Increase your income by attracting thousands of followers, fans, and friends to your Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace by using free content from www.SocialOpine.com. 
Mindfulness training modifies subsystems of attention.
Mindfulness is defined as paying attention in the present moment. We investigate the hypothesis that mindfulness training may alter or enhance specific aspects of attention. We examined three functionally and neuroanatomically distinct but overlapping attentional subsystems: alerting, orienting, and conflict monitoring. Functioning of each subsystem was indexed by performance on the Attention Network Test. Two types of mindfulness training (MT) programs were examined, and behavioral testing was conducted on participants before (Time 1) and after (Time 2) training. One training group consisted of individuals naive to mindfulness techniques who participated in an 8-week mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) course that emphasized the development of concentrative meditation skills. The other training group consisted of individuals experienced in concentrative meditation techniques who participated in a 1-month intensive mindfulness retreat. Performance of these groups was compared with that of control participants who were meditation naive and received no MT. At Time 1, the participants in the retreat group demonstrated improved conflict monitoring performance relative to those in the MBSR and control groups. At Time 2, the participants in the MBSR course demonstrated significantly improved orienting in comparison with the control and retreat participants. In contrast, the participants in the retreat group demonstrated altered performance on the alerting component, with improvements in exogenous stimulus detection in comparison with the control and MBSR participants. The groups did not differ in conflict monitoring performance at Time 2. These results suggest that mindfulness training may improve attention-related behavioral responses by enhancing functioning of specific subcomponents of attention. Whereas participation in the MBSR course improved the ability to endogenously orient attention, retreat participation appeared to allow for the development and emergence of receptive attentional skills, which improved exogenous alerting-related process.
Cogn Affect Behav Neurosci. 2007 Jun;7(2):109-19. Jha AP, Krompinger J, Baime MJ. Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA. apjha@psych.upenn.edu
Posted: 01/01/2008
This article provided by The International Hypnosis Research Institute.
Enter your email address to subscribe to the IHRI Newsletter.
|
Grow Beautiful Healthy Nails!Overcome the habit of fingernail biting and start growing nails. You’ll deactivate triggers that would cause you to mindlessly bite your nails.
|
|
Is sex dominating your thoughts?The sexual urge is not merely a physical response to physical touch. It starts in the mind.Learn how to integrate your sexuality into your whole life in a balanced, enriching manner.Start to regain control of your life
|
|
Solving Life’s Problems Without Guilt!This session can really help you deal with the powerful emotions of guilt because it addresses the inner mind motivations that have led you to live your life under the weight of guilt.
|
