This study investigated differences in brain activation during meditation between meditators and non-meditators. Fifteen Vipassana meditators (mean practice: 7.9 years, 2h daily) and fifteen non-meditators, matched for sex, age, education, and handedness, participated in a block-design fMRI study that included mindfulness of breathing and mental arithmetic conditions. For the meditation condition (contrasted to arithmetic), meditators showed stronger activations in the rostral anterior cingulate cortex and the dorsal medial prefrontal cortex bilaterally, compared to controls. Greater rostral anterior cingulate cortex activation in meditators may reflect stronger processing of distracting events. The increased activation in the medial prefrontal cortex may reflect that meditators are stronger engaged in emotional processing.

Neurosci Lett. 2007 Jun 21;421(1):16-21. Epub 2007 May 25. Hölzel BK, Ott U, Hempel H, Hackl A, Wolf K, Stark R, Vaitl D. Bender Institute of Neuroimaging, Justus-Liebig-University, Giessen, Germany. britta.k.hoelzel@psychol.uni-giessen.de

Michael Preston, J.D., PhD, received his doctorate degrees at Marquette University and the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Preston studied with Lewis R. Wolberg, M.D. at the New York Medical College and with William J. Bryan, Jr., J.D.,M.D.,PhD, at the American College of Medical Hypnotists and the American Institute of Hypnosis.

In 1968 Dr. Preston founded the Institute of Medical Hypnosis and has lectured at several hypnosis conventions including the Midwest Hypnosis Convention, the International Society for Investigative and Forensic Hypnosis and the National Board for Hypnotherapy and Hypnotic Anesthesiology. Dr. Preston has further conducted seminars in more that 40 cities in the U.S. and Canada. In 1990 Dr. Preston has held seminars in England.

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Adult burn patients experience pain during wound care despite pharmacological interventions. Additional nursing interventions are needed to improve pain management. A systematic review was undertaken in order to examine the implications of previous research for evidence based decisions concerning the use of non-pharmacological nursing interventions and for future research. Twenty-six studies met the inclusion criteria and were discussed. The majority of the included studies concerned behavioural nursing interventions and focussed on promotion of psychological comfort. Although 17 studies showed that the intervention had a positive effect on pain outcomes and no adverse effects of the reviewed interventions were reported, the best available evidence was found for active hypnosis, rapid induction analgesia and distraction relaxation. However, in order to reduce methodological limitations, further research is needed before well-founded evidence based decisions for nursing practice can be made. Aspects that seem important for future research, like the type of the intervention, theoretical framework, manner of giving instruction and guidance, cost, outcomes, measurement instruments and data collection points are considered.

Burns. 2007 Nov;33(7):811-27.

de Jong AE, Middelkoop E, Faber AW, Van Loey NE.

Burn Centre, Red Cross Hospital, Vondellaan 13, 1942 LE Beverwijk, The Netherlands. aeedejong@rkz.nl

Harmonic tension-resolution patterns have long been hypothesized to be meaningful to listeners familiar with Western music. Even though it has been shown that specifically chosen musical pieces can prime meaningful concepts, the empirical evidence in favor of such a highly specific semantic pathway has been lacking. Here we show that 2 event-related potentials in response to harmonic expectancy violations, the early right anterior negativity (ERAN) and the N500, could be systematically modulated by simultaneously presented language material containing either a syntactic or a semantic violation. Whereas the ERAN was reduced only when presented concurrently with a syntactic language violation and not with a semantic language violation, this pattern was reversed for the N500. This is the first piece of evidence showing that tension- resolution patterns represent a route to meaning in music.

Cereb Cortex. 2007 Sep 5 Steinbeis N, Koelsch S. Junior Research Group "Neurocognition of Music" Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, 04103, Leipzig, Germany.

Using an event-related functional MRI technique, we examined the blood oxygen level-dependent responses of normal participants to auditory stimuli that consisted of four triads to explore the neural correlates for judging mode-related emotional contents in tonal music. Three categories of stimuli, MAJOR, MINOR and NEUTRAL were prepared. MAJOR and MINOR stimuli suggest C major and c minor, respectively. NEUTRAL stimuli were controls. The task was to judge the categories. Contrasts MAJOR-NEUTRAL and MINOR-NEUTRAL showed significant activation in the bilateral inferior frontal gyri, medial thalamus, and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex. It is suggested that the bilateral inferior frontal gyri and medial thalamus are involved in judging the mode, whereas the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex was related to conflicts in the participant's mind.

Neuroreport. 2007 Oct 29;18(16):1651-5. Mizuno T, Sugishita M. Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Graduate School of Medicine bDepartment of Neurology, International University of Health and Welfare Mita Hospital, Mita, Tokyo, Japan cInstitute of Brain and Blood Vessels, 366 Otamachi, Isesaki, Gunma, Japan.

Pharmacologic treatment of pain does not always meet patients' needs and may produce difficult side effects. Complementary therapies, which are safe, noninvasive, and generally considered to be relatively free of toxicity, may be used adjunctively with standard pain management techniques to improve outcome and reduce the need for prescription medication. Approaches such as acupuncture, massage therapy, mind-body interventions, and music therapy effectively reduce pain, enhance quality of life, and provide patients with the opportunity to participate in their own care. Such therapies have an important role in modern pain management.

Curr Pain Headache Rep. 2007 Aug;11(4):265-9. Cassileth B, Trevisan C, Gubili J. Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY 10021, USA. gubilij@mskcc.org

Dr. Feldman is co-founder and the Educational Director of The Institute of Hypnotherapy, a State approved private vocational school for Hypnotherapy. Dr. Feldman has her Doctorate in Clinical Hypnotherapy, a Professional Diploma, M.S., in Educational Administration & Supervision, M.S., Special Education, B.A., Psychology. Dr. Feldman is a former NYC High School Principal and former Director of Special Education for the city of Newark, NJ. Presently, Dr. Feldman serves on the NYC Board of Education, Chancellors' School Improvement Team.

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This paper is a report of a concept analysis of harmony. BACKGROUND: Historically, harmony has been poorly defined in nursing research. Harmony has been typically associated with music, but this concept also has a place in nursing. The term is used in current literature in various contexts, including the environment, and relating to mind, body, and spirit. Use of the term harmony is also evident in describing physical characteristics and connections between subjects or ideas, and as an adjective. METHODS: A literature search was conducted using the CINAHL, MEDLINE, PubMed, and OVID data bases from 1998 to 2003 with the keyword 'harmony'. The reference lists of the identified papers were then searched for further sources and 29 papers were identified for inclusion into the paper. Wilson's process was used to conduct the concept analysis. FINDINGS: Harmony is a major aspect of personal relationships, working relationships, and nurse-patient relationships. Both patient-clinician and clinician-clinician relationships are affected by the three attributes of harmony: balance, peace and rhythm. This balance is also an important factor in the incidence of disease and for optimal health. Five consequences of the concept are identified as pleasant environment, sense of satisfaction, positive self-concept, beautiful sound, or effective programme. CONCLUSION: Harmony is potentially relevant to many aspects of nursing. In order for a nurse to have a positive relationship with a patient, harmony must be present in terms of a pleasant environment, feelings of satisfaction, positive self-concepts, and effective nursing intervention programmes.

J Adv Nurs. 2007 Sep;59(5):551-6. Epub 2007 Jul 2. Easley R. University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, Arkansas, USA. easkyrobine@uams.edu

Jillian R. LaVelle is a certified stress management consultant and a clinical hypnotherapist. She holds a BA in psychology from the University of South Florida. She is the CEO of the International Association of Counselors and Therapists (IACT). The Citizens' Ambassador Committee in the field of hypnotherapy appointed Jillian special Ambassador to China. In 1999, she was the recipient of the Outstanding Clinical Contribution award by the National Association of Transpersonal Hypnotherapists. In 2001, she was selected to receive the Counseling and Therapy Award of the Year by the International Hypnosis Federation.

The present investigation examined the contributions of specific attentional networks to long-term trait effects of meditation. It was hypothesized that meditation could improve the efficiency of executive processing (inhibits prepotent/incorrect responses) or orientational processing (orients to specific objects in the attentional field). Participants (50 meditators and 10 controls) were given the Stroop (measures executive attention) and Global-Local Letters (measures orientational attention) tasks. Results showed that meditation experience was associated with reduced interference on the Stroop task (p < 0.03), in contrast with a lack of effect on interference in the Global-Local Letters task. This suggests that meditation produces long-term increases in the efficiency of the executive attentional network (anterior cingulate/prefrontal cortex) but no effect on the orientation network (parietal systems). The amount of time participants spent meditating each day, rather than the total number of hours of meditative practice over their lifetime, was negatively correlated with interference on the Stroop task (r = -0.31, p < 0.005).

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Inspector Marx Howell is a veteran of the Texas Department of Public Safety, a graduate of the FBI National Academy, holds a BS degree in Criminal Justice and served in the United States Marine Corp. He was a state trooper in the Traffic Law Enforcement Division and promoted through the ranks to Captain in the Criminal Law Enforcement Division and then to Inspector.

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This study compared imagery rescripting, in vivo exposure therapy and their combination in the treatment of snake fear. Imaginal ability was assessed pre-treatment, and was correlated with baseline avoidance. Snake fearful individuals were randomly assigned to cognitive therapy involving imagery rescripting, in vivo exposure, a combination of the two, or a relaxation control. All active treatment groups improved significantly more than the control group in both fearfulness and behavioral approach. There were no significant differences between the active treatment groups, although the combined treatment tended to be slightly more efficacious.

J Behav Ther Exp Psychiatry. 2007 Sep 21 Hunt M, Fenton M. University of Pennsylvania, 3720 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6241, USA.

We review a series of experiments aimed at studying pitch processing in music and speech. These studies were conducted with musician and non musician adults and children. We found that musical expertise improved pitch processing not only in music but also in speech. Demonstrating transfer of training between music and language has interesting applications for second language learning. We also addressed the issue of whether the positive effects of musical expertise are linked with specific predispositions for music or with extensive musical practice. Results of longitudinal studies argue for the later. Finally, we also examined pitch processing in dyslexic children and found that they had difficulties discriminating strong pitch changes that are easily discriminate by normal readers. These results argue for a strong link between basic auditory perception abilities and reading abilities. Methods: We used conjointly the behavioral method (Reaction Times and error rates) and the electrophysiological method (recording of the changes in brain electrical activity time-locked to stimulus presentation, Event-Related brain Potentials or ERPs). Results: A set of common processes may be responsible for pitch processing in music and in speech and these processes are shaped by musical practice. Conclusion: These data add evidence in favor of brain plasticity and open interesting perspectives for the remediation of dyslexia using musical training.

Besson M, Schön D, Moreno S, Santos A, Magne C. Restor Neurol Neurosci. 2007;25(3-4):399-410. Institut de Neurosciences Cognitives de la Méditerranée, CNRS-Marseille-Universités, France.

Steve Andreas has been learning, training, researching and developing NLP patterns for the last 26 years. He is the author of the recent book, Transforming Your Self: Becoming who you want to be, Virginia Satir: The Patterns of Her Magic, and an anthology, Is There Life Before Death. Steve is also co-author (with his wife, Connirae) of Heart of the Mind and Change Your Mind--and Keep the Change. He lives with his wife and three teenage sons in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains near Boulder, Colorado.

For more information visit: www.SteveAndreas.com

by Brian Walsh, Ph.D.

What is most challenging for you in the time leading up to the year-end festivities? Is it shopping, or social obligations, or preparing large meals, or maybe just too much to do and so little time to do it? Well, I'm here to dish out a few bits of advice that may seem a bit odd at first, but please bear with me.

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Reversing Chronic Pain: A 10-Point All-Natural Plan for Lasting Relief

by Maggie Phillips, Ph.D.

A book review by Tim Brunson DCH

Dr. Maggie Phillips has done it again. Her new book, Reversing Chronic Pain is a gem. She provides patients with a comprehensive self-help manual while giving clinicians a sufficiently documented resource which can be easily integrated in their practices. As usual, her non-dogmatic, eclectic approach allows one to customize a "cocktail" of techniques that will most likely result in relief from chronic pain.

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We investigated the effects of different encoding tasks and of manipulations of two supposedly surface parameters of music on implicit and explicit memory for tunes. In two experiments, participants were first asked to either categorize instrument or judge familiarity of 40 unfamiliar short tunes. Subsequently, participants were asked to give explicit and implicit memory ratings for a list of 80 tunes, which included 40 previously heard. Half of the 40 previously heard tunes differed in timbre (Experiment 1) or tempo (Experiment 2) in comparison with the first exposure. A third experiment compared similarity ratings of the tunes that varied in timbre or tempo. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) results suggest first that the encoding task made no difference for either memory mode. Secondly, timbre and tempo change both impaired explicit memory, whereas tempo change additionally made implicit tune recognition worse. Results are discussed in the context of implicit memory for nonsemantic materials and the possible differences in timbre and tempo in musical representations.

Q J Exp Psychol (Colchester). 2007 Oct 7;:1 [Epub ahead of print] Halpern AR, Müllensiefen D. Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA, USA.

Wendi Friesen is a Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist, NLP practitioner and Master Hypnotist since 1995. She is a popular, international speaker for trainings, conventions and shows.

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Hypnosis: Medicine of the Mind: A Complete Manual on Hypnosis for the Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced Practitioner

by Michael D. Preston, JD, Ph.D.

A book review by: Tim Brunson DCH

Dr. Preston's intent to present clinicians with a comprehensive, yet concise A through Z manual for hypnosis clinicians is clearly accomplished in his book, Hypnosis: Medicine of the Mind. Indeed, this well thought out book will benefit readers regardless of their level of expertise. He presents the reader with sufficient background to appreciate the foundations of hypnosis in historical practice and delves expertly into an attempt to link modern findings in neurology to the actual practice of hypnotherapy.

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There has been a growing emphasis on evaluating and improving the experience of the hospitalized patient. In 2004, the Cardiovascular Surgery team at Mayo Clinic Rochester, though achieving a high level of technical expertise and clinical outcomes, recognized that patients were not rating their overall hospital experience as highly as was expected. After a systematic evaluation of the hospital experience, tension, stress, pain, and anxiety were identified as key challenges for patients. A multidisciplinary team was created to evaluate pain management practices and explore methods for reducing pain, anxiety, and tension. An extensive review of the literature and site visits to other institutions provided the foundation for the program. The term "Healing Enhancement" was coined to identify the goals of this emerging paradigm that focused on all aspects of the patient's experience-mind, body, and spirit. Integrated therapies such as music, massage, guided imagery, and relaxation training were explored to measure their role in patient care.

Complement Ther Clin Pract. 2007 Nov;13(4):217-23. Cutshall SM, Fenske LL, Kelly RF, Phillips BR, Sundt TM, Bauer BA. Mayo Clinic, 200 First Street SW, Rochester, MN 55905, USA.

Complementary and alternative medicine in dentistry includes various treatment modalities. Many procedures are under scientific investigation to determine effectiveness. Dental patients request CAM therapy in an attempt to save money and to prevent invasive procedures. The Alternative Medical Systems are methods of alternative therapy different from Conventional/Western medicine. Mind-Body Interventions are methods of affecting body functions using prayer, meditation, mental imagery and creativity. Biologically-Based Therapy is the use of substances found in nature to promote healing and wellness. Manipulative and Body-Based Methods are based on the manipulation and/or movement of the body to treat for pain and wellness. Energy Therapy is based on manipulating energy fields of body. CAM procedures may eventually become standard practice after scientific verification of efficacy.

Dent Assist. 2007 Jul-Aug;76(4):34-6, 38, 40-3 Andrews EK.

Dennis and Jennifer have shared a conjoint practice in hypnotherapy and psychotherapy for 24 years. Their practice has also been the basis for their research into the fields of human Epistemology, Ontology, Semantics and Linguistics. They have co-shared their findings with the community of their peers in the scan of papers in journals published in Canada, United States, Britain and Australia. They have also co-shared their discoveries in professional forums that have seen them present in Spain, Belgium, Britain, Italy, Australia, Malaysia, United States, Canada and Malaysia. They have published five books to date of which the first, do not Ask WHY?! is also published in Germany.

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AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: This research aimed to evaluate the use of aromatherapy massage and music as an intervention to cope with the occupational stress and anxiety that emergency department staff experience. The study also aimed to compare any differences in results between a summer and winter 12-week massage plan. BACKGROUND: Emergency nurses are subjected to significant stressors during their work and it is known that workloads and patient demands influence the role stress has on nurses. The perception that winter months are busier for emergency departments has long been held and there is some evidence that people with cardiac and respiratory dysfunction do present more frequently in the winter months. Massage has been found to decrease staff anxiety. DESIGN: The study used a one-group pre-test, post-test quasi-experimental design with random assignment. METHOD: Staff occupational stress was assessed pre- and post- 12 weeks of aromatherapy massage with music and anxiety was measured pre and post each massage session. Sick leave was also measured. Comparisons of summer and winter data were undertaken. RESULTS: A total of 365 massages were given over two 12-week periods, one during summer and the other during winter. Analysis identified that aromatherapy massage with music significantly reduced anxiety for both seasonal periods. Premassage anxiety was significantly higher in winter than summer. No differences in sick leave and workload were found. There was no difference in the occupational stress levels of nurses following the two 12-week periods of massage. CONCLUSION: Emergency nurses were significantly more anxious in winter than summer but this cannot be attributed to increased sick leave or workloads. Aromatherapy massage with music significantly reduced emergency nurses' anxiety. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: High levels of anxiety and stress can be detrimental to the physical and emotional health of emergency nurses and the provision of a support mechanism such as on-site massage as an effective strategy should be considered.

J Clin Nurs. 2007 Sep;16(9):1695-703. Cooke M, Holzhauser K, Jones M, Davis C, Finucane J. School of Nursing & Midwifery, Research Centre for Clinical Practice Innovation, Griffith University, QLD, Australia. m.cooke@griffith.edu.au

Dr. Joe Vitale is the world's first hypnotic writer. He is President of Hypnotic Marketing, Inc., and author many books, including the #1 best-selling book Spiritual Marketing, the #1 best-selling e-book Hypnotic Writing, and the best-selling Nightingale-Conant audio program, The Power of Outrageous Marketing. His latest books include: The Greatest Money-Making Secret in History!, Adventures Within and The E-Code.

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Even though the art and science of hypnosis has been in existence for hundreds of years, there has been a controversy lurking regarding hypnosis education. The various hypnosis organizations have always set their own educational requirements for membership. There have been as many different educational requirements for hypnosis and hypnotherapy training as there have been professional hypnosis and hypnotherapy organizations. Finally, however, hypnosis and hypnotherapy is entering a new era, an era of quality education in the use of this ancient tool to help bring about desirable behavioral changes.

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Natural Stress Relief meditation, a mental technique which is practiced for 15 minutes twice a day, aims to reduce stress and anxiety by eliciting a specific state of physiological rest along with mental alertness. The meditation is taught in a self-administered program, requiring one hour of training during the first three days, followed by the regular twice daily practice. Each 15-min. session consists in sitting quietly with closed eyes while applying a specific mental procedure. To test the effectiveness of meditation in reducing trait anxiety, Spielberger's State-Trait Anxiety Inventory was administered to 25 participants four times over a 3-wk. period: one week before starting to practice the meditation, a few hours before starting, 1 wk. after, and 2 wk. after. The difference in Trait Anxiety score between pretreatment and before starting the practice was not significant, while it was significant both after the first week of practice (Cohen d=.46) and after the first 2 wk. of practice (d=.67).

Psychol Rep. 2007 Aug;101(1):130-4. Coppola F. Istituto Scientia, Massa, Italy. scientia@ipotesi.net

Roy Hunter was certified by the late Charles Tebbetts. He was inducted into the International Hypnosis Hall of Fame in 2000 for his written contributions to the hypnotherapy profession, and was also the recipient of Charles Tebbetts Award from the National Guild of Hypnotists in 2001 for spreading the light of hypnosis.

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In the United States sedation for colonoscopy is usual practice. Unsedated colonoscopy is limited to a small proportion of unescorted patients and those with a personal preference for no sedation. Over 80% of patients who accept the option of as-needed sedation can complete colonoscopy without sedation. Colonoscopy in these unsedated patients is performed with techniques similar to those used in the sedated patients. Uncontrolled observations indicate willingness to repeat colonoscopy amongst these patients was correlated significantly with low discomfort score during the examination. Methods reported to minimize patient discomfort or enhance cecal intubation during sedated or unsedated colonoscopy included use of pediatric colonoscope, variable stiffness colonoscope, gastroscope, and inhalation of nitrous oxide or insufflation of carbon dioxide, hypnosis, music, audio distraction, or simply allowing the patients to participate in administration of the medication. Research focusing on confirming the efficacy of a simple inexpensive nonmedication dependent method for minimizing discomfort will likely improve the outcome of care and more importantly will ensure compliance with future surveillance in patients accepting the unsedated option.

Dig Dis Sci. 2007 Nov 13

Leung FW.

Research and Medical Services, Sepulveda Ambulatory Care Center, VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System and David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA.

Susan Fox is an internationally known, accomplished and highly respected hypnotherapist, trainer and writer. She is certified by the Hypnotism Training Institute of Los Angeles. Susan writes a column called Hypnotherapy Scripting for the National Guild of Hypnotists, the world's largest professional hypnosis organization. Susan received the 1998 international Hypnosis Hall of Fame's Woman of The Year award. She was nominated to receive the 1998 Sealah Award and Induction into the International Hypnosis Hall of Fame.

For more information visit: www.SleepWhileSomeOneElseSnore.com

Taiji (T'ai Chi) has been shown to have generally positive effects on functional balance. However, few studies have investigated the mechanisms by which Taiji may improve balance. The goal of this study was to evaluate changes in sensory and biomechanical balance mechanisms as a consequence of a traditional Taiji exercise program for healthy older adults that intentionally emphasized both Taiji forms and Qigong meditation. MATERIAL/METHODS: This was a randomized controlled trial with blind testers. Forty-nine healthy older adults (mean age 80.4, SD. 8.6) were randomized to participate in Taiji-Qigong (TQ) training (N=33) or a wait-list control group (WC, N=16). TQ instruction was provided 1 hour/session, 3 sessions a week for six months. Somatosensory, visual, and vestibular ratios of the Sensory Organization Test, and quiet stance Base of Support (BoS) and feet opening angle measures were collected prior to instruction (T0), at two months (T2), and six months (T6). RESULTS: TQ group vestibular ratio scores (normalized to T0) were +22% and +47% greater than WC at T2 and T6, respectively. The TQ group exhibited an increase in quiet stance BoS over time but not feet opening angle, indicating that the increase in BoS was due to the adoption of wider stances. CONCLUSIONS: Improved use of vestibular input and wider stances are two mechanisms by which Taiji-Qigong training may improve healthy older adults' balance. Further study is needed to evaluate other balance mechanisms and the individual and combined effects of different aspects of traditional Taiji practice.

Med Sci Monit. 2007 Aug;13(8):CR339-48. Yang Y, Verkuilen JV, Rosengren KS, Grubisich SA, Reed MR, Hsiao-Wecksler ET. Department of Kinesiology and Community Health, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA. yyang5@uiuc.edu

Meditation practices have various health benefits including the possibility of preserving cognition and preventing dementia. While the mechanisms remain investigational, studies show that meditation may affect multiple pathways that could play a role in brain aging and mental fitness. For example, medication may reduce stress-induced cortisol secretion and this could have neuroprotective effects potentially via elevating levels of brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). Meditation may also potentially have beneficial effects on lipid profiles and lower oxidative stress, both of which could in turn reduce the risk for cerebrovascular disease and age-related neurodegeneration. Further, meditation may potentially strengthen neuronal circuits and enhance cognitive reserve capacity. These are the theoretical basis for how medication might enhance longevity and optimal health. Evidence to support a neuroprotective effect comes from cognitive, electroencephalogram (EEG), and structural neuroimaging studies. In one cross-sectional study, meditation practioners were found to have a lower age-related decline in thickness of specific cortical regions. However, the enthusiasm must be balanced by the inconsistency and preliminary nature of existing studies as well as the fact that meditation comprises a heterogenous group of practices. Key future challenges include the isolation of a potential common element in the different meditation modalities, replication of existing findings in larger randomized trials, determining the correct "dose," studying whether findings from expert practioners are generalizable to a wider population, and better control of confounding genetic, dietary and lifestyle influences.

Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2007 Sep 28 Doraiswamy PM, Xiong GL. Psychiatry, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina, United States.

Richard Neves Ph.D. is a versatile and experienced expert in indirect induction methods, having been in the field of hypnotherapy for 25+ years. Dr. Neves is a Certified NLP Trainer and a Certified Spiritual Counselor, with a rich background in holistic healthcare.

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Many people with schizophrenia continue to experience symptoms despite conventional treatments being used. Alternative therapies such as hypnosis, in conjunction with conventional treatments, may be helpful. OBJECTIVES: To investigate the use of hypnosis for people with schizophrenia or schizophrenia-like illnesses compared with standard care and other interventions. SEARCH STRATEGY: We searched the Cochrane Schizophrenia Group's Register (October 2006), contacted the Cochrane Complementary Medicine Field for additional searching (January 2003), hand searched references of included or excluded studies and made personal contact with authors of relevant trials. SELECTION CRITERIA: We included all randomised or double blind controlled trials that compared hypnosis with other treatments or standard care for people with schizophrenia. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: We reliably selected studies, quality assessed them and extracted data. We excluded data where more than 50% of participants in any group were lost to follow up. For binary outcomes we calculated a fixed effects risk ratio (RR) and its 95% confidence interval (CI). MAIN RESULTS: We included three studies (total n=149). When hypnosis was compared with standard treatment no one left the studies between 1-8 weeks (n=70, 2 RCTs, Risk Difference 0.00 CI -0.09 to 0.09). Mental state scores were unaffected (n=60, 1 RCT, MD BPRS by one week -3.6 CI -12.05 to 4.8) as were measures of movement disorders and neurocognitive function. Compared with relaxation, hypnosis was also acceptable (n=106, 3 RCTs, RR leaving the study early 2.00 CI 0.2 to 2.15) and had no discernable effect on mental state (n=60, 1 RCT, MD BPRS by one week -3.4 CI -11.4 to 4.6), movement disorders or neurocognitive function. Hypnosis was as acceptable as music (Sibelius) by four weeks (n=36, RR leaving the study early 5.0, CI 0.3 to 97.4). AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: The studies in this field are few, small, poorly reported and outdated. Hypnosis could be helpful for people with schizophrenia. If we are to find this out, better designed, conducted and reported randomised studies are required. This current update has not revealed any new studies in this area since 2003.

Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2007 Oct 17;(4):CD004160. Izquierdo de Santiago A, Khan M.

The entropy metric derived from information theory provides a means to quantify the amount of information transmitted in acoustic streams like speech or music. By systematically varying the entropy of pitch sequences, we sought brain areas where neural activity and energetic demands increase as a function of entropy. Such a relationship is predicted to occur in an efficient encoding mechanism that uses less computational resource when less information is present in the signal: we specifically tested the hypothesis that such a relationship is present in the planum temporale (PT). In two convergent functional MRI studies, we demonstrated this relationship in PT for encoding, while furthermore showing that a distributed fronto-parietal network for retrieval of acoustic information is independent of entropy. The results establish PT as an efficient neural engine that demands less computational resource to encode redundant signals than those with high information content.

PLoS Biol. 2007 Oct 23;5(11):e288 Overath T, Cusack R, Kumar S, von Kriegstein K, Warren JD, Grube M, Carlyon RP, Griffiths TD.

The majority of the Thai population is Buddhists and Buddhism has a great deal of influence on their mind, character, way of life, and health, particularly mental health. According to the Four Noble Truths (Cattari ariyasaccani), suicide is a form of suffering that is originated from craving (Tanha). Therefore, human beings cannot avoid suffering by taking their own lives, nor do they escape from "the wheel of suffering" by doing so. Moreover, the consequence of suicide is a rebirth in the woeful planes of existence, and hence further suffering endlessly. From the present study, the Buddhist approach to suicide prevention can be considered in the following areas: 1) Buddhist attitude toward suicide, 2) faith and confidence in life after death, 3) providing monks with general knowledge and understanding about suicide and life after death, 4) early identification of mental disorders, persons at risk of suicide and prompt referral to appropriate mental health professionals, 5) control of access to instruments of suicide, 6) control of alcohol and drug abuse, 7) prevention of HIV infection, 8) responsible media reporting and 9) practice of meditation.

J Med Assoc Thai. 2007 Aug;90(8):1680-8. Disayavanish C, Disayavanish P. Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand.

Researchers from the Department of Psychiatry at Yale University School of Medicine compared the effectiveness of disulfiram (Antabuse) with placebo medication as well as against Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT) in reducing cocaine use in a randomized, placebo-controlled, double blinded (regarding the meds) design.

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This study aims at investigating changes in heart rate variability (HRV) measured during meditation. The statistical and spectral measures of HRV from the RR intervals were analyzed. Results indicate that meditation may have different effects on health depending on frequency of the resonant peak that each meditator can achieve. The possible effects may concern resetting baroreflex sensitivity, increasing the parasympathetic tone, and improving efficiency of gas exchange in the lung.

Int J Cardiol. 2007 Aug 29 Phongsuphap S, Pongsupap Y, Chandanamattha P, Lursinsap C. Department of Computer Science, Faculty of Science, Mahidol University, Rama 6 road, Ratchathewi, Bangkok 10400, Thailand.

CAM therapies have become increasingly popular in pediatric populations. Yet, little is known about children's preferences for CAM. This study examined treatment preferences in chronic pediatric pain patients offered a choice of CAM therapies for their pain. Participants were 129 children (94 girls) (mean age = 14.5 years +/- 2.4; range = 8-18 years) presenting at a multidisciplinary, tertiary clinic specializing in pediatric chronic pain. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were used to examine the relationships between CAM treatment preferences and patient's sociodemographic and clinical characteristics, as well as their self-reported level of functioning. Over 60% of patients elected to try at least one CAM approach for pain. The most popular CAM therapies were biofeedback, yoga and hypnosis; the least popular were art therapy and energy healing, with craniosacral, acupuncture and massage being intermediate. Patients with a diagnosis of fibromyalgia (80%) were the most likely to try CAM versus those with other pain diagnoses. In multivariate analyses, pain duration emerged as a significant predictor of CAM preferences. For mind-based approaches (i.e. hypnosis, biofeedback and art therapy), pain duration and limitations in family activities were both significant predictors. When given a choice of CAM therapies, this sample of children with chronic pain, irrespective of pain diagnosis, preferred non-invasive approaches that enhanced relaxation and increased somatic control. Longer duration of pain and greater impairment in functioning, particularly during family activities increased the likelihood that such patients agreed to engage in CAM treatments, especially those that were categorized as mind-based modalities.

Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2007 Sep;4(3):367-74. Tsao JC, Meldrum M, Kim SC, Jacob MC, Zeltzer LK. Pediatric Pain Program, Department of Pediatrics, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, John C. Liebeskind History of Pain Collection, Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library, UCLA and Department of History, UCLA USA.

by Steven R. Vazquez, Ph.D.

(This is an abstract from an article which appeared in Subtle Energies & Energy Medicine Volume Seventeen, Number Two)

New breakthroughs in the use of color as a healing agent for rapid recovery of trauma, depression, physical pain and spiritual blockages have elevated the power of color for healing. These historical, religious and neurophysiological contexts of color are reviewed herein. Then factors of length of viewing time, brightness, saturation, visual depth perception, angle of viewing, hue, strobic emission and the emotional state of the subject at the time of viewing are elaborated as critical issues that amplify therapeutic effects. When these factors are combines with the recent findings of interpersonal neurobiology to facilitate processes with color a new synthesis for rapid transformation is achieved.

Steven Vazquez 1241 Southridge Court, Suite 105. Hurst, TX 76053 srv@lightworkassociates.com

For more information visit www.LightWorkAssociated.com.

Marilyn Gordon is a hypnotherapist, teacher, healer and author from Oakland CA. She is the director of the Center for Hypnotherapy Certification and the author of the book Extraordinary Healing: Transforming Your Consciousness, Your Energy System, and Your Life.

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