Meditation attenuates default-mode activity : A pilot study using ultra-high field 7 Tesla MRI

Objective: Mapping the neurobiology of meditation using 3 Tesla functional MRI (fMRI) has burgeoned recently. However, limitations in signal quality and neuroanatomical resolution have impacted reliability and precision of extant findings. Although ultra-high strength 7 Tesla MRI overcomes these limitations, investigation of meditation using 7 Tesla fMRI is still in its infancy. Methods: In this feasibility study, we scanned 10 individuals who were beginner meditators using 7 Tesla fMRI while they performed focused attention meditation and non-focused rest. We also measured and adjusted the fMRI signal for key physiological differences between meditation and rest. Finally, we explored the 2-week impact of the single fMRI meditation session on mindfulness, anxiety and focused attention attributes. Results: Group-level task fMRI analyses revealed significant reductions in activity during meditation relative to rest in Default-mode network hubs, i.e., antero-medial prefrontal and posterior cingulate cortices, precuneus, as well as visual and thalamic regions. These findings survived stringent statistical corrections for fluctuations in physiological responses which demonstrated significant differences (p < 0.05/n, Bonferroni controlled) between meditation and rest. Compared to baseline, State Mindfulness Scale (SMS) scores were significantly elevated (F = 8.16, p<0.05/n, Bonferroni controlled) following the fMRI meditation session, and were closely maintained at 2-week follow up. Conclusions: This pilot study establishes the feasibility and utility of investigating focused attention meditation using ultra-high strength (7 Tesla) fMRI, by supporting widespread evidence that focused attention meditation attenuates Default-mode activity responsible for self-referential processing. Future functional neuroimaging studies of meditation should control for physiological confounds and include behavioural assessments

Examination of self patterns:framing an alternative phenomenological interview for use in mental health research and clinical practice

Mental disorders are increasingly understood as involving complex alterations of self that emerge from dynamical interactions of constituent elements, including cognitive, bodily, affective, social, narrative, cultural and normative aspects and processes. An account of self that supports this view is the pattern theory of self (PTS). The PTS is a non-reductive account of the self, consistent with both embodied-enactive cognition and phenomenological psychopathology; it foregrounds the multi-dimensionality of subjects, stressing situated embodiment and intersubjective processes in the formation of the self-pattern. Indications in the literature already demonstrate the viability of the PTS for formulating an alternative methodology to better understand the lived experience of those suffering mental disorders and to guide mental health research more generally. This article develops a flexible methodological framework that front-loads the self-pattern into a minimally structured phenomenological interview. We call this framework ‘Examination of Self Patterns’ (ESP). The ESP is unconstrained by internalist or externalist assumptions about mind and is flexibly guided by person-specific interpretations rather than pre-determined diagnostic categories. We suggest this approach is advantageous for tackling the inherent complexity of mental health, the clinical protocols and the requirements of research

Development and psychometric validation of the mental health-related barriers and benefits to EXercise (MEX) scale in healthy adults

Background: Physical exercise has been shown to reduce anxiety and depression symptoms, the most common mental health disorders globally. Despite the benefits of exercise in anxiety and depression, the symptoms of these disorders may directly contribute to a lack of engagement with exercise. However, mental health-related barriers and benefits to exercise engagement have not been addressed in quantitative research. We introduce the development and psychometric validation of the Mental health-related barriers and benefits to EXercise (MEX) scale. Methods: Three samples were collected online prospectively (sample 1 n = 492; sample 2 n = 302; sample 3 n = 303) for scale refinement and validation with exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. All participants were generally healthy adults, aged 18–45, and had no history of severe mental illness requiring hospitalization and no physical disability impacting over 50% of daily function. Results: We identified a 30-item, two-factor model comprising 15 barrier and 15 benefit items. Overall model fit was excellent for an item-level scale across the three samples (Comparative Fit Index = 0.935–0.951; Root-Mean-Square Error of Approximation = 0.037–0.039). Internal consistency was also excellent across the three samples (α = 0.900–0.951). The barriers subscale was positively correlated with symptoms of anxiety, depression and stress, and negatively correlated with measures of physical activity and exercise engagement. The benefits subscale was negatively correlated with symptoms of anxiety, depression and stress, and positively correlated with measures of physical activity and exercise engagement. Conclusion: The MEX is a novel, psychometrically robust scale, which is appropriate for research and for clinical use to ascertain individual and/or group level mental health-related barriers and benefits to exercise

Functional Neural Correlates of Attentional Deficits in Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment

Although amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI; often considered a prodromal phase of Alzheimer’s disease, AD) is most recognized by its implications for decline in memory function, research suggests that deficits in attention are present early in aMCI and may be predictive of progression to AD. The present study used functional magnetic resonance imaging to examine differences in the brain during the attention network test between 8 individuals with aMCI and 8 neurologically healthy, demographically matched controls. While there were no significant behavioral differences between groups for the alerting and orienting functions, patients with aMCI showed more activity in neural regions typically associated with the networks subserving these functions (e.g., temporoparietal junction and posterior parietal regions, respectively). More importantly, there were both behavioral (i.e., greater conflict effect) and corresponding neural deficits in executive control (e.g., less activation in the prefrontal and anterior cingulate cortices). Although based on a small number of patients, our findings suggest that deficits of attention, especially the executive control of attention, may significantly contribute to the behavioral and cognitive deficits of aMCI

Gene expression plasticity across hosts of an invasive scale insect species

For plant-eating insects, we still have only a nascent understanding of the genetic basis of host-use promiscuity. Here, to improve that situation, we investigated host-induced gene expression plasticity in the invasive lobate lac scale insect, Paratachardina pseudolobata (Hemiptera: Keriidae). We were particularly interested in the differential expression of detoxification and effector genes, which are thought to be critical for overcoming a plant's chemical defenses. We collected RNA samples from P. pseudolobata on three different host plant species, assembled transcriptomes de novo, and identified transcripts with significant host-induced gene expression changes. Gene expression plasticity was pervasive, but the expression of most detoxification and effector genes was insensitive to the host environment. Nevertheless, some types of detoxification genes were more differentially expressed than expected by chance. Moreover, we found evidence of a trade-off between expression of genes involved in primary and secondary metabolism; hosts that induced lower expression of genes for detoxification induced higher expression of genes for growth. Our findings are largely consonant with those of several recently published studies of other plant-eating insect species. Thus, across plant-eating insect species, there may be a common set of gene expression changes that enable host-use promiscuity

The mental health-related barriers and benefits to exercise in adults with and without chronic pain

Background: Qualitative evidence points to the importance of both mental health-related barriers and benefits to exercise in chronic pain, yet this bidirectional relationship has not been established quantitatively. Methods: 89 adults with chronic pain (75 female, Age: M = 34.7, SD=13.2), and 89 demographically-matched individuals without chronic pain (73 female, Age: M = 32.0, SD=13.3) self-reported demographic and health information, mental health-related barriers and benefits to exercise, and leisure-time exercise activity. Results: Adults with chronic pain had significantly higher scores on mental health-related barriers to exercise, and lower leisure-time exercise participation than adults without chronic pain. The groups did not differ on mental health-related benefits of exercise scores. Benefits scores positively predicted exercise, yet there was a significant negative interaction between pain and benefit scores, indicating a weaker positive relationship between benefits and exercise for adults with chronic pain than for those without chronic pain. Barrier scores significantly negatively predicted exercise engagement, but did not interact significantly with chronic pain. Conclusion: Mental health-related barriers and benefits to exercise are important considerations when prescribing exercise for adults with chronic pain. Adults with chronic pain may require individualised support to address mental health-related barriers to leisure-time exercise

The Robo-AO-2 facility for rapid visible/near-infrared AO imaging and the demonstration of hybrid techniques

We are building a next-generation laser adaptive optics system, Robo-AO-2, for the UH 2.2-m telescope that will deliver robotic, diffraction-limited observations at visible and near-infrared wavelengths in unprecedented numbers. The superior Maunakea observing site, expanded spectral range and rapid response to high-priority events represent a significant advance over the prototype. Robo-AO-2 will include a new reconfigurable natural guide star sensor for exquisite wavefront correction on bright targets and the demonstration of potentially transformative hybrid AO techniques that promise to extend the faintness limit on current and future exoplanet adaptive optics systems.Comment: 15 page

A Framework for the Empirical Investigation of Mindfulness Meditative Development

Millions of people globally have learned mindfulness meditation with the goal of improving health and well-being outcomes in both clinical and non-clinical contexts. An estimated half of these practitioners follow mindfulness teachers’ recommendations to continue regular meditation after completion of initial instruction, but it is unclear whether benefits are strengthened by regular practice and whether harm can occur. Increasing evidence shows a wide range of experiences that can arise with regular mindfulness meditation, from profoundly positive to challenging and potentially harmful. Initial research suggests that complex interactions and temporal sequences may explain these experiential phenomena and their relations to health and well-being. We believe further study of the effects of mindfulness meditation is urgently needed to better understand the benefits and challenges of continued practice after initial instructions. Effects may vary systematically over time due to factors such as initial dosage, accumulation of ongoing practice, developing skill of the meditator, and complex interactions with the subjects’ past experiences and present environment. We propose that framing mindfulness meditation experiences and any associated health and well-being benefits within integrated longitudinal models may be more illuminating than treating them as discrete, unrelated events. We call for ontologically agnostic, collaborative, and interdisciplinary research to study the effects of continued mindfulness meditation and their contexts, advancing the view that practical information found within religious and spiritual contemplative traditions can serve to develop initial theories and scientifically falsifiable hypotheses. Such investigation could inform safer and more effective applications of mindfulness meditation training for improving health and well-being