MINDFULNESS MEDITATION MAY IMPROVE TEEN MEMORY

This much is true and well-documented. Changes in the mind associated with the regular practice of mindfulness meditation include but are not limited to increased cortical thickness in the grey matter of the brain, delayed ageing of the brain, enhanced cognitive functioning and performance, improved concentration and attention to detail, faster sensory processing, increased learning and consciousness, increased verbal creativity, and increased capacity for focus and memory. 

Now, new research suggests that adolescents assigned to a mindfulness meditation program experience improvements in their working memory. The latter is involved in many aspects of learning, like reasoning ability, mathematical problem solving and reading comprehension.

‘These results are consistent with a growing body of research in adults that has found mindfulness meditation to be a helpful tool for enhancing working memory capacity,’ said Assistant Professor Kristen E Jastrowski Mano [pictured] of the Psychology Department at the University of Cincinnati, who co-authored the new study.

The researchers randomly divided 198 public middle school students into three groups: mindfulness meditation, hatha yoga or a waitlist. Most students were female, ages 12 to 15, and from low-income households that qualified for reduced-cost lunch. Before the study began and after it ended, the students completed computer-based memory assessments and reported their stress and anxiety levels via questionnaires. The meditation and yoga groups met for 45 minutes twice a week, for four weeks. In addition, students logged their home practice in journals that were collected each week.

Two trained mindfulness instructors led the meditation group in breathing techniques, formal meditation and discussion using written scripts with instructions on sitting posture, breathing and wandering thoughts.

Source: MindSparke. All rights reserved.

Students were encouraged to take CDs with meditation audio recordings and use them for 15 to 30 minutes daily at home. The yoga sessions were structured similarly, with trained instructors focusing on breathing, yoga poses and discussion. The kids in this group were also encouraged to practice at home daily using a DVD with yoga lessons.

Memory scores increased in the mindfulness meditation group by the end of the study, while they did not change in the yoga or waitlist groups, the authors reported in the Journal of Adolescent Health. Perceived stress and anxiety decreased in all three groups over time.

‘Theoretical and experimental research suggests that mindfulness meditation is associated with changes in neural pathways and may be particularly effective in promoting executive functioning,’ Dr Jastrowski Mano said. ‘The practice of meditation---which requires sustained attention while simultaneously redirecting attention back to the current experience---is closely related to the function of working memory.’

Source: Quach D, Jastrowski Mano K E, and Alexander K. ‘A Randomized Controlled Trial Examining the Effect of Mindfulness Meditation on Working Memory Capacity in Adolescents.’ The Journal of Adolescent Health, online November 11, 2015. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2015.09.024

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IMPORTANT NOTICE: Please read the Terms of Use and Disclaimer. The information provided on or linked to this blog is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Never delay or disregard seeking professional medical advice from your medical practitioner or other qualified health provider because of something you have read on this blog or elsewhere. For immediate advice or support call (in Australia) Lifeline on 13 1 1 14 or Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800. For information, advice and referral on mental illness contact (in Australia) the SANE Helpline on 1800 18 SANE (7263) go online via sane.org. In other countries call the relevant mental health care emergency hotline or simply dial your emergency assistance telephone number and ask for help.

MINDFULNESS AND TEENAGERS: NEW TRIAL TO COMMENCE

Psychologists and neuroscientists from the University of Oxford and University College London plan an unprecedented trial of how mindfulness affects mental health.

Seven thousand teenagers from 76 secondary schools in Great Britain are to take part in an unprecedented trial into the effect of mindfulness on mental health. This will be the largest trial of its kind ever conducted. The Wellcome Trust is funding the £6.4m study.

One teacher involved in the project admitted it could be a challenge to sell mindfulness to young people. ‘It is not especially cool,’ said Paula Kearney, a geography teacher at the UCL academy in north London who has trained her pupils in mindfulness. ‘I have had a lot of ‘Miss, I’m not going to do this, this is ridiculous’.’ But other pupils have spoken of its benefits.

Dr Willem Kuyken (pictured left), a professor of clinical psychology at the University of Oxford, who is leading the study, said the spread of mindfulness among children could do for the British population’s mental health what fluoride in the water did for its teeth. He said the trial was focusing on children partly because of evidence that half of all mental health disorders begin before the age of 15. He wants to test whether mindfulness can increase resilience to ‘a core vulnerability’ displayed by teens: difficulty sustaining attention in the face of thoughts and impulses that can become overwhelming.

‘Just as going for a run is a well-known way of protecting general physical health, mindfulness exercises develop mental fitness and resilience,’ Professor Kuyken said. But ‘enthusiasm is running ahead of the evidence and that is no basis for policy decisions. None of the previous research has been definitive and there is now a pressing need for a high quality robust trial to assess effectiveness.’

Starting next year, 3,200 11- to 14-year-olds---representing a cross-section of British youth---will be trained in secular mindfulness techniques in a 10-week course which involves a 30-minute lesson every week and up to 20 minutes’ daily practice at home. They will be taught simple meditations, such as the ‘7/11’ breathing exercise where you breathe in for 7 seconds and out for 11, or a walking meditation. Another 3,200 will receive standard personal, health and social education lessons. Over the following 2 years both groups will be monitored for their susceptibility to depression and associated mental disorders.

A further 600 11- to 16-year-olds will be tested by neuroscientists led by Professor Sarah-Jayne Blakemore (pictured right) at UCL before and after mindfulness training for how it affects their self-control and emotional regulation. Some will have their brain activity scanned while others will respond to computerised tests. Blakemore said the brain’s prefrontal cortex, which is involved in decision-making, self-control, emotion regulation and self-awareness, undergoes a substantial reorganisation in early adolescence. She wants to find out exactly when during this period mindfulness has most effect.

‘The brain is susceptible to negative and stressful environments and that might be one reason why we see an increase in the development of mental illnesses in early adolescence,’ Professor Blakemore said. ‘But the brain is also susceptible to interventions which improve resilience, which we are hoping includes mindfulness.’

Source: The Guardian. 15 July 2015.

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MINDFULNESS MEDITATION HELPS TEENAGE CANCER SURVIVORS

Few illnesses are more serious than cancer, and when the illness affects young people it is particularly distressing---and also so unfair.

A recent clinical trial led by researchers at the University of Montreal and its affiliated CHU Sainte-Justine Children’s Hospital has shown that daily meditation can lessen some of the main psychological inconveniences ordinarily experienced by teenagers living with (including suffering or recuperating from) cancer and thereby help improve their overall mood as well as sleep patterns.

Mindfulness meditation focuses on the ‘now’---the so-called present moment, being that ‘space’ (for want of a better word) between one such moment and the next---and the connection between the mind and the body. Persons living with, as well as recovering from, cancer experience not only the physical symptoms of their condition, as well as the various treatments for the condition, but also the anxiety and uncertainty related to the possible progression of the disease and the anticipation of physical and emotional pain related to illness and treatment.

Now, as regards the above mentioned trial, the researchers asked 13 adolescents with cancer to complete questionnaires covering mood (positive and negative emotions, anxiety and depression), sleep patterns, and quality of life. The group was divided into two, with the first group of 8 adolescents being offered 8 mindfulness-based meditation sessions, and the remaining 5 adolescents in the control group being put on a wait-list. After the last meditation session, patients from both groups filled out the same questionnaires a second time.

The researchers found that teenagers who participated in the mindfulness group had lower scores in depression after completing the 8 mindfulness-based meditation sessions. Interestingly, female participants in the mindfulness group reported sleeping better than their male counterparts. The researchers also noticed that the female participants developed mindfulness skills to a greater extent than the males during the sessions.

Resource: Malboeuf-Hurtubise C, Achille M, Sultan S, and Vadnais M, ‘Mindfulness-based intervention for teenagers with cancer: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial,’ Trials 2013, 14:135  http://www.trialsjournal.com/content/14/1/135

Image (above): Don Bayley/iStockphoto.com

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IMPORTANT NOTICE: See the Terms of Use and Disclaimer. The information provided on this blogspot is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Never delay or disregard seeking professional medical advice from your medical practitioner or other qualified health provider because of something you have read on this blogspot. For immediate advice or support call Lifeline on 13 1 1 14 or Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800. For information, advice and referral on mental illness contact the SANE Helpline on 1800 18 SANE (7263) go online via sane.org

MINDFULNESS AND TEENAGERS’ BRAINS

It was that great American joke thief Milton Berle who---so he says---said, 'It's hard for a teenager to concede that someday he'll be as stupid as his father.' Teenagers---we all have stories and jokes to tell at their expense ... and our own.

This is no joke. It is well-known that the brains of teenagers are still ‘developing’---that is, still undergoing a period of active construction.

It is becomingly increasingly clear that teenagers who practise mindfulness benefit from increased self-control, healthier relationships, and improved overall well-being. That should not come as a surprise.

Psychologists at the University of Wollongong and George Mason University in Washington DC studied mindfulness in 776 Grade 10 students over a one-year period. The results of their research were published in the Journal of Adolescence.

The study revealed that ‘acting with awareness’ (engaging fully in one’s current activity with undivided attention), emotional awareness, and experiential acceptance where all linked to prosocial tendencies and uniquely predicted increases in well-being across the year. Observing experience (noticing, observing, and attending to a variety of stimuli) was correlated with positive and negative aspects of personality and did not predict changes in wellbeing.

The study provides support for the importance of awareness and acceptance in the development of well-being in adolescence. The cross-sectional component of the study suggests that ‘awareness and acceptance are correlated with all dimensions of well-being, and with the general tendency to experience fewer negative states (or neuroticism).’ The study also found that awareness and acceptance preceded decreases in sadness, fear, and hostility, and increases in positive affect. That finding suggests that awareness and acceptance play a causal role in well-being.

NOTE. This post sets out a simple form of mindfulness sitting meditation.

Resource: Ciarrochi J, Kashdan T B, Leeson P, Heaven P, & Jordan C. ‘On being aware and accepting: A one-year longitudinal study into adolescent well-being.’ Journal of Adolescence xxx (2010) 1–9.

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IMPORTANT NOTICE: See the Terms of Use and Disclaimer. The information provided on this blogspot is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Never delay or disregard seeking professional medical advice from your medical practitioner or other qualified health provider because of something you have read on this blogspot. For immediate advice or support call Lifeline on 13 1 1 14 or Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800. For information, advice and referral on mental illness contact the SANE Helpline on 1800 18 SANE (7263) go online via sane.org