Researchers at Texas A&M University Health Sciences Center studied the the effects of varying the amount of physical practice and mental imagery rehearsal on learning basic surgical procedures. Using a sample of 65 second-year medical students, 3 randomized groups received either: (1) 3 sessions of physical practice on suturing a pig''s foot; (2) 2 sessions of physical practice and 1 session of mental imagery rehearsal; or (3) 1 session of physical practice and 2 sessions of imagery rehearsal. All participants then performed a surgery on a live rabbit in the operating theater of a veterinary college under approved conditions. Analysis of variance was applied to pre- and post-treatment ratings of surgical performance.

Researchers from the Department of Dermatology at Academic Hospital/Free University in Brussels, investigated the influence of hypnotherapy on alopecia areata or AA (a condition of rapid hair loss). Hypnosis was used in 28 patients with extensive AA whose condition was resistant to earlier conventional treatments. The hypnotherapy was either added as a complementary treatment or used as the only treatment.

Researchers from the School of Applied Social Sciences at the University of Durham at Stockton-on-Tees in the UK examined the effect of movement and stretching imagery on increasing flexibility in a randomized, controlled trial.

Thirty volunteers took part in a 4 week flexibility training program. They were randomly assigned to one of three groups: (1) movement imagery, where participants imagined moving the limb they were stretching; (2) stretching imagery, where participants imagined the physiological processes involved in stretching the muscle; and (3) a control condition, where participants did not engage in mental imagery.

Researchers from the Department of Health Promotion and Human Behavior at Kyoto University Graduate School of Public Health in Japan investigated differences in relaxation induced by guided imagery in healthy community samples.

One hundred forty-eight people took part in the study, with the mean age of the 50 males and 98 females 39.36 +/- 11.86 years. Saliva samples were taken to measure salivary cortisol (SC) before the first session, after the first session, and after the second session. In addition, subjects were asked to complete the short form of the Multiple Mood Scale (MMS) questionnaire before the first session and after the second session. The shortened form of Betts'' Questionnaire upon Mental Imagery (QMI) was collected once before the first session, and vividness of the imagery was measured using a visual analogue scale once after the second session.

Psychologists from UCLA compared outcomes from adding cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to medications for the treatment of panic disorder, as compared to using medications alone.

Primary-care patients with panic disorder reported on their receipt of CBT and medications over the 3 months following a baseline assessment. The degree to which outcomes for those who used anti-panic medications were enhanced by the receipt of at least one component of CBT was analyzed (using a propensity score model that took into account observable baseline patient characteristics influencing both treatment selection and outcomes.)

A group of Japanese public health researchers from Kyoto University investigated the effects of autogenic training on firefighters with and without posttraumatic stress. Twenty-two male firefighters were in this pilot study - ten with PTSD and 12 without. They all were given autogenic training two or three times a week for two months. Heart rate variability was measured, and a Japanese language version of the IES (Impact of Events) Scale - a commonly used PTSD measure - was also used.

A study tests the effectiveness of a guided imagery-based career transition program, and finds it is associated with higher rates of return to full time employment and greater perceived control over the job loss..

This randomized study examined the effectiveness of a guided imagery-based career transition program as compared to a placebo control condition in promoting reemployment in 52 unemployed business people recruited from four different outplacement firms in seven locations in California (60% male, 83% Caucasian, mean age: 46.8).

Hungarian researchers find that the popular European technique of Autogenic Training is helpful in all three kinds of headache: migraine, tension, and a combination of the two.

Hungarian researchers investigated the effects of auto-suggestion, using cognitive and symbol therapy elements with auto-suggestion, on three kinds of headache (migraine, tension and combined). The assumption was that since headache is prolonged and exacerbated by depression and anxiety, and these conditions are ameliorated by autosuggestion, that this technique could be valuable for relieving headache for multiple reasons.

Twenty five female patients with migraine, tension-type headache or mixed headache participated in an eight-month follow-up study. Headache frequency, analgesic, antimigraine and anxiolytic drug consumption were measured by means of a headache diary.

Another new study, this one using neuro-imaging out of the University of Montreal, shows that neurofeedback is very likely highly effective in helping children with attention deficit hyperactivity (ADHD) disorder.

Given the fact that neuroimaging studies show abnormal functioning of the anterior cingulate cortex in those with ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) during tasks involving selective attention, researchers at the University of Montreal conducted a randomized, controlled pilot study to examine whether neurofeedback training (NFT) could significantly improve cognitive functioning in children with ADHD.

They devised a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study to measure the effect of NFT on the neural substrates of selective attention in children with AD/HD. Twenty AD/HD children, who were not taking any psychostimulant drugs participated to the study.