Yoga & Meditation

Question 1

YOGA

Answer 1

• mind & body practice involving movement/meditation/breathing techniques
• yoga’s focus on improving self via both physical/mental practices incorporates more mindful elements

Question 2

MEDITATION

Answer 2

• umbrella term for diverse practices related to mental training engaging attentional/emotional regulation abilities via self/other guided focus on specific objects/intentions/internal actions/environments
  BISHOP ET AL. (2004)
• mindfulness meditation = practice of non-judegmental observation of present moment thoughts/emotions/bodysensations w/openness/acceptance

Question 3

MEDITATION TYPES

Answer 3

NO ACTIVATION; NO BODY ORIENTATION
- mantra meditation
- affect-centered meditation
ACTIVATION; BODY ORIENTATION
- meditation w/movement
- body-centered meditation
NO ACTIVATION; BODY ORIENTATION
- visual concentration
- contemplation
ACTIVATION; NO BODY ORIENTATION
- mindful observation

Question 4

LUU & HALL

Answer 4

• examining acute effects of hatha yoga meditation on executive function
• hatha yoga/meditation had sig positive effect on executive function

Question 5

GOTHE ET AL. (2018)

Answer 5

• difs in brain structure & function among yoga practitioners & controls
• 13 experienced yoga practitioners (3+y; x3 p/week; 1+h)
• 13 age & sex-matched controls
• practitioners showed less activation in left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex than controls during encoding phase BUT not maintenance/retrieval phases of Sternberg WM task (aka. no dif in task performance (p < .05))

Question 6

FROELINGER, GARLAND & MCCLERNON (2012)

Answer 6

• yoga meditation practitioners exhibit greater grey matter volume & fewer reported cognitive failures; preliminary vowel-based morphometric analysis
• similar difs in grey matter volumes seen in yoga mediation (14) & controls (14)

Question 7

VILLEMURE ET AL. (2015)

Answer 7

• neuroprotective effects of yoga practice (age-experience & frequency-dependent plasticity)
• 14 experienced practitioners; 14 controls

Question 8

GARNER, REITH & KRICK (2019)

Answer 8

• 10-week hatha yoga increases right hippocampal densiy compared to active/passive control groups
• controlled structural cMRI study

Question 9

SIEW & YU (2023)

Answer 9

• mindfulness-based randomised controlled trials led to brain structural changes
• anatomical likelihood meta-analysis
• increased grey matter volumes in insula (highly involved in emotion regulation)

Question 10

KRAL ET AL. (2022)

Answer 10

• absence of structural brain changes from mindfulness-based stress reduction
• 2 combined randomised controlled trials
• no sig dif between groups in change in right amygdala GMV from baseline (T1) to postintervention period (T2)
• MBSR practice time associated w/reduced right amygdala GMV sig more than practice in HEP active control

Question 11

STRESS REDUCTION

Answer 11

• perceived stress = perceptions of psychological pressure
• stress reactivity = physiological arousal (blood preassure & HR)

Question 12

PARK ET AL. (2020)

Answer 12

• how does yoga reduce stress?
• clinical trial testing psychological mechanisms
• 12-week weekly at home yoga sessions (90-120 min); completed measures of baseline (T1); 8-week (T2); 12-week (T3)

Question 13

NUGENT ET AL. (2021)

Answer 13

• benefits of yoga
• findings from randomised controlled trial of yoga for depression
• 10-week hatha yoga intervention (n = 48) compared to health living workshop (HLW; n = 39) = small BUT sig effects on IL-6 (pooled effect size = .35)

Question 14

HEART RATE VARIABILITY

Answer 14

• HR of healthy heart oscilitates spontaneously (ie. shows high HRV) BUT diseased heart shows almost NO variability under certain conditions

Question 15

MAIER & HARE (2017)

Answer 15

• heart rate variability & dietary self-regulation
• higher heart-rate variability associated w/ventromedial prefrontal cortext activity & increased resistance to temptation in dietary self-control challenges

Question 16

DALY ET AL. (2015)

Answer 16

• yoga/emotion regulation in high school students
• randomised controlled trial
• yoga-based school intervention (n = 19) improved emotion regulation in adolescents compared to standard physical education (n = 19)

Question 17

EMOTIONAL REGULATION & EATING

Answer 17

TRIGGER COMPONENT
- induction/assessment of specific/unspecific negative emotion ->
EMOTION REGULATION
- overeating/binge eating ->
RELIEF COMPONENT
- assessment of emotions

Question 18

MERCADO ET AL.

Answer 18

• outcomes of mindfulness-based interventions for obesity/binge eating disorder
• meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials
• small positive effect on BMI & binge-eating symptoms