Physically active children are less depressed

Children, like adults, reap physical and mental benefits from being active

January 31, 2017
Science Daily/Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Being active, getting sweaty and roughhousing offer more than just physical health benefits for young children. A new study shows this kind of physical activity also protects against depression.

Previous studies have shown that adults and young people who are physically active have a lower risk of developing depression. But the same effect has not been studied in children -- until now.

Results from a new study are showing that children receive the same beneficial effect from being active. We're talking about moderate to vigorous physical activity that leaves kids sweaty or out of breath.

Researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) and NTNU Social Research have followed hundreds of children over four years to see if they could find a correlation between physical activity and symptoms of depression.

Healthy to roughhouse

Researchers examined just under 800 children when they were six years old, and conducted follow-up examinations with about 700 of them when they were eight and ten years old. Physical activity was measured with accelerometers, which served as a kind of advanced pedometer, and parents were interviewed about their children's mental health.

"Being active, getting sweaty and roughhousing offer more than just physical health benefits. They also protect against depression," says Tonje Zahl, a PhD candidate at NTNU. She is first author of the article on the study findings, which was recently published in the February 2017 issue of Pediatrics.

The work was conducted as part of Tidlig Trygg i Trondheim, a multi-year study of child development and mental health.

Fewer symptoms

Physically active six- and eight-year-olds showed fewer symptoms of depression when they were examined two years later. Physical activity thus seems to protect against the development of depression.

"This is important to know, because it may suggest that physical activity can be used to prevent and treat depression already in childhood," says Silje Steinsbekk, associate professor in NTNU's Department of Psychology. Steinsbekk and Professor Lars Wichstrøm are Zahl's mentors and coauthors.

Steinsbekk stresses that these results should now be tested in randomized studies where researchers increase children's physical activity and examine whether those who participate in these measures have fewer symptoms of depression over time than those who do not participate.

"We also studied whether children who have symptoms of depression are less physically active over time, but didn't find that to be the case," she says.

Facilitate activity for children

Previous findings in adolescents and adults showed that sedentary lifestyles -- like watching television and computer gaming -- are associated with depression, but the NTNU children's study found no correlation between depression and a sedentary lifestyle.

Depressive symptoms did not lead to greater inactivity and a sedentary lifestyle did not increase the risk of depression.

So the message to parents and health professionals is: Facilitate physical activity, which means that children get a little sweaty and breathless. Try a bike ride or outdoor play. Limiting children's TV or iPad screen time is not enough. Children need actual increased physical activity.
Science Daily/SOURCE :https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/01/170131075131.htm

Harnessing ADHD for business success

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) promotes entrepreneurial skills

March 9, 2017

Science Daily/Technical University of Munich (TUM)

The symptoms of ADHD foster important traits associated with entrepreneurship. That conclusion was reached in a study conducted by an international team of economists, who found that entrepreneurs with ADHD embrace new experiences and demonstrate passion and persistence. Their intuitive decision making in situations involving uncertainty was seen by the researchers as a reason for reassessing existing economic models.

Poor concentration, hyperactivity, a lack of self-regulation -- at first glance, the symptoms of ADHD would seem to lower performance. On the other hand, successful entrepreneurs are frequently reported to have ADHD. "We noticed sometime that some symptoms of ADHD resemble behaviors commonly associated with entrepreneurship -- in a positive sense," says Prof. Holger Patzelt of the Entrepreneurship Research Institute at the Technical University of Munich (TUM).

In cooperation with Johan Wiklund, professor at the Syracuse University, and Dimo Dimov, professor at the University of Bath, Patzelt asked 14 self-employed people with ADHD about their diagnoses, their careers and their personal background. The study shows that important symptoms of ADHD had a decisive impact on the subjects' decision to go into business and on their entrepreneurial approach:

Impulsiveness

People with ADHD are quick to lose their patience. Several of the participants in the study cited boredom in their previous jobs as a reason for setting up their own company, where they could follow up on their own ideas whenever they wanted. One woman reported that she had introduced 250 new products within just a few years. In situations that would be highly stressful for others, such as difficult meetings with important customers, many of those surveyed felt at ease and stimulated. "Their impulsiveness, resulting from ADHD, gives them the advantage of being able to act under unforeseen circumstances without falling into anxiety and paralysis," says Patzelt.

Most of those surveyed act without thinking, even when making far-reaching decisions. One of the entrepreneurs described buying a friend's company over lunch. He only learned of the friend's plan to retire during the meal. Other participants reported that they make investments with no strategy and commit large sums of money to projects with highly uncertain outcomes. Some entrepreneurs believe that this kind of quick decision making is the only way to be productive, and are willing to live with setbacks as a result. Some have difficulty coping with structured activities.

"A marked willingness to try out new things and take risks is an important entrepreneurial trait," says Patzelt. However, the respondents' impulsive actions led to success only when they focused on activities essential to the development of their businesses. One disadvantage of their impulsiveness was mentioned by all of them: problems with routine tasks such as bookkeeping.

Hyperfocus

When people with ADHD have a strong interest in a task, they display an unusual level of concentration known as hyperfocus. One entrepreneur reported that he often becomes completely absorbed in crafting customer solutions. Another constantly keeps up with the new technologies in his industry to the point that he is now much in demand as an expert. "With their passion and persistence, and the expertise they acquire as a result, entrepreneurs can gain a substantial competitive advantage," says Patzelt.

High activity level

Many of the entrepreneurs in the study work day and night without taking time off. That is due to the their hyperfocus, but also to the physical restlessness associated with ADHD. The entrepreneurs use this to fuel their workload. As their energy levels are not constant throughout the day, an advantage in running their own businesses is that they can set their own hours.

"Logic of people with ADHD symptoms is better attuned to entrepreneurial action."

Summing up the results, Patzelt says, "ADHD was a key factor in their decision to go into business for themselves and decisively impacted important entrepreneurial traits: risk taking, passion, persistence and time commitment. Impulsiveness has a special role to play. For People with ADHD it is okay to make intuitive decisions even if the results are bad."

Although one third of those surveyed failed in their business ventures or had little success, Patzelt sees the results of the study as vital for prompting a reassessment of prevailing assumptions in entrepreneurship research: "The way we evaluate entrepreneurial decisions is largely based on rationality and good outcomes. In view of the multitude of uncertainties, however, can such decisions always be rational? People with ADHD show us a different logic that is perhaps better suited to entrepreneurship."

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/03/170309132303.htm

Poor sleep in early childhood may lead to cognitive, behavioral problems in later years

March 9, 2017

Science Daily/Massachusetts General Hospital
A new study finds that children ages 3 to 7 who don't get enough sleep are more likely to have problems with attention, emotional control and peer relationships in mid-childhood.

"We found that children who get an insufficient amount of sleep in their preschool and early school-age years have a higher risk of poor neurobehavioral function at around age 7," says Elsie Taveras, MD, MPH, chief of General Pediatrics at MassGeneral Hospital for Children , who led the study. "The associations between insufficient sleep and poorer functioning persisted even after adjusting for several factors that could influence the relationship."

As in previous studies from this group examining the role of sleep in several areas of child health, the current study analyzed data from Project Viva, a long-term investigation of the health impacts of several factors during pregnancy and after birth. Information used in this study was gathered from mothers at in-person interviews when their children were around 6 months, 3 years and 7 years old, and from questionnaires completed when the children were ages 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6. In addition, mothers and teachers were sent survey instruments evaluating each child's executive function and behavioral issues -- including emotional symptoms and problems with conduct or peer relationships, when children were around 7.

Among 1,046 children enrolled in Project Viva, the study team determined which children were not receiving the recommended amount of sleep at specific age categories -- 12 hours or longer at ages 6 months to 2 years, 11 hours or longer at ages 3 to 4 years, and 10 hours or longer at 5 to 7 years. Children living in homes with lower household incomes and whose mothers had lower education levels were more likely to sleep less than nine hours at ages 5 to 7. Other factors associated with insufficient sleep include more television viewing, a higher body mass index, and being African American.

The reports from both mothers and teachers regarding the neurobehavioral function of enrolled children found similar associations between poor functioning and not receiving sufficient sleep, with teachers reporting even greater problems. Although no association was observed between insufficient sleep during infancy -- ages 6 months to 2 years -- and reduced neurobehavioral functioning in mid-childhood, Taveras notes that sleep levels during infancy often predict levels at later ages, supporting the importance of promoting a good quantity and quality of sleep from the youngest ages.

"Our previous studies have examined the role of insufficient sleep on chronic health problems -- including obesity -- in both mothers and children," explains Taveras, who is a professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School (HMS). "The results of this new study indicate that one way in which poor sleep may lead to these chronic disease outcomes is by its effects on inhibition, impulsivity and other behaviors that may lead to excess consumption of high-calorie foods. It will be important to study the longer-term effects of poor sleep on health and development as children enter adolescence, which is already underway through Project Viva."
Science Daily/SOURCE :https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/03/170309171109.htm

What is innovation, and how can we awaken its dormant traits and cultivate them?

'We do not need to try to create innovative characteristics in the individual, we simply need to show them how to cultivate innovative thought.'

March 10, 2017

Science Daily/University of South Florida (USF Innovation)
While education may not be able to create innovative traits in individuals, education may improve the ability of individuals to utilize the traits they already possess. To that end, the authors begin by defining innovation and identifying the characteristics, traits, and thought processes of innovative individuals or groups of individuals and the environments that they exist in. The ultimate goal will be to develop an educational process whereby individuals would learn how to fully utilize the traits they have and awaken traits that are dormant.

"Relatively little is known about how we can cultivate innovative thinking," said paper lead author Victor Poirier of the Institute for Advanced Discovery & Innovation at the University of South Florida (USF), "and even less is known about how we can help individuals use and improve their innovative powers."

According to the authors, innovation can be defined as "the introduction of something new and different" that is created by inspiration and creativity. Innovation, they said, is "critical to improvements in how we live" and provides "social value." The beginning of the innovative process is usually associated with "a fragmented inspiration" that is further developed by "joining with other fragmented thoughts to finally arrive at a creative inspiration."

The authors pointed to six key characteristics of innovation:

* The timing of an innovative idea;
* The environment in which the idea is formulated and developed;
* The time to develop an idea or inspiration;
* The time and organizational environment that allows for idea cross-fertilization;
* Learning from errors; and
* The development of an idea in one field that can be adapted in another.

While education may not be able to create innovative traits in individuals, education may be able to improve the ability of individuals to better utilize the traits of creativity and innovation they already possess. However, how do we cultivate innovative thinking processes and unleash the creative powers of the individual? And, by what processes can educators help individuals to better utilize their innovative traits?

"It takes a village," explained Poirier, pointing out that Thomas Edison's Menlo Park was an environment in which a variety of minds and skills came together to achieve innovative processes. Innovative industries such as Bell Labs, Xerox, Apple, and Google, as well as many of the federal government's laboratory systems, such as NIH and NASA, are examples of creative environments that foster innovation collaboratively.

Innovative processes do not always create something new, said the authors. Sometimes they greatly improve something already in existence or help to solve a problem. Motivation, persistence, and goal setting may also be keys to this process.

"Contrary to the view that inspiration is purely mystic or divine, [it] is best viewed as an interaction between one's current knowledge and the information one receives from the world," suggested the authors. "We do not need to try to create innovative characteristics; rather, we simply need to show individuals how to cultivate innovative thought."

The first step in encouraging and nurturing inspiration and innovation, said Poirier, is to identify the characteristics and traits that can be fostered and developed through education. These include: abstract thinking and problem solving; a desire to 'fill gaps'; motivation; creativity; curiosity; taking risks with no fear of failure; a positive attitude; persistence and passion; dissatisfaction with what exists; open-mindedness; and vision.

These characteristics can be foundational to an educational process aimed at unleashing the creative and innovative potential that students possess. Therefore, as Poirier explains, our goal is "to develop an educational process whereby we could show individuals how to fully utilize the [innovative] traits they have, [and] awaken traits that are dormant."

The authors acknowledged that there may be roadblocks or resistance to this process from both students and faculty, as there are many who think that innovative thinking is something inborn in the individual and cannot be learned. However, the potential rewards -- including an increase in innovative production -- are substantial and warrant meeting and overcoming these challenges.

To that end, Poirier and his co-authors are part of a team at the University of South Florida involved in an experimental training program in innovation. They anticipate future publications in which they will report on the results of those efforts.
Science Daily/SOURCE :https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/03/170310121710.htm

College students study best later in the day, study shows

Students learn more effectively between 11 a.m. and 9:30 p.m. than at other times of the day

April 12, 2017

Science Daily/University of Nevada, Reno
Researchers used a survey-based, empirical model and a neuroscience-based, theoretical model to analyze the learning patterns of college students to determine optimum times when cognitive performance can be expected to be at its peak. The study showed that much later starting times of after 11 a.m. or noon, result in the best learning.

A new cognitive research study used two new approaches to determine ranges of start times that optimize functioning for undergraduate students. Based on a sample of first and second year university students, the University of Nevada, Reno and The Open University in the United Kingdom used a survey-based, empirical model and a neuroscience-based, theoretical model to analyse the learning patterns of each student to determine optimum times when cognitive performance can be expected to be at its peak.

"The basic thrust is that the best times of day for learning for college-age students are later than standard class hours begin," Mariah Evans, associate professor of sociology at the University of Nevada, Reno and co-author of the study, said. "Especially for freshmen and sophomores, we should be running more afternoon and evening classes as part of the standard curriculum."

Prior research has demonstrated that late starts are optimal for most high school students, and this study extends that analysis to freshmen and sophomores in college. The analysis by Evans, Jonathan Kelley, fellow University sociology professor, and Paul Kelley, honorary associate of sleep, circadian and memory neuroscience at The Open University, assessed the preferred sleeping times of the participants and asked them to rate their fitness for cognitive activities in each hour of the 24-hour day.

"Neuroscientists have documented the time shift using biological data -- on average, teens' biologically 'natural' day begins about two hours later than is optimal for prime age adults," Evans said. "The survey we present here support that for college students, but they also show that when it comes to optimal performance, no one time fits all."

The study showed that much later starting times of after 11 a.m. or noon, result in the best learning. It also revealed that those who saw themselves as "evening" people outnumbered the "morning" people by 2:1, and it concluded that every start time disadvantages one or more of the chronotypes (propensity for the individual to be alert and cognitively active at a particular time during a 24-hour period).

"Thus, the science supports recent moves by the University to encourage evening classes as part of the standard undergraduate curriculum," Evans said. "It also supports increasing the availability of asynchronous online classes to enable students to align their academic work times with their optimal learning times."

The results, Identifying the best times for cognitive functioning using new methods: Matching university times to undergraduate chronotypes, were published in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience March 31, 2017.

"This raises the question as to why conventional universities start their lectures at 9 a.m. or even earlier when our research reveals that this limits the performance of their students," Kelley said. "This work is very helpful for asynchronous online learning as it allows for the student to target their study time to align with their personal rhythm and at the time of day when they know they are most effective."

Science Daily/SOURCE :https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/04/170412105913.htm

Just breathe: Mindfulness may help freshman stress less and smile more

April 20, 2017

Science Daily/Penn State
The first semester of college is a time of great transition for many students -- they often are living away from home for the first time, have a much more fluid schedule than in high school and are potentially surrounded by a new peer group. Mindfulness training may be one way to help students successfully transition to college life, according to researchers.

The first semester of college is a time of great transition for many students -- they often are living away from home for the first time, have a much more fluid schedule than in high school and are potentially surrounded by a new peer group. For all of these reasons and more, this can be an incredibly stressful time in a student's life.

To help ease this transition, researchers offered an eight-session mindfulness training program to first-year students at Penn State, according to Kamila Dvorakova, a doctoral Compassion and Caring fellow in the Edna Bennett Pierce Prevention Research Center and lead author of the study. In mindfulness meditation, practitioners learn how to develop an accepting, nonjudgmental and kind attitude toward present moment thoughts and feelings, according to the researchers, who presented their findings in a recent issue of the Journal of American College Health.

At the end of the eight sessions, the intervention was associated with significant increases in the students' life satisfaction, as well as a significant decrease in depression and anxiety, when compared to students who did not participate in the training. There was also an overall drop in alcohol use between the students who took part in the mindfulness program and the control group.

"We offered an experiential, practice-oriented training," said Dvorakova. "Rather than telling the students what to do, we had them explore and talk about how to be mindful in their daily lives and discover the benefits for themselves. We found that underneath the stress that students are experiencing is a deep desire to appreciate life and feel meaningful connections with other people. It is our responsibility as educators to create academic environments that nurture both students' minds and hearts."

Dvorakova and Mark Agrusti, mindfulness and meditation integration specialist, Prevention Research Center, adapted the existing Learning to BREATHE program -- originally developed for adolescents by Patricia C. Broderick, research associate, Prevention Research Center -- for college students and called it Just BREATHE. The teachings in the eight sessions were themed around the BREATHE acronym: body, reflections, emotions (or awareness), attention, tenderness (or self-compassion), healthy habits and empowerment.

"The beginning of the college career presents such a unique opportunity -- all of these students are going through this same transition at the same time," said Agrusti. "These freshmen are beginning to acquire habits and perceptions that will shape their lives as students and adults, so it's a perfect time for them to discover practices, such as mindfulness, stress management, self-care and emotional literacy skills."

Fifty-two undergraduate students participated in the intervention, with another 53 serving as a control. The program included self-awareness practices, emotion-regulation skills and simple mindfulness techniques to help students manage stressful situations, the researchers said. The participants were also given cards and stickers for home practice to serve as reminders to use mindfulness techniques when they encounter stressful situations.

The students indicated that the three most effective in-class exercises were three mindful breaths, breath awareness and mindfulness of emotions. A total of 98 percent of the participants would recommend the program to friends and classmates.

According to the researchers, future studies might include adding more participants, scheduling long-term follow-ups and integrating mindfulness with academic lessons.

Science Daily/SOURCE :https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/04/170420090204.htm

Alternating skimpy sleep with sleep marathons hurts attention, creativity in young adults

April 24, 2017

Science Daily/Baylor University
Skimping on sleep, followed by 'catch-up' days with long snoozes, is tied to worse cognition -- both in attention and creativity -- in young adults, in particular those tackling major projects, researchers have found.

"The more variability they showed in their night-to-night sleep, the worse their cognition declined across the week," said study co-author Michael Scullin, Ph.D., director of Baylor's Sleep Neuroscience and Cognition Laboratory and assistant professor of psychology and neuroscience in Baylor's College of Arts & Sciences.

"When completing term projects, students restrict sleep, then rebound on sleep, then repeat," he said. "Major projects which call for numerous tasks and deadlines -- more so than for tests -- seem to contribute to sleep variability."

The study of interior design students is published online in the Journal of Interior Design. It also has implications for art, architecture, graphic design and other disciplines that use a model of design studio-based instruction, researchers said.

Interior design is "a strange culture, one where sleep deprivation is almost a badge of honor," said lead author Elise King, assistant professor of interior design in Baylor's Robbins College of Health and Human Sciences.

Staying up late to work on a project is not seen as procrastination but considered by some students and faculty members to be a tradition and a normal part of studio-based curricula to prepare them for their careers, she said.

"Since the general public still doesn't understand the profession of interior design, and mistakenly thinks we're the same as decorators, there is a sense that you want to work harder and prove them wrong," King said. "But recently, we've seen the consequences of that type of thinking: anxiety, depression and other mental health issues -- and also the dangers of driving while sleep deprived."

The study challenges a common myth -- that "the best design ideas only come in the middle of the night," King said. But researchers found the opposite -- that "consistent habits are at least as important as total length of sleep," Scullin said.

Irregular sleep is a negative for "executive attention" -- intense focus for planning, making decisions, correcting errors and dealing with novelty. Erratic sleep also has a negative effect on creativity, the study found.

The National Sleep Foundation recommends that young adults have seven to nine hours of sleep each day. But for the 28 interior design students in the Baylor study, sleep was short and fragmented. Only one participant slept seven hours or more nightly; 79 percent slept fewer than seven hours at least three nights during the week.

"Most students think they're getting about four more hours of sleep each week than they actually are," Scullin said.

"Projects are often lengthy, with final due dates looming weeks or months in the future," King said. "The stress of juggling several projects, each with multiple deadlines, is likely to contribute to students' tendency to cycle between several days of poor sleep leading up to a project due date, followed by a catch-up day with 10 or more sleep hours."

Researchers measured sleep patterns through actigraphy, with students wearing wristbands to track movement. Students also kept daily diaries on the quantity and quality of their sleep.

"The wristband is somewhat similar to Fitbit devices, but much more reliable in detection, including the many brief awakenings during sleep that affect sleep quality," Scullin said.

All participants completed two cognitive testing sessions for creativity and executive attention -- each about an hour long and in a laboratory. The sessions were done on the first and last day of the study at the same time of day.

"What we call 'creativity' is often people's ability to see the link between things that at first glance seem unrelated, and one of the tests taps into that ability," Scullin said.

An example: participants are given three words that are loosely connected -- such as "sore,"' "shoulder" and "sweat" -- and asked to figure out a fourth word that would connect them all.

"What first comes to mind are words related to exercise, but in this case, no single exercise word really works. Instead, the 'creative' and correct answer is 'cold,'" Scullin said.

Meanwhile, executive attention -- "working" memory -- enables people to hold memories for a short time while doing a separate task. In the study, participants completed a task in which they saw a grid with black and white squares.

"They had to decide very quickly whether that grid was symmetrical or not. Symmetry decisions by themselves are easy," Scullin said. "But after each decision, participants were shown a grid with one square highlighted in red. Then they made another symmetry decision, followed by a different square highlighted in red. They repeat that cycle up to five times before being asked to recall all the square locations in the correct order. It's very challenging to cycle between those two tasks and keep the square locations in mind."

Further investigation with a greater range of students across multiple studio-based majors and multiple universities would be valuable, researchers said.

"Interior design programs are changing," King said. "People are open to the conversation and willing to discuss ways to reduce that pressure on our students and encourage them to be healthier."
Science Daily/SOURCE :https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/04/170424101239.htm

Dad's involvement with baby early on associated with boost in mental development

May 9, 2017

Science Daily/Imperial College London
Fathers who interact more with their children in their first few months of life could have a positive impact on their baby’s cognitive development.

In a study, published in the Infant Mental Health Journal, researchers from Imperial College London, King's College London and Oxford University looked at how fathers interacted with their babies at three months of age and measured the infants' cognitive development more than a year later.

They found that babies whose fathers were more engaged and active when playing with them in their initial months performed better in cognitive tests at two years of age. The researchers say that while a number of factors are critical in a child's development, the relatively unexplored link between quality father-infant interactions at a young age may be an important one.

Professor Paul Ramchandani, from the Department of Medicine at Imperial and who led the research, said: "Even as early as three months, these father-child interactions can positively predict cognitive development almost two years later, so there's something probably quite meaningful for later development, and that really hasn't been shown much before."

In the study, researchers recorded video of parents interacting with their children, with mothers and fathers playing with their babies without toys, at three months, and then during a book-reading session at two years of age. The videos were then observed independently by trained researchers, with different researchers at three months and 24 months grading the fathers on their interactions.

At two years of age, they scored the baby's cognitive development using the standardised Bayley mental development index (MDI) -- which involved tasks such as recognising colours and shapes.

After analysing data for 128 fathers, and accounting for factors such as their income and age, they found a positive correlation between the degree to which dads engaged with their babies and how the children scored on the tests. Dads with more positive outlooks were also more likely to have babies who performed better on the MDI scales.

What's more, the positive link between involved dads and higher infant MDI scores were seen equally whether the child was a boy or a girl, countering the idea that play time with dad is more important for boys than girls, at an early age.

Dr Vaheshta Sethna from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King's College London, said: "We also found that children interacting with sensitive, calm and less anxious fathers during a book session at the age of two showed better cognitive development, including attention, problem-solving, language and social skills. This suggests that reading activities and educational references may support cognitive and learning development in these children."

Dr Sethna added: "Our findings highlight the importance of supporting fathers to interact more positively with their children in early infancy. Specifically, considering interventions which encourage increased father-infant engagement with shared positive emotions, and book sharing sessions supportive of cognitive development."

While the study provides a window into the effects of dad's involvement with baby, there were a number of limitations. Parents recruited to the study were drawn from a relatively well educated population. In addition, the measure of interactions were taken from relatively short videos, so may not represent how they interact in other situations.

The researchers are now working on a trial based on helping parents with their interactions with their children and then giving them positive feedback to help them deal with challenging behaviour.

Professor Ramchandani concluded: "For those fathers who are more engaged it may be that there is a lot more positive stuff going on in their lives generally. That might be the reason for the link, but we can't be sure of that. All we can say is that there is a signal here, and it seems to be an important one.

"The clear message for new fathers here is to get stuck in and play with your baby. Even when they're really young playing and interacting with them can have a positive effect."

Science Daily/SOURCE :https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/05/170509083936.htm

How listening to music in a group influences depression

May 24, 2017

Science Daily/Frontiers
New research takes a closer look at how music influences the mood in people suffering from depression, and examines what factors might affect whether listening to sad music in group settings provides social benefits for listeners, or if it rather reinforces depressive tendencies.

Listening to music together with others has many social benefits, including creating and strengthening interpersonal bonds. It has previously been shown that enjoying music in a group setting has an impact on social relationships, and that synchronizing with other group members to a beat influences how people behave to individuals both within and outside of the group. Similarly, the sharing of emotions has many social benefits as well: it helps us create and sustain relationships with others and to cement social bonds within a group, and it intensifies the potential for emotional responses. A question that still remains is whether sharing emotional and musical experiences with others might be a particularly powerful form of social bonding, and what the outcome of such an interaction might be.

In this study, published in Frontiers in Psychology, the researchers wanted to investigate the self-reported effects on mood that comes with listening to sad music in group settings, and how mood is influenced by rumination (a maladaptive focus on negative thoughts), depression, and coping style. To do so, they recruited 697 participants who completed an online survey about "their ways of using music, types of musical engagement and the effect of music listening." The participants also completed a number of additional questionnaires, which helped the researchers determine factors such as: the presence of symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress; general tendencies towards depression; coping styles, i.e. tendencies towards rumination or reflection (i.e. healthier tendencies to self-reflection); musical engagement as a measurement of wellbeing; as well as questionnaires addressing a variety of aspects of music listening, both alone and in a group. The results reveal two distinct behavioral patterns related to group music listening:

1. Listening to sad music and talking about sad things tended to make people feel more depressed after listening to music. This kind of group rumination was more common in younger people, and likely reflects relative importance of both music and social relationships to younger people.

2. Listening to inspiring music in a group and engaging in discussions about music and life is a more positive interaction that makes people feel good.

These results provide some clues as to how people with depression use music, and why. "Behaviors relating to music use fall into distinct patterns, reflecting either healthy or unhealthy thought processes," says Dr Sandra Garrido (corresponding author). "These results reveal important information about how people with depression use music." The results shine a light on how music can facilitate the sharing of negative emotions, and show that the outcome is related to the coping styles and thinking patterns used in each setting, meaning that people with generally maladaptive coping styles are more likely to experience negative outcomes from group rumination of music.

The results also show that young people may be especially vulnerable to the impacts of group rumination with music. "While young people with tendencies to depression who are a part of social groups may be perceived as receiving valuable social support, our results here suggest that the positive impacts of such group interactions depend on the types of processes that are taking place in the group," explains Dr Garrido. "Susceptible individuals with a predilection for rumination may be most likely to suffer negative outcomes from group rumination, with social feedback deepening and exacerbating negative thoughts and feelings. However, group interactions that provide social support or opportunities for processing of emotions in a constructive way have a much higher likelihood of being positive."

These findings partially help clarifying under what conditions social interaction around music provide social benefits, and when it might instead amplify negative emotions. This opens up for further research to create a more detailed picture of how group interaction dynamics influence the outcome.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/05/170524101507.htm

Sleep regularity is important for the happiness and well-being of college students

Study shows the importance of regular sleep patterns

June 5, 2017

Science Daily/American Academy of Sleep Medicine
Keeping a regular sleep pattern contributes to the happiness and well-being of college students.

Preliminary results from the "SNAPSHOT study," an NIH-funded collaborative research project between the Division of Sleep and Circadian Disorders at Brigham and Women's Hospital, and MIT Media Lab Affective Computing Group, suggest that keeping a regular sleep pattern contributes to the happiness and well-being of college students.

Results show that higher sleep regularity was significantly related to higher morning and evening happiness, healthiness and calmness during the week. Transitioning from an irregular weekly sleep pattern to a regular pattern also was associated with improved well-being, both during the week of regular sleep and on the day following it.

"We found that week-long irregular sleep schedules are significantly associated with lower self-reported morning and evening happiness, healthiness, and calmness during the week even after controlling for weekly average sleep duration," said lead author Akane Sano, PhD, research scientist in the Media Lab Affective Computing Group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge.

The analysis involved 204 college students between the ages of 18 and 25 years who participated in a 30-day field study. Sleep timing and duration were monitored using actigraphy, along with daily morning and evening Internet-based diaries. Self-reports of well-being (happiness, healthiness, and calmness) were collected using daily diaries.

"Irregular sleep-wake schedules are common in our modern society," said Sano. "Our results indicate the importance of sleep regularity, in addition to sleep duration, and that regular sleep is associated with improved well-being."

According to the authors, this study underlines the necessity of considering sleep regularity as an important factor for understanding self-reported well-being.

Science Daily/SOURCE :https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/06/170605085336.htm

Mindfulness meditation provides opioid-free pain relief

March 15, 2016

Science Daily/Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center
Everyone knows that stubbing your toe hurts. What makes it stop hurting is the body's main pain-blocking process -- the natural production of opioids.

Cognitive-based approaches found to reduce pain, such as hypnosis, acupuncture, distraction and even the placebo response, have been shown to work through this system. But does meditation also use opioids to reduce pain?

In a study published in the current issue of the Journal of Neuroscience, a team led by Fadel Zeidan, Ph.D., assistant professor of neurobiology and anatomy at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, reports that mindfulness meditation does not employ the endogenous opioid system to reduce pain.

"Our finding was surprising and could be important for the millions of chronic pain sufferers who are seeking a fast-acting, non-opiate-based therapy to alleviate their pain," Zeidan said.

The Institute of Medicine estimates that approximately 100 million Americans suffer from chronic pain at a cost of more than $600 billion annually for treatment. And due to the increase in the number of people addicted to opiate drugs, from prescription medications to heroin, the Centers for Disease Control has labeled the problem an epidemic.

To determine if meditation uses the body's opioids to reduce pain, the Wake Forest Baptist researchers injected study participants with either a drug called naloxone, which blocks the pain-reducing effects of opioids, or a saline placebo.

In this randomized, double-blinded study, 78 healthy, pain-free volunteers were divided into four groups for the four-day (20 minutes per day) trial. The groups consisted of: meditation plus naloxone; non-meditation control plus naloxone; meditation plus saline placebo; or non-meditation control plus saline placebo.

Pain was induced by using a thermal probe to heat a small area of the participants' skin to 49 degrees Centigrade (120.2 degrees Fahrenheit), a level of heat most people find very painful. Study participants rated their pain using a sliding scale.

Zeidan found that the participants' pain ratings were reduced by 24 percent from the baseline measurement in the meditation group that received the naloxone. This is important because it showed that even when the body's opioid receptors were chemically blocked, meditation still was able to significantly reduce pain by using a different pathway, he said. Pain ratings also were reduced by 21 percent in the meditation group that received the placebo-saline injection.

By comparison, the non-meditation control groups reported increases in pain regardless of whether they got the naloxone or placebo-saline injection.

"Our team has demonstrated across four separate studies that meditation, after a short training period, can reduce experimentally induced pain," Zeidan said. "And now this study shows that meditation doesn't work through the body's opioid system.

"This study adds to the growing body of evidence that something unique is happening with how meditation reduces pain. These findings are especially significant to those who have built up a tolerance to opiate-based drugs and are looking for a non-addictive way to reduce their pain."

The next step for Zeidan's team is to determine if and how mindfulness meditation can affect a spectrum of chronic pain conditions.

"At the very least, we believe that meditation could be used in conjunction with other traditional drug therapies to enhance pain relief without it producing the addictive side effects and other consequences that may arise from opiate drugs," he said.

Science Daily/SOURCE :https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/03/160315182706.htm

Use of mindfulness-based stress reduction for chronic low back pain

March 22, 2016
Science Daily/The JAMA Network Journals
Among adults with chronic low back pain, both mindfulness-based stress reduction and cognitive behavioral therapy resulted in greater improvement in back pain and functional limitations when compared with usual care, according to a study.

Low back pain is a leading cause of disability in the United States. There is need for treatments with demonstrated effectiveness that are low risk and have potential for widespread availability. Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) focuses on increasing awareness and acceptance of moment-to-moment experiences including physical discomfort and difficult emotions. Only 1 large randomized clinical trial has evaluated MBSR for chronic low back pain, and that trial was limited to older adults.

Daniel C. Cherkin, Ph.D., of Group Health Research Institute, Seattle, and colleagues randomly assigned 342 adults age 20 to 70 years with chronic low back pain to receive MBSR (n = 116), cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT; n = 113), or usual care (n = 113). CBT (training to change pain-related thoughts and behaviors) and MBSR (training in mindfulness meditation and yoga) were delivered in 8 weekly 2-hour groups. Usual care included whatever other treatment, if any, the participants received. The average age of the participants was 49 years; the average duration of back pain was 7.3 years.

The researchers found that at 26 weeks, the percentage of participants with clinically meaningful improvement on a measure of functional limitations was higher for those who received MBSR (61 percent) and CBT (58 percent) than for usual care (44 percent). The percentage of participants with clinically meaningful improvement in pain bothersomeness at 26 weeks was 44 percent in the MBSR group and 45 percent in the CBT group, vs 27 percent in the usual care group. Findings for MBSR persisted with little change at 52 weeks for both primary outcomes.

"The effects were moderate in size, which has been typical of evidence-based treatments recommended for chronic low back pain. These benefits are remarkable given that only 51 percent of those randomized to receive MBSR and 57 percent of those randomized to receive CBT attended at least 6 of the 8 sessions," the authors write.

"These findings suggest that MBSR may be an effective treatment option for patients with chronic low back pain."

Editorial: Is It Time to Make Mind-Body Approaches Available for Chronic Low Back Pain?

"Although understanding the specificity of treatment effects, mechanisms of action, and role of mediators are important issues for researchers, they are merely academic for many clinicians and their patients. For patients with chronic painful conditions, options are needed to help them live with less pain and disability now," write Madhav Goyal, M.D., M.P.H., and Jennifer A. Haythornthwaite, Ph.D., of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore.

"The challenge is how to ensure that these mind-body interventions are available, given the existing evidence demonstrating they may work for some patients with chronic low back pain. Most physicians encounter numerous obstacles finding appropriate referrals for mind-body therapies that their patients can access and afford. High-quality studies such as the clinical trial by Cherkin et al create a compelling argument for ensuring that an evidence-based health care system should provide access to affordable mind-body therapies."
Science Daily/SOURCE :https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/03/160322120023.htm

Brain changes seen in veterans with PTSD after mindfulness training

Surprising findings suggest promise of mind-body techniques; more study needed

April 1, 2016
Science Daily/University of Michigan Health System
Like an endlessly repeating video loop, horrible memories plague people with post-traumatic stress disorder. But a new study in veterans shows the promise of mindfulness training for enhancing the ability to manage those thoughts if they come up, and not get 'stuck'. It also shows the veterans' brains changed in ways that may help them find their own off switch for that endless loop.

But a new study in veterans with PTSD shows the promise of mindfulness training for enhancing the ability to manage those thoughts if they come up, and not get "stuck." Even more surprising, it actually shows the veterans' brains changed -- in ways that may help them find their own off switch for that endless loop.

The findings, published in Depression and Anxiety by a team from the University of Michigan Medical School and VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System, come from a study of 23 veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. All of them got some form of group therapy. After four months of weekly sessions, many reported that their PTSD symptoms eased up.

But only in those who got mindfulness training -- a mind-body technique that focuses on in-the-moment attention and awareness -- did the researchers see the brain changes that surprised even them.
Shifting brain connections

The changes showed up on functional MRI, or fMRI, brain scans that can visualize brain activity as different areas of the brain "talk" to one another through networks of connections between brain cells.

Before the mindfulness training, when the veterans were resting quietly, their brains had extra activity in regions involved in responding to threats or other outside problems. This is a sign of that endless loop of hypervigilance often seen in PTSD.

But after learning mindfulness, they developed stronger connections between two other brain networks: the one involved in our inner, sometimes meandering, thoughts, and the one involved in shifting and directing attention.

"The brain findings suggest that mindfulness training may have helped the veterans develop more capacity to shift their attention and get themselves out of being "stuck" in painful cycles of thoughts," says Anthony King, Ph.D., a U-M Department of Psychiatry researcher who led the new study in collaboration with VA psychologists.

"We're hopeful that this brain signature shows the potential of mindfulness to be helpful for managing PTSD for people who might initially decline therapy involving trauma processing," he adds. "We hope it may provide emotional regulation skills to help bring them to a place where they feel better able to process their traumas."

King, who has experience providing individual and group therapy for veterans from many conflicts, worked with a team of brain-imaging experts and PTSD specialists including senior author Israel Liberzon, M.D. They used an fMRI scanner at the VA Ann Arbor that's dedicated to research.

In all, 14 of the veterans finished the mindfulness sessions and completed follow-up fMRI scans, and 9 finished the comparison sessions and had scans. The small size of the group means the new results are only the start of an exploration of this issue, King says.

A palatable option

Before they launched the study, the researchers weren't sure that they could find enough veterans to try mindfulness-based training. After all, it has a reputation as an "alternative" approach and has a relationship to traditionally East and South Asian practices like meditation and yoga.

But in fact, more of the initial group of veterans stuck with mindfulness-based therapy sessions -- held each week for two hours with a trained mindfulness teacher and psychotherapist -- than made it all the way through the comparison psychotherapy group that didn't get mindfulness training.

"Once we explained the rationale behind mindfulness, which aims to ground and calm a person while also addressing mental phenomena, they were very interested and engaged -- more than we expected," says King. "The approach we took included standard elements of exposure therapy as well as mindfulness, to help lead veterans to be able to process the trauma itself."

The comparison group received a VA-developed intervention that was designed for "control group" use. It included problem-solving and group support but not mindfulness or exposure therapy.

The mindfulness group saw improvement in PTSD symptoms, in the form of decreased scores on a standard scale of PTSD severity, that was statistically significant and considered clinically meaningful, whereas the control group did not. However, the between-group effects in this small study were not considered statistically significant, and therefore King wants to explore the trend further in larger groups, and in civilians.

He emphasizes that people with PTSD should not see mindfulness alone as a potential solution for their symptoms, and that they should seek out providers trained specifically in PTSD care.

That's because mindfulness sessions can sometimes actually trigger symptoms such as intrusive thoughts to flare up. So, it is very important for people with PTSD to have help from a trained counselor to use mindfulness as part of their therapy for PTSD.

"Mindfulness can help people cope with and manage their trauma memories, explore their patterns of avoidance when confronting reminders of their trauma, and better understand their reactions to their symptoms," says King. "It helps them feel more grounded, and to notice that even very painful memories have a beginning, a middle and an end -- that they can become manageable and feel safer. It's hard work, but it can pay off."

Network shifts

At the start of the study, and in previous U-M/VA work, the fMRI scans of veterans with PTSD showed unusual activity. Even when they were asked to rest quietly and let their minds wander freely, they had high levels of activity in brain networks that govern reactions to salient, or meaningful, external signals such as threats or dangers. Meanwhile, the default mode network, involved in inwardly focused thinking and when the mind is wandering, was not as active in them.

But at the end of the mindfulness course, the default mode area was more active -- and showed increased connections to areas of the brain known as the executive network. This area gets involved in what scientists call volitional attentional shifting -- purposefully moving your attention to think about or act upon something.

Those with the greatest easing of symptoms had the largest increases in connections.

"We were surprised by the findings, because there is thinking that segregation between the default mode network and the salience network is good," says King. "But now we are hopeful that this brain signature of increased connection to areas associated with volitional attention shifting at rest may be helpful for managing PTSD, and may help patients have more capacity to help themselves get out of being stuck in painful ruts of trauma memories and rumination."

Science Daily/SOURCE :https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/04/160401073703.htm

Have trouble media multitasking? Mindfulness intervention helps sharpen focus

April 19, 2016

Science Daily/University of Wisconsin-Madison
People who often mix their media consumption -- texting while watching TV, or listening to music while reading -- are not known for being able to hold their attention on one task. But sharpening their focus may be as simple as breathing.
https://images.sciencedaily.com/2016/04/160419081758_1_540x360.jpg

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have shown that heavy media multitaskers benefited from a short meditation exercise in which they sat quietly counting their breaths.

"In general, people perform better after this mindfulness task," says Thomas Gorman, first author of the study, which was published April 18 by the journal Scientific Reports. "But we found a significant difference for heavy media multitaskers. They improved even more on tests of their attention."

Juggling the demands of competing media sources has grown increasingly common as music, video, news and messaging creep onto more devices and into more day-to-day activities.

"Many people have had the experience where they've felt a phantom phone ring or vibration in their pocket," says C. Shawn Green, UW-Madison psychology professor and senior author of the study. "That means part of your attention is actively monitoring your leg, even while you're trying to do other things."

The effect may be similar when working or studying on a computer also involves checking for incoming email or chat messages.

"Most of us who study media multitasking think that monitoring lots of sources constantly -- instead of devoting yourself to one thing --induces a more distributed attentional state," Green says.

Studies have shown that people who most often let several types of media overlap can be distracted in the moment, but also score poorly on tests that assess attention even when the media sources are absent. That's bad news for performance at school or work, for maintaining relationships and for general well-being.

Previous work by Daniel Levinson and his mentor Richard Davidson at UW-Madison's Center for Healthy Minds has shown that a number of benefits arise from a simple, guided online mindfulness meditation exercise in which participants repeatedly count groups of breaths -- nine inhales and exhales.

"We thought this mindfulness task might be particularly useful to media multitaskers because it is, conceptually, somewhat the opposite of media multitasking," Green says. "It's deep focus on a single thing, and that single thing is not actually very demanding of your attention."

Minds are bound to wander during the exercise, according to Gorman, and as such it requires active practice in adjusting and refocusing attention.

"No one can stay focused on it indefinitely," he says. "When you notice your attention slipping away, you bring it back over and over. You're practicing that skill, refocusing your attention."

Study participants -- comprising people who reported frequent media multitasking and those who rarely combine media -- spent parts of two days taking standard tests that measure their attention. On one day the attention tests were interspersed with Web browsing. On the other, each test was preceded by 10 minutes of the breath-counting exercise.

Heavy media multitaskers scored worse than light media multitaskers all around and both groups posted better attention scores right after counting breaths. Most critically, though, heavy multitaskers made greater strides than their low multitasker counterparts after breath counting.

"We know that the beneficial effects aren't long lasting in this case, as they didn't carry over across days," says Green. "However, one thing the presence of the short-term effects suggests is that the attentional system in heavy media multitaskers isn't intractably affected. It is possible for heavy media multitaskers to adopt a more focused attentional state."

Green and Gorman believe the results indicate the value of further exploring whether the approach can be modified to induce lasting improvements.

Science Daily/SOURCE :https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/04/160419081758.htm

Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy linked to reduced depressive relapse risk

Those who received MBCT, and in many cases tapered or discontinued antidepressant medication, were 23% less likely to relapse to major depression

April 27, 2016
Science Daily/University of Oxford
The largest meta-analysis so far of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) for recurrent depression has found that MBCT is an effective treatment option that can help prevent the recurrence of major depression. The study used anonymised individual patient data from nine randomized trials of MBCT.

Major depression is a significant public health problem. Without ongoing treatment, as many as four out of five people with depression relapse at some point. MBCT is a group-based psychological treatment that helps people change the way they think and feel about their experiences and learn skills that reduce the likelihood of further episodes of depression. This meta-analysis, included data from trials that compared MBCT to usual care as well as to other active treatments such as maintenance antidepressants -- the current mainstay approach to prevention of depressive relapse.

Across the nine trials, 38% of those who received MBCT had a depressive relapse within 60 weeks' follow-up, in contrast to 49% of those who did not receive MBCT. Taking the time to relapse into account, people who received MBCT were 31% less likely to relapse during the 60-week follow-up compared with those who did not receive MBCT.

The inclusion of individual patient data made it possible to demonstrate that a person's age, sex, level of education and the age at which they first became depressed did not significantly influence the effectiveness of MBCT, suggesting that this approach is useful for a broad range of people. Those people who experienced more symptoms of depression when they entered treatment tended to show greater benefits from MBCT compared with other treatments. Clinical trials systematically record the occurrence of adverse events and negative outcomes such as death or hospitalisation for any cause. The study found no evidence of adverse events associated with MBCT when delivered by well-trained teachers in a clinical context.

Four of the trials that contributed to the meta-analysis compared MBCT combined with continuation, tapering, or discontinuation of antidepressants to continued maintenance antidepressant treatment alone. Data from these trials showed that those who received MBCT, and in many cases tapered or discontinued antidepressant medication, were 23% less likely to relapse to major depression than those who continued on antidepressants and did not receive MBCT.

Reflecting on the findings, Richard Byng, Professor of Primary Care, University of Plymouth and one of the co-authors said

"While the evidence is from a relatively small number of trials, it is encouraging for patients and clinicians to have another option. There was insufficient data to examine which types of patient or context predict who would benefit most. This, along with varied individual study and wide combined study confidence intervals, means that clinicians need to be cautiously optimistic when tapering off antidepressant medication, and treat each patient as an individual who may or may not benefit from both MBCT and other effective treatments."

Lead author, Willem Kuyken, Professor of Clinical Psychology at the Oxford Mindfulness Centre said, "This new evidence for Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy, collated from individual patient data across nine randomised trials is very heartening. While MBCT is not a panacea, it does clearly offer those with a substantial history of depression a new approach to learning skills to stay well in the long-term. It offers people a safe and empowering treatment choice alongside other mainstay approaches such as cognitive-behavioural therapy and maintenance antidepressants. We need to do more research, however, to get recovery rates closer to 100% and to help prevent the first onset of depression, earlier in life. These are programmes of work we are pursuing at the University of Oxford and with our collaborators around the world."

Background Information

MBCT is a treatment developed to help people who have experienced repeated bouts of depression by teaching them the skills to recognise and to respond constructively to the thoughts and feelings associated with relapse, thereby preventing a downward spiral into depression. The MBCT course consists of guided mindfulness practices, group discussion and other cognitive behavioural exercises. Participants receiving MBCT typically attended eight 2-2.5 hour group sessions alongside daily home practice.

The nine trials contributing to the current study were conducted in the UK, Belgium, Canada, the Netherlands and Switzerland. The current analysis involved data from 1258 participants from these trials. In all the trials, MBCT was delivered according to the published treatment manual and all trials included people with a history of recurrent depression who were currently in full or partial remission from depression. In each trial, MBCT was compared to either usual care or a non-MBCT approach, typically maintenance anti-depressants. Only one trial compared MBCT to another psychological treatment.

An online blog " Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for recurrent depression: 'What do we know? What does it mean? Where to next?'" provides more detailed context and interpretation of this study and can be found at http://oxfordmindfulness.org. The blog provides more detail and interpretation of the key studies bearing on the question of MBCT's effectiveness, especially compared with the mainstay current approach -- maintenance anti-depressant treatment.
Science Daily/SOURCE :https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/04/160427150316.htm

Yoga, aquatic exercise can help combat MS symptoms

May 3, 2016
Science Daily/Universität Basel
Exercise can have a positive influence on certain symptoms of multiple sclerosis, say researchers. Patients who do yoga and aquatic exercise suffer less from fatigue, depression and paresthesia, as reported by researchers.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic progressive auto-immune disease in which the body's own immune system attacks the nervous tissue, potentially resulting in movement disorders. Other typical symptoms of MS include physical and mental fatigue as well as faintness, depression and paresthesia such as pins and needles, itchiness and numbness.

Increased risk of depression

In a random trial, researchers from Basel and Kermanshah (Iran) have now shown that these symptoms significantly improved after an eight-week program of yoga and aquatic exercise. In comparison to the control group, fatigue, depression and paresthesia were significantly reduced in patients who took part in a three-times weekly training program. In the non-exercising group, the likelihood of moderate to severe depression was 35-fold higher than in the groups who had done yoga or aquatic exercise.

Fifty-four women with MS and an average age of 34 were assigned to one of three groups: yoga, aquatic exercise or no exercise. Before and after the trial, patients were asked to complete a questionnaire about their symptoms. All patients continued with their existing treatment, including any medication taken to regulate the immune system.

Exercise as a complementary therapy

"Exercise training programs should be considered in the future as possible complements to standard MS treatments," write the researchers. Researchers from the Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences in Iran, the Psychiatric University Clinics (UPK Basel, Center for Affective, Stress and Sleep Disorders) and the University of Basel's Department of Sport, Exercise and Health took part in the study.

Science Daily/SOURCE :https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/05/160503072414.htm

Body-mind meditation can boost attention and health, lower stress

July 18, 2016

Science Daily/Texas Tech University
Meditation has long been promoted as a way to feel more at peace. But research shows it can significantly improve attention, working memory, creativity, immune function, emotional regulation, self-control, cognitive and school performance and healthy habits while reducing stress.

Yi-Yuan Tang, the presidential endowed chair in neuroscience and a professor in the Department of Psychological Sciences, has developed a novel method of mindfulness meditation called Integrative Body-Mind Training (IBMT).

"Meditation encompasses a family of complex practices that includes mindfulness meditation, mantra meditation, yoga, tai chi and chi gong," Tang said. "Of these practices, mindfulness meditation -- often described as nonjudgmental attention to present-moment experiences -- has received most attention in neuroscience research over the past two decades. For example, when we observe our thoughts or emotions in the mind, we are often involved in them. With IBMT practice, you distance your thoughts or emotions and realize they are not you, then you see the reality in an insightful and different way. Mindfulness helps you be aware of these mental processes at the present, and you just observe without judgment of these activities."

IBMT avoids struggles to control thought, relying instead on a state of restful alertness that allows for a high degree of body-mind awareness while receiving instructions from a qualified coach, who provides body-adjustment guidance, mental imagery and other techniques while soothing music plays in the background. Thought control is achieved gradually through posture, relaxation, body-mind harmony and balance.

"IBMT works by brain (central nervous system) and body (autonomic nervous system) interaction -- IBMT coaches help participants to change both body and mind states to achieve a meditative state; this is why participating in just five 20-minute sessions of IBMT has shown increased attention, relaxation, calmness, body-mind awareness and brain activity," Tang said. "Most participants notice a significant decrease in daily stress, anxiety, depression, anger and fatigue. Additionally, IBMT participants show an overall improvement in emotional and cognitive performance as well as improved social behavior."

Tang says the specific parts of the brain most affected by IBMT -- the anterior cingulate cortex and adjacent medial prefrontal cortex -- are mainly involved in self-control ability.

"Deficits in self-control have been shown in mental disorders such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, addictions, mood disorders and post-traumatic stress disorder," Tang said. "Since IBMT could improve self-control effectively, it may help prevent and treat mental disorders. In the education field, since IBMT improves attention, cognitive performance and self-control, it could help those with ADHD or learning difficulties to improve academic performance and school behavior."

The next step in Tang's research will be to conduct large-scale longitudinal studies to more fully understand brain-body mechanisms of mindfulness and their applications.

Science Daily/SOURCE :https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/07/160718112531.htm

Mindfulness combats depression for disadvantaged black women

Participants learn to handle daily stresses and gain more control through yoga, breathing, body scans

August 15, 2016

Science Daily/Northwestern University
Eight weeks of mindfulness training helped alleviate depressive symptoms and reduce stress in African-American women with lower socio-economic status, providing an effective alternative to more conventional treatment, report scientists.

African-American women with lower socio-economic status have an increased risk of depressive disorders, yet they rarely seek out antidepressants or psychotherapy because of negative attitudes and stigma associated with conventional mental health treatments.

A new pilot Northwestern Medicine study showed that eight weeks of mindfulness training helped alleviate their depressive symptoms and reduce stress, providing an effective alternative to more conventional treatment.

"Many women are in need of help with their depression and coping with daily life, but they don't seek it out because of limited access to high-quality mental health services and the stigma within their families and communities," said the study's principal investigator Inger Burnett-Zeigler, assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. "Our study shows that there are alternatives to traditional mental health treatment, such as mind-body approaches, that effectively alleviate symptoms and can be done autonomously in the comfort of their own home."

Over the course of the 16-week study, the average depressive symptoms and stress scores decreased across the 31 participants. They also reported an increase in well-being and were able to recognize stressful triggers in their lives, notice how their bodies react to triggers and learn how to gain more control over their physiological responses to stress.

"It felt good to be in control of my emotions for the first time in my life," one participant said. Another said, "We are always superwomen [and] we have to be able to do everything, and that brings out a lot of stress. ...This helped me to reorganize and put [these stressful events] in the proper perspective and understand I have an opportunity to learn how to calm myself down and recognize what is going on."

The study, which was published in Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice Aug. 13, is the first to examine the effectiveness of mindfulness-based interventions to combat depression among disadvantaged women in a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC), which provides comprehensive community-based medical care to low-income individuals.

Burnett-Zeigler and her co-authors recruited women from the Komed Holman Health Center, an FQHC on Chicago's South Side. At the time of recruitment, 91 percent of the women at the center were eligible for the study, which demonstrates the high level of mental health need among adult women in the FQHC. Thirty-one women ended up participating in the study.

Burnett-Zeigler said there is great potential to expand mindfulness-based interventions nationally based on this growing need to provide low-cost, effective mental health services in community-based settings. Her future studies aim to examine the feasibility of national implementation and dissemination.

The mindfulness techniques Burnett-Zeigler teaches include sitting meditation, yoga, mental body scans and taking a mindful pause to be in the moment. Patients are encouraged to increase their awareness of everyday activities, such as taking a shower or drinking a cup of coffee.

"These practices help them take a step back and live in the moment versus worrying about what's already happened or what's to come," Burnett-Zeigler said. "People who are depressed or who have depressive symptoms often have tunnel vision, whereby they're only seeing information in the environment that supports their negative beliefs."

Study participants also were encouraged to engage in daily practice at home, in addition to the guided sessions in the clinic. On average, participants practiced meditation, yoga and mental body scans four days per week and spent an average of 2.5 hours practicing a week.

Before participating in the study, 45 percent of the women reported no prior experience with meditation, and 71 percent reported no past experience with yoga. All of the women who participated in the study reported symptoms of depression, however 87 percent had not received any mental health treatment in the past year.

Science Daily/SOURCE :https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/08/160815185922.htm

Spiritual meditation plus medication: Best medicine for migraines ?

September 2, 2016

Science Daily/Taylor & Francis
"Effect of Different Meditation Types on Migraine Headache Medication Use," an article recently published in Behavioral Medicine, examines whether or not, and to what extent, a combination of spiritual meditation and migraine medication affects analgesic medication usage.

A wide variety of pharmacological interventions such as opiates, benzodiazepines, and prophylactic medications have been described that offer partial relief to migraine sufferers. Reviews have also described a variety of empirically supported non-pharmacological approaches to preventing or stopping headaches. Recent randomized controlled trials have demonstrated the efficacy of meditation-based interventions as a treatment for headache pain. 

Though spiritual meditation has been found to reduce the frequency of migraines and physiological reactivity to stress, little is known about how introducing a spirituality component into a meditation intervention impacts use of analgesic medicine. The results from the study support previous research suggesting that spiritual meditation may be more effective for pain tolerance and migraine coping than non-spiritual meditation alternatives.

In this study, 92 meditation-naïve participants with frequent migraines (>2 per month) were randomly assigned to one of four groups that used a meditation phrase or technique: (1) Spiritual Meditation (exp. "God is love"), (2) Internally Focused Secular Meditation (exp. "I am content"), (3) Externally Focused Secular Meditation (exp. "Sand is soft,"), or (4) Progressive Muscle Relaxation (technique). Then, the participants practiced their assigned meditation technique for 20 minutes per day over 30 days while completing daily headache diaries. 

Headache frequency, headache severity, and pain medication use were recorded and assessed. Migraine frequency decreased significantly in the Spiritual Meditation group compared to other groups. Headache severity ratings did not differ across groups. All four groups showed decreased analgesic medication use over time -- however, medication usage for migraine headaches had a sharper decline in the Spiritual Meditation group compared to other groups.

Science Daily/SOURCE :https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/09/160902125336.htm

Got mindfulness? Seven key steps for purposeful daily living

October 13, 2016

Science Daily/New York Institute of Technology
An expert offers tips for living a purposeful life in a new article. The piece reflects on the practices of meditation, movement, management, maximization, meaningfulness and mentoring.

It's one of the seven key steps to purposeful daily living, says occupational therapist Dr. Melanie Austin-McCain.

"Be present, smile, humble yourself, and acknowledge others," says Austin-McCain, an assistant professor at New York Institute of Technology School of Health Professions, describing how to be mindful in a world where we often spend more time looking at our phones than those around us. "With mindfulness, you're really in the present and focusing on your senses and your experiences -- what you are feeling, thinking, and doing."

Austin-McCain, who also serves an associate with NYIT's Center for Sports Medicine, says research shows that having healthy daily routines and a purpose in life (beyond short-term goals like finishing school or completing a project) contribute to wellness and may help you live a longer, more positive life.

"Evidence shows that having a purpose in life is helpful in promoting health and preventing chronic disease," says Austin-McCain. "It's about finding out about who you are, the things you like do and that are meaningful for you and setting goals that align with those things."

Austin-McCain, who has presented community workshops on the topic, offers other purposeful living steps and ways to incorporate them in your life:

Meditation -- Don't set a goal of 30 minutes to meditate, McCain advises. Instead, aim for short periods of stillness, where you can visualize goals and set daily intentions

Movement -- Stretch your mind and body, says McCain. Find ways to stay active, engaged, and moving. Commit yourself to thinking things through, exploring new ideas, coming up with different strategies to approach challenges, and trying new things.

Management -- McCain advises people adopt a personal management role. "Be the CEO of your life," she says. That might mean performing a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis of your life, decluttering your desk and living space, or meal planning that makes it easier to choose healthy foods.

Maximization -- Adopt a "future is mine" mindset, where challenges are opportunities and you see your potential as well as the potential in others.

Meaningfulness -- Acknowledge those who support you and seek joy and happiness in the things you choose to do. "Meaningfulness is more like gratitude -- awareness and appreciation of the things around you."

Mentoring -- McCain says mentoring goes both ways: it's best to seek mentors for various aspects of your life (professional, personal) and to serve as a mentor to others, providing support and wisdom.

Science Daily/SOURCE :https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/10/161013103124.htm