Abstract
Abstract. Mindfulness meditation interventions (MMIs) are formal training programs which utilize mindfulness techniques to improve attentional control and reduce stress and anxiety. Past investigations have shown that mindfulness-based interventions are effective in improving symptoms of anxiety and depression in both adolescents and adults, making this a promising natural approach to treating mood disorders. The current study sought to examine the neurophysiological effects of a 10-week MMI, in a relatively unexplored age-range (7–10 years). The non-clinical participants demonstrated increases in interhemispheric alpha coherence, as well as increased theta, alpha, and beta power particularly in frontal and central areas; reflecting a lower neurological risk for anxiety development. However, two common measures linked to anxiety, frontal and posterior alpha asymmetry remained largely unchanged following the training period. Still, these preliminary results exemplify the potentially positive effects of mindfulness meditation on preadolescents; this time on neurophysiological functioning.
References
2017). Detached mindfulness reduced both depression and anxiety in elderly women with major depressive disorders. Psychiatry Research, 257, 87–94. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2017.07.030
(2014). Mindfulness‐based cognitive therapy for depression in adolescents. Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 19, 74–78. https://doi.org/10.1111/camh.12034
(2017). The differential relationship between trait anxiety, depression, and resting frontal α-asymmetry. Journal of Neural Transmission, 124, 379–386. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00702-016-1664-9
(2015). Epidemiology of anxiety disorders in the 21st century. Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience, 17, 327. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00702-016-1664-9
(2007). EEG differences between eyes-closed and eyes-open resting conditions. Clinical Neurophysiology, 118, 2765–2773. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clinph.2007.07.028
(2012). Mindfulness-induced changes in gamma band activity – implications for the default mode network, self-reference and attention. Clinical Neurophysiology, 123, 700–710. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clinph.2011.07.048
(2009). Mindfulness-based stress reduction for the treatment of adolescent psychiatric outpatients: A randomized clinical trial. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 77, 855. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0016241
(2004). Mindfulness: A proposed operational definition. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 11, 230–241. https://doi.org/10.1093/clipsy.bph077
(2014). Are child and adolescent mental health problems increasing in the 21st century? A systematic review. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 48, 606–616. https://doi.org/10.1177/0004867414533834
(2012). Event-related brain potentials reflect increased concentration ability after mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for depression: A randomized clinical trial. Psychiatry Research, 199, 174–180. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2012.05.031
(2006). Mindfulness meditation and substance use in an incarcerated population. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 20, 343–347. https://doi.org/10.1037/0893-164X.20.3.343
(2011). Meditation experience is associated with differences in default mode network activity and connectivity. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 108, 20254–20259. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1112029108
(2003). The legacy of Donald O. Hebb: More than the Hebb synapse. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 4, 1013–1019. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn1257
(1997). Regional brain asymmetries in major depression with or without an anxiety disorder: A quantitative electroencephalographic study. Biological Psychiatry, 41, 939–948. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0006-3223(96)00260-0
(2018). A pervasive approach to EEG-based depression detection. Complexity, 2018, 5238028. https://doi.org/10.1155/2018/5238028
(1994). Behavioral inhibition, behavioral activation, and affective responses to impending reward and punishment: The BIS/BAS scales. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 67, 319–333. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.67.2.319
(2014). Frontal theta as a mechanism for cognitive control. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 18, 414–421. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2014.04.012
(2004). Frontal EEG asymmetry as a moderator and mediator of emotion. Biological psychology, 67, 7–50. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2004.03.002
(1998). Affective style and affective disorders: Perspectives from affective neuroscience. Cognition & Emotion, 12, 307–330. https://doi.org/10.1080/026999398379628
(2011). What are the benefits of mindfulness? A practice review of psychotherapy-related research. Psychotherapy, 48, 198–208. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0022062
(2011). EEG characteristics of generalized anxiety disorder in childhood. Acta Informatica Medica, 19, 9–15.
(2012). Effects of mindful-attention and compassion meditation training on amygdala response to emotional stimuli in an ordinary, non-meditative state. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 6, 292. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2012.00292
(2017). Promoting healthy transition to college through mindfulness training with first-year college students: Pilot randomized controlled trial. Journal of American College Health, 65, 259–267. https://doi.org/10.1080/07448481.2017.1278605
(1999). Concentration and mindfulness meditations: Unique forms of consciousness? Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback, 24, 147–165. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1023498629385
(1986). EEG coherence and power in the discrimination of psychiatric disorders and medication effects. Biological Psychiatry, 21, 1175–1188. https://doi.org/10.1016/0006-3223(86)90224-6
(2013). Validity and reliability of electroencephalographic frontal alpha asymmetry and frontal midline theta as biomarkers for depression. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 54, 118–126. https://doi.org/10.1111/sjop.12022
(2017). Mindfulness-based interventions for psychiatric disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Clinical Psychology Review, 59, 52–60. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2017.10.011
(2014). Frontal alpha EEG asymmetry before and after behavioral activation treatment for depression. Biological Psychology, 99, 198–208. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2014.03.003
(2011). Mechanisms of mindfulness: A Buddhist psychological model. Mindfulness, 2, 154–166. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-011-0054-5
(2017). Mindfulness and emotion regulation: Insights from neurobiological, psychological, and clinical studies. Frontiers in Psychology, 8, 220. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00220
(2010). A longitudinal study of emotion regulation and anxiety in middle childhood: Associations with frontal EEG asymmetry in early childhood. Developmental Psychobiology, 52, 197–204. https://doi.org/10.1002/dev.20425
(2005). Increasing individual upper alpha power by neurofeedback improves cognitive performance in human subjects. Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback, 30, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10484-005-2169-8
(2001). Hawthorne effects and research into professional practice. Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice, 7, 65–70. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2753.2001.00280.x
(2011). Mindfulness practice leads to increases in regional brain gray matter density. Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging, 191, 36–43. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pscychresns.2010.08.006
(2013). Neural mechanisms of symptom improvements in generalized anxiety disorder following mindfulness training. NeuroImage: Clinical, 2, 448–458. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nicl.2013.03.011
(2008). Teaching mindfulness to children. Gestalt Review, 12, 75–91. Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5325/gestaltreview.12.1.0075
(2018). Influence of adjuvant mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) on symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in veterans – results from a randomized control study. Cognitive BehaviourTherapy, 47, 431–446. https://doi.org/10.1080/16506073.2018.1445773
(2000). Observation of EEG coherence after repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation. Clinical Neurophysiology, 111, 1620–1631. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1388-2457(00)00357-6
(2003). BIS/BAS levels and psychiatric disorder: An epidemiological study. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 25, 25–36. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022247919288
(1999). Massage and music therapies attenuate frontal EEG asymmetry in depressed adolescents. Adolescence, 34, 529–534.
(2011). Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT), cognitive style, and the temporal dynamics of frontal EEG alpha asymmetry in recurrently depressed patients. Biological Psychology, 88, 243–252. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2011.08.008
(2006).
(Mindfulness-based approaches to eating disorders . In R. A. BaerEd., Mindfulness-based treatment approaches: Clinician’s guide to evidence base and applications (pp. 75–91). San Diego, CA: Elsevier Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-012088519-0/50005-81999). A measure of positive and negative affect for children: Scale development and preliminary validation. Psychological Assessment, 11, 326–338. https://doi.org/10.1037/1040-3590.11.3.326
(2015). Review: A systematic review of the neurophysiology of mindfulness on EEG oscillations. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 57, 401–410. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2015.09.018
(2002). Development of the EEG from 5 months to 4 years of age. Clinical Neurophysiology, 113, 1199–1208.
(1998). EEG power spectra of normal preadolescent twins. Gender differences of quantitative EEG maturation. Neurophysiologie Clinique/Clinical Neurophysiology, 28, 231–248.
(2015). Mindfulness for therapists: Practice for the heart. New York, NY: Routledge.
(2004). PTSD arousal and depression symptoms associated with increased right-sided parietal EEG asymmetry. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 113, 324–329. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-843X.113.2.324
(2012). Frontal brain activity pattern predicts depression in adolescent boys. Biological Psychology, 89, 525–527. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2011.12.008
(2013). Mindfulness-based stress reduction for older adults: Effects on executive function, frontal alpha asymmetry and immune function. Neuropsychobiology, 68, 34–43. https://doi.org/10.1159/000350949
(2003). The neural basis of the complex mental task of meditation: Neurotransmitter and neurochemical considerations. Medical Hypotheses, 61, 282–291. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0306-9877(03)00175-0
(1999). Contrasting patterns of brain activity in anxious apprehension and anxious arousal. Psychophysiology, 36, 628–637.
(2011). Reduced long distance gamma (28–48 Hz) coherence in euthymic patients with bipolar disorder. Journal of Affective Disorders, 132, 325–332. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2011.02.028
(2007). Music increases frontal EEG coherence during verbal learning. Neuroscience Letters, 412, 217–221. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neulet.2006.10.057
(2014). Validation of a neurofeedback paradigm: Manipulating frontal EEG alpha-activity and its impact on mood. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 93, 116–120. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2013.06.010
(1977). The CES-D scale: A self-report depression scale for research in the general population. Applied Psychological Measurement, 1, 385–401.
(2004). EEG mapping in patients with social phobia. Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging, 131, 237–247. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pscychresns.2003.08.007
(2015). Design and methods for “Commit to Get Fit:”A pilot study of a school-based mindfulness intervention to promote healthy diet and physical activity among adolescents. Contemporary Clinical Trials, 41, 248–258. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cct.2015.02.004
(2018). Autonomic reactivity in blood-injection-injury and snake phobia. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 115, 117–124. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychores.2018.10.018
(2015). Multi-dimensional modulations of α and γ cortical dynamics following mindfulness-based cognitive therapy in Major Depressive Disorder. Cognitive Neurodynamics, 9, 13–29. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11571-014-9308-y
(2010). Resting-state functional MRI in depression unmasks increased connectivity between networks via the dorsal nexus. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 107, 11020–11025. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1000446107
(2014). Anxiety in preadolescent children: What happens if we don’t treat it, and what happens if we do? Psychopathology Review, 1, 28–50. https://doi.org/10.5127/pr.035213
(1997). Growth spurts in brain maturation during middle childhood as indexed by EEG power spectra. Biological Psychology, 44, 187–209. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0301-0511(96)05218-0
(2012). Mechanisms of white matter changes induced by meditation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 109, 10570–10574. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1207817109
(2013). Dispositional mindfulness co-varies with smaller amygdala and caudate volumes in community adults. PLoS One, 8, e64574. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0064574
(1986). Cortico-cortical associations and EEG coherence: A two-compartmental model. Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology, 64, 123–143. https://doi.org/10.1016/0013-4694(86)90107-0
(2005). EEG and intelligence: Relations between EEG coherence, EEG phase delay and power. Clinical Neurophysiology, 116, 2129–2141. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clinph.2005.04.026
(2006). Depression, anxiety, and resting frontal EEG asymmetry: A meta-analytic review. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 115, 715–729. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-843X.115.4.715
(2008). Mindfulness with children and adolescents: Effective clinical application. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 13, 395–407. https://doi.org/10.1177/1359104508090603
(2010). Focused attention, open monitoring and automatic self-transcending: Categories to organize meditations from Vedic, Buddhist and Chinese traditions. Consciousness and Cognition, 19, 1110–1118. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.concog.2010.01.007
(2008). Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) in bipolar disorder: Preliminary evaluation of immediate effects on between-episode functioning. Journal of Affective Disorders, 107, 275–279. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2007.08.022
(2010). Mindfulness meditation improves cognition: Evidence of brief mental training. Consciousness and Cognition, 19, 597–605. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.concog.2010.03.014
(2017). Eight-week mindfulness training enhances left frontal EEG asymmetry during emotional challenge: A randomized controlled trial. Mindfulness, 8, 181–189. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-016-0591-z
(