Holzel Et Al (results, conclusions)

Question 1

Result: Amount of mindfulness practice (total)

Answer 1

• Pptts spent an average of 27 minutes per day on mindfulness HW during the course

Question 2

On avergae, How much time did ppts spend om mindfulness HW during the course?

Answer 2

• 27 mins per day

Question 3

How long did pptts spend on the body scan practice?

Answer 3

• Mean of 699 minutes

Question 4

How much did ppts spend on the mindful yoga practice?

Answer 4

Mean of 327 minutes

Question 5

How long did ppts spend on the sitting meditation practice?

Answer 5

• Mean of 332 minutes

Question 6

Results: The 3 mindfulness exercises (correlations)

Answer 6

• Non of the 3 measures were significantly correlated

Question 7

Results: Improvement in mindfulness

Answer 7

Ppts in the experimental group:
* Significantly increased their mindfulness scores on 3 subscales
* Which was significantly greater than the controls
* Acting with awareness, observing, non-judging

Question 8

Results: Grey matter changes in the regions of interest

Answer 8

• There was a small cluster in the left hippocampus which increased in grey matter concentration (1% increase vs 0.001% for control)
• Changes were not found for the bilateral insulae
• Confirming that structural changes in this region are detetctable post-program
• This change did NOT correlate with the amount of completed HW or FFMQ score changes

Question 9

Results: Exploratory analysis of the entire brain:

Answer 9

• 4 clusters significantly increased in grey matter (compared to PRE treatment)
  The 4 clusters/areas were:
• Posterior cingulate cortex (1%)
• Left temporo-parietal junction (0.7%)
• Lateral cerebellum (0.15%)
• Cerebullum vermis (0.14%)
• Did not correlate with amount of completed HW or FFMQ score changes

Question 10

Name the 4 clusters that significantly increased in grey matter post treatment?

Answer 10

• Posterior cingulate cortex
• Left temporo-parietal junction
• Lateral cerebellum
• Cerebullum vermis

Question 11

What is the role of the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC)?

Answer 11

• Has a role on the how we judge the revelance of stimuli (to ourselves)
• Links to observing (noticing external/internal stimuli)

E.G Assessing how important an experience is to our emotional/autobiograhical context

Question 12

What is the role of the Left temporo-parietal junction? (TJP)

Answer 12

• Plays a role in how we see ourselves
• Or ‘Self referencial processing’
• When the TJP is impaired this self-referencial porcessing system can become faulty and lead to out-of-of body experinces
• Links to mindfulness training to see the body as a complete whole

Question 13

What happens when the Left Temporo-parietal junction (TJP) becomes faulty?

Answer 13

• When the TJP is impaired this self-referencial porcessing system can become faulty and lead to out-of-of body experinces

Question 14

What is the role of the cerebellum?

Answer 14

• Regulating emotions and cognitions

Question 15

Role of the lateral cerebullum

Answer 15

• involved in planning movements and motor learning.

Question 16

Role of the Cerebellum Vermis

Answer 16

• involved in cardiovascular regulation
• during movement and posture changes.

Question 17

Ppts in the experimental group significantly increased their mindfulness scores on 3 subscales; Acting with awareness, observing, non-judging which was significantly greater than the controls. Conclusions?

Answer 17

• The results suggest that mindfulness can help people to gain a greater sense of wellbeing and experience more positive psychological feelings.

Question 18

There was a small cluster in the left hippocampus which increased in grey matter concentration (1% increase vs 0.001% for control). Conclusions?

Answer 18

• The results suggest that as the hippocampus plays a role in learning and memory
• that mindfulness can be a learning experience that changes the volume of the hippocampal grey matter.

Question 19

Exploratory analysis of the entire brain revealed four clusters with significantly greater grey matter concentration after the course compared to before in the MBSR group. Conclusions?

Answer 19

• The results suggest that particpation in an 8 week mindfulness course casues structural changes in these brain regions
• Thus, the adult nervous system has the capacity for plasticity,
• and the structure of the brain can change in response to training.