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Meditation That Eases Anxiety? Brain Scans Show Us How
Using special imaging technology, researchers from Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center report that they have determined the way in which meditation affects or acts upon certain brain mechanisms.
“Although we’ve known that meditation can reduce anxiety, we hadn’t identified the specific brain mechanisms involved in relieving anxiety in healthy individuals,” said Fadel Zeidan, Ph.D., the lead author of the study.
“In this study, we were able to see which areas of the brain were activated and which were deactivated during meditation-related anxiety relief.”
In the study, published in the journal Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, researchers followed 15 healthy volunteers with normal levels of everyday anxiety. Participants did not have previous meditation experience or diagnosed anxiety disorders.
All subjects participated in four 20-minute classes to learn a technique known as mindfulness meditation.
In this form of meditation, people are taught to focus on breath and body sensations and to non-judgmentally evaluate distracting thoughts and emotions.
Both before and after meditation training, the study participants’ brain activity was examined using a special type of imaging — arterial spin labeling magnetic resonance imaging — that is very effective at imaging brain processes, such as meditation.
In addition, anxiety reports were measured before and after brain scanning.
The majority of study participants reported decreases in anxiety. Researchers found that meditation reduced anxiety ratings by as much as 39 percent.
“This showed that just a few minutes of mindfulness meditation can help reduce normal everyday anxiety,” Zeidan said.
Researchers discovered that meditation-related anxiety relief is associated with activation of the areas of the brain involved with executive-level function (the anterior cingulate cortex and ventromedial prefrontal cortex).
During meditation, there was more activity in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, the area of the brain that controls worrying.
In addition, when activity increased in the anterior cingulate cortex – the area that governs thinking and emotion – anxiety decreased.
“Mindfulness is premised on sustaining attention in the present moment and controlling the way we react to daily thoughts and feelings,” Zeidan said.
“Interestingly, the present findings reveal that the brain regions associated with meditation-related anxiety relief are remarkably consistent with the principles of being mindful.”
While meditation is becoming generally accepted as a method to significantly reduce anxiety in patients with generalized anxiety and depression disorder, the current study (using sophisticated neuroimaging experiment technology) is the first to show the brain mechanisms associated with meditation-related anxiety relief in healthy people.
Source: Wake Forest University
Abstract of the brain photo by shutterstock.
Clinton, Oprah & Madonna: Women Leaders Still Need to Navigate Gender Stereotypes
That’s the gist of the findings of German researchers analyzing the selection and assessment of leaders in business and academia, and looking for ways to challenge gender stereotypes.
For women to gain leadership roles, they are expected to check off a range of boxes — usually demonstrating improved negotiation skills, networking strengths and the ability to develop a strategic career ladder.
“But even these skills are not enough,” said Professor Isabell Welpe.
“They ignore the fact that there are stereotypes that on a subconscious level play a decisive role in the assessment of high achievers. Leaders should be assertive, dominant and hard-lined; women are seen as mediators, friendly, social.”
In a number of studies, researchers presented a variety of scenarios with (potential) leaders and their employees to randomly selected individuals. They then asked the study participants about their perceptions and expectations.
Investigators discovered that — illogically — the same behavior exhibited by women and men in leadership positions is assessed in different ways. Also, if employees were assigned a task in a certain scenario, the study participants expected better performance if a man had delegated the work.
In another scenario, managers varied the extent of decision-making power accompanying tasks delegated to employees.
From the viewpoint of the employees, all study participants preferred leaders who allowed a greater degree of freedom.
Unlike the male study participants, female managers who did not delegate decision-making power were viewed less favorably than male bosses who behaved the same way.
“There is still the belief that men in leadership positions show more assertiveness towards their staff,” said Welpe.
“The surprising thing is that some female stereotypes are more reinforced in the minds of women themselves — for example their tendency to accept a dominant leadership style in men.”
Overall, the researchers found that stereotypes can change but purposeful behavior must occur.
Previous studies have shown that individuals who are seen as willing to lead do in fact have a greater chance of being appointed to a leadership position. This puts women at a disadvantage because they are, on average, perceived as being less interested in management roles.
In the current study, researchers developed scenarios in which men and women were either cheerful or proud of their personal performance, or else showing no emotion at all. Those who came across as proud were assessed as having greater leadership willingness.
This effect was significantly more pronounced in the case of the women in the study. “Women who looked cheerful were judged to less willing to lead,” explains Welpe. “Pride, on the other hand, is positively associated with leadership qualities.”
The researchers hope to develop training programs based on their findings. These will be aimed at helping companies and scientific organizations assess the potential and performance of men and women beyond the limitations of stereotypes.
Source: Technische Universitaet Muenchen
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