Mindfulness and the Body

Question 1

What three things will effect the physiological responses of mindfulness practice?

Answer 1

The likeability of the practice

The effort going into the practice

The type of meditation

Question 2

Name two things stress can influence?

Answer 2

The survival rate of cancer patients

The Pathogenesis of many psychiatric disorders

Question 3

What does the creation of an effective protocol for mindful based interventions depend on?

Answer 3

Understanding the mechanisms of stress

Question 4

What are the three stages of stress response?

Answer 4

1: Stress recognition (Brian regions)
2: Release of molecules (stress mediators)
3: Adaption (Physio, social, beh, cognitive response)

Question 5

Is stress always a bad thing? if not, when it is useful and when is it harmful?

Answer 5

No.

Moderate to High levels increase performance on explicit memory.

Extreme levels though lead to cognitive decline

Question 6

Name three ways stress can impact us?

Answer 6

1: Impacts cognitive ability
2: Impacts physical ability
3: The perception of no control over stress can lead to vulnerability to depression

Question 7

How can mindfulness mitigate the effects of stress?

Answer 7

1: By making us aware of the stress response early
2: By helping us de-center from the thoughts and feelings and accepting them
3: By helping us practice non-reactivity

Question 8

Using stress taxonomy, list 5 types of stress.

Answer 8

1: Acute stressors (laboratory tasks)
2: Brief naturalistic stressors (exam)
3: Stressful life sequences (Loved one)
4: Chronic (Pervasive without definitive end point)
5: Distant stressors (trauma from the past)

Question 9

Explain subjective stress, stress related cognition and stress arousal

Answer 9

Subjective stress: Overestimating threat and underestimating coping ability

Stress related cognitions: Threat appraisals, worry and ruminating.

Stress arousal: Physiological responses

Question 10

What are 4 physiological stress responses?

Answer 10

Cell, immune, blood pressure, hormonal

Question 11

What is of interest between objective and subjective measures of stress?

Answer 11

They are not always correlated

Question 12

What are two ways we can conceptualise the stress response?

Answer 12

Physical and Psychosocial

Question 13

What test exemplifies the physical stress response and how does the body react?

Answer 13

Cold Pressor Test

Activation of SAM axis

First Fast response
Sympathetic nervous system: Release of catecholamines
Heart rate, respiration and Blood pressure increase,

Question 14

What test exemplifies the Physchosocial stress response?

Answer 14

Trier Social stress test:

Activation of the HPA axis:

Longer lasting
HPA releases cortisol
Metabolic effects: caetecholamines

Question 15

What did Smeets et al (2012) find as factors in differing stress responses?

Answer 15

The type of stressor: Physical or psychosocial

The duration

Uncontrollability or Unpredictability of outcome

Question 16

What are the different response processes in physical and psychosocial stress?

Answer 16

Physical response:

Requires immediate response therefore goes through brainstem and hypothalamus.
Immediate autonomic response via HPA

Psychosocial:

Evaluated via frontal lobes and thalamus

PFC and limbic system recruited

Projects to HPA

Question 17

What did LeDoux find in his work regarding evaluating threat?

Answer 17

That there are two loops, The fast loop and the slow loop

Question 18

How does Ledoux’s explain the processes in threat response?

Answer 18

Fast loop is activated via lateral geniculate nucleus stimulating the amygdala and firing sympathetic nervous system.

Slow loop receives information from visual cortex, confirms or debunks threats by communicating to amygdala. Autonomic system continues to fire or shuts down