Researchers from the University of Louisville in Kentucky looked at whether Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction (MBSR) can reduce stress arousal in patients suffering from fibromyalgia.

An earlier study by this principal investigator showed that MBSR reduced depressive symptoms in patients with fibromyalgia with gains maintained at two months follow-up (Sephton et al., Arthritis & Rheumatism, 57:77-85, 2007).

This second study explored the effects of MBSR on basal sympathetic (SNS) activation among women with fibromyalgia. Twenty-four participants were tested before and after MBSR for anxiety, depressive symptoms, and SNS activation.

Researchers from Dalian University of Technology in Dalian, China, set out to explore why five days of integrative body-mind training (IBMT)* improves attentional focus and self-regulation better than relaxation training. The underlying mechanisms were sought by measuring physiological and brain changes at rest before, during, and after 5 days of IBMT and relaxation training.

[*IBMT is a meditation practice developed by Dr. Yi-Yuan Tang, a pioneer in studying neurological effects of meditation, by modifying and simplifying Chinese Tao meditation. It doesn’t focus on thoughts in the mind, but rather a state of restful alertness from a high level of body awareness, augmented by the breath and guided imagery with music.] 

During and after training, the IBMT group showed significantly better physiological reactions in heart rate, respiratory amplitude and rate, and skin conductance response (SCR) than the relaxation controls.

Researchers at the Laboratory of Neuro Imaging at UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA, looked at the possible links in the brain that could cause the connection between meditation practice and psychological, physiological and cognitive well-being.

Using high-resolution MRI data of 44 subjects, they set out to examine the underlying anatomical correlates of long-term meditation.  (For those with a technical interest, they used voxel-based morphometry in association with a recently validated automated parcellation approach.)

Researchers from the Center for Functionally Integrative Neuroscience at Aarhus University in Denmark explored changes occurring in the brain from the long-term practice of meditation.  It has already been established that the practice of sustained attention results in increased cortical thickness.  In this investigation, evidence was found of structural differences in the lower brainstem. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed higher gray matter density in the lower brain stem regions concerned with cardiorespiratory control in experienced meditators, as compared with age-matched non-meditators. This could account for some of the cardio-respiratory, parasympathetic effects and traits reported in several studies of various meditation practices, as well as the cognitive, emotional, and immunoreactive impacts reported in these studies. 

Investigators from the Division of Cardiology at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles evaluated the efficacy of Transcendental Meditation (TM) on components of Metabolic Syndrome and Coronary Heart Disease (CHD).They conducted a randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial of 16 weeks duration on a total of 103 subjects with stable CHD, testing the impact of TM vs. health education.

Main outcome measures included blood pressure, lipoprotein profile, and insulin resistance; endothelial function as measured by brachial artery reactivity testing; and cardiac autonomic system activity, as measured by heart rate variability

Researchers from the Institute for Natural Medicine and Prevention at Maharishi University in Iowa reviewed previous meta-analyses of studies investigating the connection between stress reduction and high blood pressure and found them either outdated or methodologically limited. As a result they conducted an updated systematic review of the published literature and identified 107 studies on stress reduction and BP. 

In a small pilot study, researchers from the Department of Psychiatry, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, examined the efficacy of Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) for Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD).  Cognitive behavioral therapy alone rr5has been found effective for GAD, but can leave residual symptoms.  This MBCT intervention added a mindfulness component, based on the methods of Jon Kabat-Zin, along with more standard cognitive strategies, in a group context, to see if this combination might yield greater efficacy.