Previous research links contemplative practices, such as meditation, with stress reduction. However, little is known about the psychological mechanisms underlying this relationship. This study compares the physiological stress response (reactivity and recovery) measured by changes in salivary cortisol, heart rate, heart rate variability, and the associated stress-related ratings in long-term meditation practitioners (N = 29) and age- and sex- matched meditation naïve controls (N = 26). The participants were administered the Trier Social Stress Test in its active and placebo versions. The results demonstrated that long-term meditation practitioners had faster cortisol recovery from stress, and experienced less shame and higher self-esteem after the exposure to social-evaluative threat. In addition, long-term meditation practitioners scored higher on adaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies, such as acceptance and positive reappraisal, and lower on maladaptive ones, such as catastrophizing. The cognitive emotion regulation strategy of acceptance mediated the relationship between meditation practice and cortisol recovery. These results suggest that meditation practice is associated with faster recovery from stress due to the employment of adaptive emotion regulation strategy of acceptance, delineating a pathway underlying the positive effects of meditation on stress.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
---|---|
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2019.02.026 | DOI Listing |
Healthcare (Basel)
January 2025
School of Health Sciences, Western Sydney University, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith, NSW 2751, Australia.
: Academic libraries offer a range of activities and initiatives for their students and community users. However, wellbeing, as a concept in academic libraries, is not very well defined and is poorly understood. The objective of this scoping review was to examine the role of academic libraries in student and community wellbeing, identify the various kinds of activities and initiatives that they carry out to address their wellbeing, and uncover gaps that might require further research.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFront Hum Neurosci
January 2025
School of Therapy, Counseling and Human Development, Faculty of Education, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel.
Interest has been growing in the use of mindfulness meditation (MM) as a therapeutic practice, as accumulating evidence highlights its potential to effectively address a range of mental conditions. While many fMRI studies focused on neural activation and functional connectivity during meditation, the impact of long-term MM practice on spontaneous brain activity, and on the expression of resting state networks over time, remains unclear. Here, intrinsic functional network dynamics were compared between experienced meditators and meditation-naïve participants during rest.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNutr Metab (Lond)
January 2025
Shenzhen Center for Chronic Disease Control, No. 2021 Buxin Road, Luohu District, Shenzhen, 518020, China.
Background: Serum vitamin D deficiency is intricately linked to metabolic disorders, however, evidence on its association with continuous metabolic risk in children and adolescents remains insufficient. This study aims to elucidate the relationship between serum vitamin D levels and continuous metabolic risk.
Methods: The cross-sectional analysis involved 4490 participants aged 6 ~ 18, and the longitudinal investigation included 1398 individuals aged 6 ~ 12 years.
Brain Sci
November 2024
Edmond Safra Brain Research Center, Faculty of Education, University of Haifa, Haifa 3498838, Israel.
Background: In the last decade, empirical studies on the beneficial effects of meditation on prosocial capacities have accumulated, but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Buddhist sources state that liberating oneself from a fixed view of the self by gaining access to its transitory and malleable nature leads to increased compassion and other prosocial traits. These, however, have not yet been empirically tested.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCureus
December 2024
General Medicine, Kalinga Institute of Medical Sciences, Bhubaneswar, IND.
Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!