Ihre Suche

(1) Background: Mind-body interventions (MBI), such as meditation or other relaxation techniques, have become the focus of attention in the clinical and health sciences. Differences in the effects of induction techniques are being increasingly investigated. (2) Methods: Here, we compared changes in the individual experience of time, space, and self in 44 students in an integrative health-promotion program. They participated in a study employing mindfulness meditation and a relaxation intervention with one week between sessions, thus employing a within-subjects design. (3) Results: No significant differences were detected when subjective reports were compared directly after each intervention. However, we found significant sequence effects between t1 and t2, independent of the meditation type. The sense of self diminished, the present orientation increased, and the past and future orientations decreased in both interventions. (4) Conclusions: We propose using scales to assess subjective time, self, and space as basic constituents of experience to measure the specificity of intervention methods, as well as longitudinal changes.

This study is based on the relationship between meditation, the present moment, and psychophysiology. We employed the metronome task to operationalize the extension of the present moment. A pre-post longitudinal study was conducted. The performance in the metronome task was compared before and after the interventions (meditation, story). The aim was to assess whether physiological changes (heart, breathing) during meditation influence the temporal-integration (TI) of metronome beats. Mindfulness meditators either meditated (n = 41) or listened to a story (n = 43). The heart and breathing activity were recorded during the intervention and compared to a resting-state condition. By applying path analyses we found that meditation led to an increase of the duration of integration intervals at the slowest metronome frequency (inter-stimulus interval, ISI = 3 s). After meditation, the higher the heart-rate variability (i.e., the root mean square of successive differences, RMSSD), the longer the duration of integration intervals at the fastest frequency (ISI = 0.33 s). Moreover, the higher the breathing rate during meditation, the greater the integration of intervals at ISI = 1 s. These findings add evidence to meditation-induced changes on the TI of metronome beats and the concept of the embodiment of mental functioning.

Several studies investigating psychophysiological correlates of false memories suggest that psychophysiology may provide incremental information to subjectively reported memory. Based on previous findings in a Deese-Roediger-McDermott paradigm, we examined three components of event-related EEG potentials of memory in a misleading information paradigm. 39 participants watched a video that included eight randomized details (e.g., the color of an envelope). After a retention interval of one week, four out of eight details were replaced by misleading details in a narrative text. Afterward, EEG was derived during a recognition test. First, we found that the amplitude at parietal electrodes did not differ between true and false memories. Instead, parietal positivity was more pronounced during yes- compared to no-responses, indicating parietal positivity reflects subjectively reported memory. Second, we found more positive frontal amplitudes associated with false compared to true memories in late time windows. Consequently, our findings indicate that false memories differ from true memories with respect to late frontal activation. In conclusion, we assume that parietal positivity reflects subjectively experienced memory, whereas late frontal activation holds incremental information to the subjectively experienced and reported memory.

The Concealed Information Test (CIT) is a valid method to detect hidden knowledge by means of psychophysiological measures. Concealing information is always a social behavior; yet, the role of social aspects has barely been investigated in recent CIT research favoring standardized, computer-based experiments. Evaluative observation is known to influence social behavior as well as physiological measures; examining the impact of evaluative observation on physiological responding in a CIT is the aim of this study. Sixty-three students completed a mock-crime and then underwent a CIT. In a between-subjects manipulation, half of the participants were observed through a camera and were faced with the real-time video of the experimenter watching them while completing the CIT. The other half completed the CIT without observation and video. Electrodermal activity, respiration line length, phasic heart rate, and finger pulse waveform length were registered. A specific questionnaire captured the individual fear of negative evaluation. Typical differential CIT responses occurred in both groups and with each measure. Contrary to expectations, differential CIT responses did not differ between groups. No modulatory influence of the fear questionnaire score on physiological responding was found. A ceiling effect, involving high attention and high motivation to avoid detection as well as high arousal in both groups due to the CIT procedure per se is discussed as explanation for these results, while the independence of the orienting reflex of social and motivational influence appears less likely in the light of previous literature.

During the observation of an ambiguous figure our perception alternates between mutually exclusive interpretations, although the stimulus itself remains unchanged. The rate of these endogenous reversals has been discussed as reflecting basic aspects of endogenous brain dynamics. Recent evidence indicates that extensive meditation practice evokes long-term functional and anatomic changes in the brain, also affecting the endogenous brain dynamics. As one of several consequences the rate of perceptual reversals during ambiguous figure perception decreases. In the present study we compared EEG-correlates of endogenous reversals of ambiguous figures between meditators and non-meditating controls in order to better understand timing and brain locations of this altered endogenous brain dynamics. A well-established EEG paradigm was used to measure the neural processes underlying endogenous perceptual reversals of ambiguous figures with high temporal precision. We compared reversal-related ERPs between experienced meditators and non-meditating controls. For both groups we found highly similar chains of reversal-related ERPs, starting early in visual areas, therewith replicating previous findings from the literature. Meditators, however, showed an additional frontal ERP signature already 160 ms after stimulus onset (Frontal Negativity). We interpret the additional, meditation-specific ERP results as evidence that extensive meditation practice provides control of frontal brain areas over early sensory processing steps. This may allow meditators to overcome phylogenetically evolved perceptual and attentional processing automatisms.

Unexpected cognitive lucidity and communication in patients with severe dementias, especially around the time of death, have been observed and reported anecdotally. Here, we review what is known about this phenomenon, related phenomena that provide insight into potential mechanisms, ethical implications, and methodologic considerations for systematic investigation. We conclude that paradoxical lucidity, if systematically confirmed, challenges current assumptions and highlights the possibility of network-level return of cognitive function in cases of severe dementias, which can provide insight into both underlying neurobiology and future therapeutic possibilities.

Mindfulness training is a novel method of leader development but contrary to its rising popularity, there is a scarcity of research investigating how mindfulness training may affect leader capabilities. To gain a better understanding of the potential of a new research field, qualitative research is advantageous. We sought to understand how senior leaders experience the impact of mindfulness training in their work lives and leadership ability. The sample comprised 13 leaders (n = 11 male) working in six organizations that completed a 10-week workplace mindfulness training (WMT). We conducted semi-structured interviews 6 to 12 months following course completion. We analyzed the data following thematic analysis steps and based on these findings, we devised a framework of the perceived impact of mindfulness training on self-leadership and leadership capabilities. We show that WMT exhibited impact on three self-leadership capacities: mindful task management, self-care and self-reflection and two leadership capacities: relating to others and adapting to change. Participants' recounts additionally suggested effects may expand to the level of the team and the organization. We show that WMT may be a promising tool for self-directed leadership development and outline avenues for future research.

The minimal neural correlate of the conscious state, regardless of the neural activity correlated with the ever-changing contents of experience, has still not been identified. Different attempts have been made, mainly by comparing the normal waking state to seemingly unconscious states, such as deep sleep or general anesthesia. A more direct approach would be the neuroscientific investigation of conscious states that are experienced as free of any specific phenomenal content. Here we present serendipitous data on content-free awareness (CFA) during an EEG-fMRI assessment reported by an extraordinarily qualified meditator with over 50,000 h of practice. We focused on two specific cortical networks related to external and internal awareness, i.e., the dorsal attention network (DAN) and the default mode network (DMN), to explore the neural correlates of this experience. The combination of high-resolution EEG and ultrafast fMRI enabled us to analyze the dynamic aspects of fMRI connectivity informed by EEG power analysis. The neural correlates of CFA were characterized by a sharp decrease in alpha power and an increase in theta power as well as increases in functional connectivity in the DAN and decreases in the posterior DMN. We interpret these findings as correlates of a top-down-initiated attentional state excluding external sensory stimuli and internal mentation from conscious experience. We conclude that the investigation of states of CFA could provide valuable input for new methodological and conceptual approaches in the search for the minimal neural correlate of consciousness.

With our attitudes and behavior, which aim at promoting sustainable behavior, we face a temporal dilemma - a temporal conflict between short-term and long-term interests. Accordingly, psychological time is an essential variable in understanding how people decide between options of short-term self-interest, which can be experienced at present, and long-term common interest, such as sustainable development with an outcome that lies far in the future. Present feelings are often so powerful that considerations of future events are neglected. Individuals differ in their emphasis on present and future dimensions. A stronger future orientation and a mindful present orientation are positive predictors of sustainable behavior; hedonistic and impulsive present orientations are negative predictors. We discuss the concept of the balanced time perspective as the propensity to consciously switch among the time orientations of past, present, and future. Fitting with their overall psychological profile, individuals with a balanced time perspective might display a range of sustainable attitudes and behaviors.

An approach toward detecting hidden knowledge is the Concealed Information Test (CIT). It relies on the memory of crime-relevant information. This study investigated whether its validity is susceptible to memory distortion by misleading information. A misleading information paradigm was employed to distort memory prior to an interrogation with a CIT. Forty-one participants watched a video with specific crime-related information. After a 1-week retention interval, misleading information was introduced. Afterward, a CIT was performed, followed by a threefold memory test. When misleading information was presented, memory performance was reduced, and no physiological response differences between crime-relevant and crime-irrelevant information were found. Without presenting misleading information, physiological responses differed between responses to crime-relevant and crime-irrelevant information. However, responses in all physiological measures also differed between misleading and irrelevant information. The results indicate that the CIT is susceptible to misleading information, which reduces its validity in specific constellations.

While the contingent negative variation (CNV) has been the subject of extensive research over the last fifty years, the maximum duration during which such cortical negativity can be maintained has, to the best of our knowledge, never been systematically explored. Participants were presented with the classic S1-S2 paradigm task, where a warning stimulus (S1) acts as a cue for the appearance of an imperative stimulus (S2). A fast motor response was required upon S2 arrival. Inter-stimulus intervals (ISIs) of 2.5, 5, 7.5 and 10 s duration were presented in blocked fashion. Data was analysed using both EEG referenced to linked mastoids and the current source density (CSD) technique, which maximizes the cortical origin of the measured voltage. Mean late CNV (lCNV) amplitude was found to be significantly higher for fast reaction time (RT) trials when CSD data was split according to the median into 'fast' and 'slow' RT halves. Post-hoc comparisons showed that this RT effect was particularly strong for the 10 s condition. This may be explained by the lack of an lCNV component and thus of cortical negativity prior to S2 in the 10 s condition. Our results suggest that intervals of a duration between 7.5 and 10 s represent the upper boundary during which the lCNV component can be elicited.

Our focus of attention naturally fluctuates between different sources of information even when we desire to focus on a single object. Focused attention (FA) meditation is associated with greater control over this process, yet the neuronal mechanisms underlying this ability are not entirely understood. Here, we hypothesize that the capacity of attention to transiently focus and swiftly change relates to the critical dynamics emerging when neuronal systems balance at a point of instability between order and disorder. In FA meditation, however, the ability to stay focused is trained, which may be associated with a more homogeneous brain state. To test this hypothesis, we applied analytical tools from criticality theory to EEG in meditation practitioners and meditation-naïve participants from two independent labs. We show that in practitioners-but not in controls-FA meditation strongly suppressed long-range temporal correlations (LRTC) of neuronal oscillations relative to eyes-closed rest with remarkable consistency across frequency bands and scalp locations. The ability to reduce LRTC during meditation increased after one year of additional training and was associated with the subjective experience of fully engaging one's attentional resources, also known as absorption. Sustained practice also affected normal waking brain dynamics as reflected in increased LRTC during an eyes-closed rest state, indicating that brain dynamics are altered beyond the meditative state. Taken together, our findings suggest that the framework of critical brain dynamics is promising for understanding neuronal mechanisms of meditative states and, specifically, we have identified a clear electrophysiological correlate of the FA meditation state.

Background: Mindfulness trainings are increasingly offered in workplace environments in order to improve health and productivity. Whilst promising, there is limited research on the effectiveness of mindfulness interventions in workplace settings. Objective: To examine the feasibility and effectiveness of a Workplace Mindfulness Training (WMT) in terms of burnout, psychological well-being, organizational and team climate, and performance. Methods: This is a preliminary field study in four companies. Self-report questionnaires were administered up to a month before, at start of, and right at the end of the WMT, resulting in a pre-intervention and an intervention period. There was no separate control group. A total of 425 participants completed the surveys on the different time points. Linear mixed model analyses were used to analyze the data. Results: When comparing the intervention period with the pre-intervention period, significantly greater improvements were found in measures of burnout (mean difference = 0.3, p < 0.001), perceived stress (mean difference = -0.2, p < 0.001), mindfulness [mean difference = 1.0 for the Freiburg Mindfulness Inventory (FMI) and 0.8 for the Mindfulness Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS), both p < 0.001], and well-being (mean difference = 0.4, p < 0.001). Additionally, greater increases in team climate, organizational climate and personal performance were reported during the intervention compared to the pre-intervention period with largest improvements in team cooperation (mean difference = 0.3, p < 0.001), productivity (mean difference = 0.5, p < 0.001), and stress (mean difference = -0.4, p < 0.001). Effect sizes were large for mindfulness (d > 0.8), moderate for well-being, burnout and perceived stress (d = 0.5-0.8), and ranged from low to moderate for organizational and team climate and personal performance (d = 0.2-0.8). Conclusion: These preliminary data suggest that compared to the pre-intervention period, the intervention period was associated with greater reductions in burnout and perceived stress, improvements in mindfulness, well-being, and increases in team and organizational climate and personal performance. Due to design limitations, no conclusions can be drawn on the extent to which the WMT or non-specific factors such as time have contributed to the findings. Further studies, preferably using randomized controlled designs with longer follow up periods are needed to evaluate whether the associations found can be attributed to the WMT and whether these sustain after the training.

AIM: The present study utilizes perceptual hysteresis effects to compare the ambiguity of Mona Lisa's emotional face expression (high-level ambiguity) and of geometric cube stimuli (low-level ambiguity). METHODS: In two experiments we presented series of nine Mona Lisa variants and nine cube variants. Stimulus ambiguity was manipulated by changing Mona Lisa's mouth curvature (Exp. 1) and the cubes' back-layer luminance (Exp. 2). Each experiment consisted of three conditions, two with opposite stimulus presentation sequences with increasing and decreasing degrees of ambiguity, respectively, and a third condition with a random presentation sequence. Participants indicated happy or sad face percepts (Exp. 1) and alternative 3D cube percepts (Exp. 2) by key presses. We studied the influences of a priori perceptual biases (long-term memory) and presentation order (short-term memory) on perception. RESULTS: Perception followed sigmoidal functions of the stimulus ambiguity morphing parameters. The morphing parameter for the functions' inflection points depended strongly on stimulus presentation order with similar effect sizes but different signs for the two stimulus types (positive hysteresis / priming for the cubes; negative hysteresis / adaptation for Mona Lisa). In the random conditions, the inflection points were located in the middle between those from the two directional conditions for the Mona Lisa stimuli. For the cube stimuli, they were superimposed on one sigmoidal function for the ordered condition. DISCUSSION: The hysteresis effects reflect the influence of short-term memory during the perceptual disambiguation of ambiguous sensory information. The effects for the two stimulus types are of similar size, explaining up to 34% of the perceptual variance introduced by the paradigm. We explain the qualitative difference between positive and negative hysteresis with adaptation for Mona Lisa and with priming for the cubes. In addition, the hysteresis paradigm allows a quantitative determination of the impact of adaptation and priming during the resolution of perceptual ambiguities. The asymmetric shifts of inflection points in the case of the cube stimuli is likely due to an a priori perceptual bias, reflecting an influence of long-term memory. Whether corresponding influences also exist for the Mona Lisa variants is so far unclear.

Goal: We aimed to identify electroencephalographic (EEG) signal fluctuations within independent components (ICs) that correlate to spontaneous blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) activity in regions of the default mode network (DMN) during eyes-closed resting state. Methods: We analyzed simultaneously acquired EEG and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) eyes-closed resting state data in a convenience sample of 30 participants. IC analysis (ICA) was used to decompose the EEG time-series and common ICs were identified using data-driven IC clustering across subjects. The IC time courses were filtered into seven frequency bands, convolved with a hemeodynamic response function (HRF) and used to model spontaneous fMRI signal fluctuations across the brain. In parallel, group ICA analysis was used to decompose the fMRI signal into ICs from which the DMN was identified. Frequency and IC cluster associated hemeodynamic correlation maps obtained from the regression analysis were spatially correlated with the DMN. To investigate the reliability of our findings, the analyses were repeated with data collected from the same subjects 1 year later. Results: Our results indicate a relationship between power fluctuations in the delta, theta, beta and gamma frequency range and the DMN in different EEG ICs in our sample as shown by small to moderate spatial correlations at the first measurement (0.234 < |r| < 0.346, p < 0.0001). Furthermore, activity within an EEG component commonly identified as eye movements correlates with BOLD activity within regions of the DMN. In addition, we demonstrate that correlations between EEG ICs and the BOLD signal during rest are in part stable across time. Discussion: We show that ICA source separated EEG signals can be used to investigate electrophysiological correlates of the DMN. The relationship between the eye movement component and the DMN points to a behavioral association between DMN activity and the level of eye movement or the presence of neuronal activity in this component. Previous findings of an association between frontal midline theta activity and the DMN were replicated.

Introduction: Consolidation is defined as the time necessary for memory stabilization after learning. In the present study we focused on effects of interference during the first 12 consolidation minutes after learning. Participants had to learn a set of German - Japanese word pairs in an initial learning task and a different set of German - Japanese word pairs in a subsequent interference task. The interference task started in different experimental conditions at different time points (0, 3, 6, and 9 min) after the learning task and was followed by subsequent cued recall tests. In a control experiment the interference periods were replaced by rest periods without any interference. Results: The interference task decreased memory performance by up to 20%, with negative effects at all interference time points and large variability between participants concerning both the time point and the size of maximal interference. Further, fast learners seem to be more affected by interference than slow learners. Discussion: Our results indicate that the first 12 min after learning are highly important for memory consolidation, without a general pattern concerning the precise time point of maximal interference across individuals. This finding raises doubts about the generalized learning recipes and calls for individuality of learning schedules.

Research on meditation is advancing, but few studies about the motivations of meditators exist. Additionally, many forms and traditions of meditation have yet to be investigated. This study addresses both of these issues by presenting an overview of different forms of motivations found in contemporary Anthroposophic meditation practice. 30 Anthroposophic meditators were interviewed about their meditation experiences. The interviews were examined using thematic analysis. 14 data-driven themes were extracted and organized within a framework consisting of three superordinate theory-driven forms of motivation: External, internal and service. A developmental trajectory running from external and internal to service motivations is indicated. This approach improves upon a scheme developed by Shapiro by including additional types of motivations and being able to differentiate between forms of motivations that are fundamentally different: Self-related (heteronomous and autonomous) motivations and other-related motivations.