollment into MBSR or similar mindfulness programmes for Stress Reduction © the findings of this study have direct implications for stress reduction using the MBSR programme; © stress is commonly experienced by students, workers, home-makers - everyone these days; © since the findings show that the hippocampus shows grey matter development in response to mindfulness practice, consequent emotional regulation will help deal with the negative emotions arising from stress ‘© Practice of Mindfulness Meditation for Emotional Regulation, Development of Empathy, Memory, etc.; © even those not actively experiencing stress can practise meditation for improving ‘the quality of their mental health or as a proactive measure for preventing mental health issues; © the benefits derived by the increase in grey matter of areas like the hippocampus, insula, PCC, etc. can help people gain the aforementioned mental health benefits ‘© Training in Mindfulness Meditation for treatment of Depression, PTSD, etc. © this study reaffirms the findings of past studies that mindfulness meditation can increase grey matter in the hippocampus which is known to reduce the symptoms of mental disorders such as depression, PTSD, etc. © thus, clinical psychologists can recommend enrollment into MBSR like programmes to their patients © Jyotika Varmani, Excelling Psychology Holzel etal. (mindfulness and brain scans) httow/alevels.excellinansychology.com 28 of 33WhatsApp - 9892507784 / email -jyotika@excelingpsychology.com for psychology tuition WW individual versus situational explanation ~ study largely supports individual explanation ‘© Individual Explanation © the active practice of mindfulness meditation - specifically, the three exercises on a daily basis helped participants gain grey matter benefits; m= thus, individual efforts or individual change in behaviour resulted in the benefits to further strengthen this argument, lack of practice of mindfulness meditation, that is lack of individual effort did not result in matter growth, as evidenced by analysis of the control group ituational Explanation © the MBSR programme provides a lot of external support for the practice of ‘mindfulness meditation in the form of audiotaped instructions, weekly meetings, etc, © this thorough guidance enables individuals to implement their individual practice of mindfulness meditation © Jyotika Varmani, Excelling Psychology Holzel etal. (mindfulness and brain scans) hilou/alevels excelinansychology.com 29 0f33WhatsApp - 9892507784 / email -jyotika@excelingpsychology.com ees WW nature versus nurture study largely supports nurture © Nature © the human brain by nature demonstrates neuroplasticity - that is, change in neuronal growth and reconnection of neuronal pathways in response to practice of different behaviours even in adulthood; m= the benefits gained by practising mindfulness are a result of this plasticity of the human brain © Nurture © the growth in grey matter of the brain is found only after long-term practice of ‘mindfulness as outlined above; m= thus, correct practice of mindfulness has to be learnt using programmes like the MBSR and only then can benefits be gained - they are not derived spontaneously © Jyotika Varmani, Excelling Psychology Holzel etal. (mindfulness and brain scans) httow/alevels.excellinansychology.com 30 of 33WhatsApp - 9892507784 / email - jyotika@excellingpsychology.com for psychology tuition WW use of children in psychological research; ‘© potential methodological issues © children tend to be hyperactive and distractible by nature - and this tendeney of children is on the rise over generations; m= thus, they would find it difficult to practise mindfulness in general © moreover, children would experience difficulty following instructions independently and carrying out unsupervised practice of the exercises by solely listening to an audiotape as required by the MBSR programme; m= thus, a modified programme with supervision would have to be developed for use with children © it would also be difficult for researchers (o assess grey matter change children as a result of mindfulness practice since children’s brains undergo rapid development; m researchers would find it difficult to separate out natural grey matter development in their brains as a result of maturity as against grey matter development due to mindfulness practice; = thorough statistical control would have be implemented during analysis to achieve this end ‘© potential ethical issues © the practice of mindfulness does not pose any protection related issues since it is non-invasive and peacefull by nature, so no ethical issues would be expected if this study were to be done with children ‘© application to everyday life of children © if the MBSR programme could be adapted to suit children as outlined in the ‘methodological issues section above, children would also derive the same benefits as adults by practising mindfulness; m= this would include emotional regulation, stress reduetion, etc. which is also required in children in modern times, given the pressure of academic and extracurricular performance on them © Jyotika Varmani, Excelling Psychology Holzel etal. (mindfulness and brain scans) hilou/alevels excelinansychology.com 310833WhatsApp - 9892507784 / email -jyotika@excelingpsychology.com for psychology tuition WW use of animals in psychological research ‘© since the consciousness, attention and memory of lower animals are not the same as that of human beings, the concept of mindfulness is not suitable for investigation with animals © Jyotika Varmani, Excelling Psychology Holzel etal. (mindfulness and brain scans) httow/alevels.excellinansychology.com 32 of 33WhatsApp - 9892507784 / email -jyotika@excelingpsychology.com for psychology tuition Meeting Assumptions of the Social Approach |. Human cognition, emotions and behaviour are controlled by biological systems and Processes, such as evolution, genes, the nervous system and hormones; © the present study established that the practice of mindfulness results in a change i structures of the brain such as the hippocampus, PCC, ete. which then enables a reduction in stress levels; it is therefore evident that the nervous system regulates stress-related behaviours in humans 2. Human cognition, emotions and behaviour can be investigated by manipulating and measuring biological responses, such as eye movements, brain activity and pulse rate, © the present study made use of MRI technology to establish baselines of grey matter quantity in the brain and to investigate improvements in grey matter post-intervention on the assumption that such grey matter increase would result in benefits of emotional regulation, stress redu © Jyotika Varmani, Excelling Psychology Holzel etal. 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