{"id":247084,"date":"2018-06-20T17:35:07","date_gmt":"2018-06-20T21:35:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/?p=247084"},"modified":"2018-07-24T12:39:58","modified_gmt":"2018-07-24T16:39:58","slug":"mindfulness-meditation-and-relaxation-response-affect-brain-differently","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2018\/06\/mindfulness-meditation-and-relaxation-response-affect-brain-differently\/","title":{"rendered":"Mindfulness meditation and relaxation response affect brain differently"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t
\"graphic

A study shows that both mindful meditation and the relaxation response provide benefits, however, the mindfulness program resulted in further improvements in measures such as self-compassion and rumination.<\/p>

Credit: pixabay.com<\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\t

\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tHealth\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\n\t\t

\n\t\tMindfulness meditation and relaxation response affect brain differently\t<\/h1>\n\n\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\tMGH Public Affairs\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<\/address>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t

\n\t\t\tStudy found that each program showed unique patterns of brain activity\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t\n<\/header>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\t\t

A variety of meditation-based programs have been developed in recent years to reduce stress and medical symptoms and to promote wellness. One lingering question is to what extent these programs are similar or different. In a study published in the June issue of Psychosomatic Medicine, a team led by Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) researchers, in collaboration with members of the two leading mind-body stress-reduction programs, documents the different effects these mind-body practices have in the brain.<\/p>\n

There are two widely used meditation-based stress-reduction courses. One is based on \u201cThe Relaxation Response\u201d<\/a> \u2014 first described by Herbert Benson, director emeritus<\/em> of the MGH-based Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine<\/a> \u2014 which focuses on eliciting a physiologic state of deep rest, the opposite of the \u201cfight or flight\u201d stress response. The other is Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn of the University of Massachusetts Medical School<\/a>, which emphasizes a particular, nonjudgmental attitude termed \u201cmindfulness\u201d as key to stress reduction. Although both interventions are based on meditation, the scientific philosophies and meditative traditions upon which each is founded are different, and these differences are reflected in the instructions and exercises they teach.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the hypotheses proposed by the programs\u2019 creators are in fact correct, they imply that these programs promote wellness through different mechanisms of action,\u201d says Sara Lazar<\/a> of the MGH Psychiatric Neuroscience Research Program<\/a>, senior author of the current report and assistant professor of psychology at Harvard Medical School. \u201cSuch a finding would suggest that these programs could potentially have different effects on disease.\u201d<\/p>\n\r\n

\u201cThese findings indicate that the programs are working through different neural mechanisms \u2026 It is somewhat analogous to weight training versus aerobic exercise \u2014 both are beneficial, but each has its unique mechanism and contribution.\u201d <\/p>\nGunes Sevinc, lead author<\/cite><\/blockquote>\r\n\n

To investigate that possibility, healthy adults with high levels of stress were randomized to two eight-week programs. Eighteen completed the relaxation-response program, and 16 completed the mindfulness program. Both programs successfully decreased stress and increased mindfulness in participants. However, the mindfulness program resulted in further improvements in measures such as self-compassion and rumination, clearly indicating that the programs are not the same, Lazar says.<\/p>\n

To further understand the similarities and differences between the programs, the team measured brain activity during a meditation technique common to both programs \u2014 a body scan, in which attention is moved sequentially throughout the body to develop bodily awareness. While the relaxation-response program instructs participants to deliberately relax each body area as they become aware of it, the mindfulness program just emphasizes mindful awareness and acceptance \u201cwithout any attempt to change anything.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

Lead author Gunes Sevinc<\/a>, a research fellow in Lazar\u2019s laboratory says, \u201cBy directly comparing the body-scan meditations, which differed only in cognitive strategy, we were able to identify the brain regions that are involved in mediating the common and differential strategies employed by each intervention.\u201d<\/p>\n\r\n

\n\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

More like this<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t