Mechanisms of Meditation

冥想的机制

基本信息

批准号：
8531156
负责人：
Charles Raison
金额：
$ 65.15万
依托单位：
UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA
依托单位国家：
美国
项目类别：
财政年份：
2009
资助国家：
美国
起止时间：
2009-05-01 至 2015-03-31
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/8531156
关键词：
Address Adult Affect Age Anxiety Attention Attenuated Behavioral Blood Pressure Body mass index Chronic stress Clinical Research Cognition Compassion Control Groups Cross-Sectional Studies Data Diabetes Mellitus Diet Disease Distress Dose Education Elements Emotional Emotions Empathy Epinephrine Evaluation Exposure to Galvanic Skin Response Generations Group Practice HIV Health Health education Heart Rate Hour Hydrocortisone Immune Inflammation Inflammatory Inflammatory Response Interleukin-6 Intervention Intervention Studies Laboratories Learning Life Style Major Depressive Disorder Malignant Neoplasms Measures Mediating Medical Meditation Mental Depression Molecular Moods Norepinephrine Nuclear Nuclear Protein Outcome Pathway interactions Peripheral Phase Physiological Plasma Play Procedures Process Proteins Protocols documentation Psyche structure Psychosocial Stress Public Health Public Speaking Randomized Reaction Research Design Role Signal Pathway Signal Transduction Smoking Social support Socioeconomic Status Stress Techniques Testing Time Training Trier Social Stress Test Universities Vascular Diseases Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide Work active control arm attenuation base cytokine design emotional distress emotional reaction group support heart rate variability hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis improved in vivo inflammatory marker insight lifestyle factors longitudinal design mindfulness neuropeptide Y novel post intervention psychosocial response stressor university student young adult

项目摘要

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The increasingly widespread use of meditation for stress-related emotional and medical conditions highlights the urgent need to rigorously evaluate mechanisms through which the benefits of practice might be conferred. Primary challenges in this regard include evaluating dose response relationships between practice time and outcomes; clarifying whether physiological and behavioral effects of meditation derive primarily from non-specific aspects of training or result from specific meditation practices; and identifying molecular mechanisms by which meditation might affect physiological responses relevant to stress-related illness. Recent findings from a cross-sectional study by our group indicate that young adults who are randomized to, and practice, compassion meditation demonstrate reduced inflammatory responses, less emotional distress, and reduced autonomic responses to a standardized laboratory psychosocial stressor (Trier Social Stress Test [TSST]) when compared to subjects randomized to an active control condition. However, as a result of the cross-sectional study design and lack of a meditation comparator arm, these results provide only partial insight into key issues outlined above regarding the role played by specific meditation procedures and/or practice time in observed physiological and behavioral outcomes. The primary hypothesis of the proposed work is that practicing a meditation procedure specifically designed to enhance empathic concern for others (i.e. compassion meditation) will optimize autonomic reactivity to psychosocial stress in a manner that results in diminished activation of peripheral inflammatory signaling pathways and reduced behavioral distress. To test this hypothesis, the following aims are proposed: Aim 1: to use a longitudinal design to definitively establish that practice time contributes to the effect of compassion meditation on in vivo inflammatory and behavioral responses to psychosocial stress; Aim 2: To examine whether the effect of compassion meditation on behavioral and inflammatory responses to psychosocial stress results specifically from training in the generation of empathic concern for others or derives more generally from learning the basic meditative practices of focused attention and mindfulness; and Aim 3: to investigate autonomic mechanisms by which meditation may attenuate stress-induced inflammation. To accomplish these aims, the current study will randomize 360 medically healthy adults to 6 weeks of either compassion meditation training, Mindful Attention Training (to control for exposure to the basic meditation practices of attention and mindfulness) or a health education discussion group (to control for potential non-specific elements such as group support). Prior to, and upon completion of these interventions, all subjects will undergo TSST testing in order to assess inflammatory, autonomic and behavioral responses to psychosocial stress. Health-relevant behavioral and lifestyle factors will also be assessed to evaluate their contribution to the effect of meditation on inflammation. The long-term health implications of this study will likely be far reaching given evidence that inflammatory pathways represent an important mechanism by which stress promotes and/or worsens many medical and psychiatric conditions.

描述（由申请人提供）：越来越广泛地使用冥想来治疗与压力相关的情绪和医疗状况，这凸显了严格评估可能赋予练习益处的机制的迫切需要。这方面的主要挑战包括评估练习时间和结果之间的剂量反应关系；澄清冥想的生理和行为影响主要来自训练的非特定方面还是特定冥想练习的结果；并确定冥想可能影响与压力相关疾病相关的生理反应的分子机制。我们小组的一项横断面研究的最新发现表明，随机接受并练习同情冥想的年轻人表现出炎症反应减少，情绪困扰减少，并且对标准化实验室心理社会压力源的自主反应减少（特里尔社会压力测试[ TSST]）与随机分配至主动对照条件的受试者进行比较。然而，由于横断面研究设计和缺乏冥想比较臂，这些结果只能部分洞察上述关键问题，即特定冥想程序和/或练习时间在观察到的生理和行为结果中所起的作用。这项工作的主要假设是，练习专门为增强对他人的同理心关注而设计的冥想程序（即同情冥想）将优化自主神经对社会心理压力的反应，从而减少外周炎症信号通路的激活并减少行为困扰。为了检验这一假设，提出以下目标：目标 1：使用纵向设计来明确确定练习时间有助于慈悲冥想对体内炎症和对心理社会压力的行为反应的影响；目标 2：检验慈悲冥想对社会心理压力的行为和炎症反应的影响是否特别源自对他人产生同理心关注的训练，或者更普遍地源自学习集中注意力和正念的基本冥想实践；目标 3：研究冥想可以减轻压力引起的炎症的自主神经机制。为了实现这些目标，当前的研究将随机将 360 名身体健康的成年人随机分配到为期 6 周的同情冥想训练、正念注意力训练（以控制接触注意力和正念的基本冥想练习）或健康教育讨论小组（以控制注意力）。潜在的非特定要素，例如团体支持）。在这些干预措施完成之前和完成后，所有受试者都将接受 TSST 测试，以评估对心理社会压力的炎症、自主和行为反应。还将评估与健康相关的行为和生活方式因素，以评估它们对冥想对炎症的影响的贡献。鉴于炎症途径是压力促进和/或恶化许多医学和精神疾病的重要机制，这项研究的长期健康影响可能会产生深远的影响。