The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of familiar live music on the anxiety levels of patients undergoing chemotherapy treatment. Randomly selected patients were assigned to experimental (n = 25) and control (n = 25) conditions. Pre and posttests consisted of questionnaires and the recording of the patient's heart rate and blood pressures. Subjects in the experimental group received 20 minutes of familiar live music during their chemotherapy treatment. Subjects in the control group received standard chemotherapy. It was assumed that those patients receiving music intervention would: (a) lower their anxiety levels; (b) experience a decrease in heart rate and blood pressure; (c) improve their levels of negative reactions including fatigue, worry, and fear; and (d) improve their levels of positive reactions including comfort and relaxation. Results of the study showed statistically significant improvement for the experimental group on the measures of anxiety, fear, fatigue, relaxation, and diastolic blood pressure. No significant differences between groups were found for heart rate and systolic blood pressure. Descriptive values indicated that, on average, the experimental group was influenced positively by the music intervention, and participants improved their quality of life while undergoing chemotherapy treatment.

J Music Ther. 2007 Fall;44(3):242-55. Ferrer AJ. The Florida State University, Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare, USA.

Due to the assistant characteristic of the emergency service, the health professional experiences countless situations that generate anxiety. This study aimed to learn the professionals' perception about the presence of classical music in the working environment. The sample was composed of 49 professionals of the adult emergency department of a medium sized private hospital. The data were collected through a questionnaire to evaluate the professional's perception. The results showed that 78% of the professionals noticed alteration in the atmosphere when the music was present, 41% believed that the music altered their personal performance; 85% believed it altered their performance in a positive way and 15% in a negative way. Regarding the musical repertoire, 61% of the individuals affirmed they enjoyed the selection, 96% believed that the ambient music should be kept, while 76% of the interviewees suggested other musical genres.

Rev Lat Am Enfermagem. 2007 May-Jun;15(3):377-83. Gatti MF, da Silva MJ. Adult Emergency Medical Services, Hospital Samaritano, and University of São Paulo, College of Nursing, Brazil. maria.gatti@samaritano.com.br

Stephen Gilligan, Ph.D., is a licensed Psychologist practicing in Encinitas, CA. Stephen was among the group of students that gathered around the founders of NLP during its formation at U.C. Santa Cruz from 1974-1977. Milton Erickson and Gregory Bateson became his teachers and mentors.

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Discounting rates vary as a function of commodity type. Previous studies suggest five potential characteristics of the commodity that could explain these differences: type of reinforcer (primary or secondary), if the commodity is perishable, if the commodity is satiable, if the commodity can be directly consumed, and immediacy of consumption. This paper suggests that these characteristics may best be viewed as related to a more fundamental characteristic: metabolic processing. In order to explore the possibility that metabolic processing underlies changes in discount rates, the difference in discounting between food, money, music CDs, DVDs, and books are compared. Music CDs, DVDs, and books share many characteristics in common with food, including gaining value through a physiological process, but are not directly metabolized. Results are consistent with previous findings of commodity specific discount rates and show that metabolic function plays a role in determining discount rates with those commodities that are metabolized being discounted at a higher rate. These results are interpreted as evidence that the discount rate for different commodities lies along a continuum with those that serve an exchange function rather than a direct function (money) anchoring the low end and those that serve a direct metabolic function capping the high end (food, alcohol, drugs).

Behav Processes. 2007 Aug 30 Charlton SR, Fantino E. University of California, San Diego, United States.

Award-winning, Board Certified Hypnotist Tom Nicoli is a published author, public speaker, expert witness, trainer and innovator in the industry of hypnotism.

Nearing his 20th anniversary as an internationally trained Hypnotist, Tom's practice has helped clients from every walk of life tackle some of life's most complex behavioral and physical challenges with profound results.

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Kevin Alderson has a Ph.D. from the University of Alberta in counselling psychology. His dissertation was based on interviews with gay men with positive identities. Kevin has a master's degree in clinical psychology. His experience with hypnosis spans 20 years. From 1982 to 1992, he maintained an active part-time private practice in hypnotherapy. He has frequently used hypnosis with students, and he has offered many groups and workshops teaching students how to use self-hypnosis to improve their grades.

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Hypnosis as a therapeutic technique bears potential risks when carried out inexpertly. Because of this, Israel was the first to legislate hypnosis. This study examines the current state of clinical hypnosis practice in Israel. A questionnaire was sent to 470 licensed hypnotists and 1250 unlicensed professionals; 478 (25.7%) of the 1720 potential respondents returned the questionnaires. Of these, 249 (51.8%) were licensed hypnotists, and 232 (48.2%) were unlicensed. Of the unlicensed professionals, 45% reported practicing hypnosis; 50% of them practice hypnosis with adolescents and 41.2% with children. Many of them practice hypnosis in public clinics (71.6%). Of the licensed professionals, 94.4% reported practicing hypnosis in the course of their clinical work. The authors conclude that great number of unlicensed hypnotists carry on clinical practice of hypnosis and suggest steps to increase the efficiency of the law as part of a regulatory system.

Int J Clin Exp Hypn. 2008 Jan;56(1):47-62.

Aviv A, Dalia G, Gaby G, Kobi P.

Abarbanel Mental Health Center and Sackler School of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel.

Jim Zinger, CSP Professional speaker, founder of Hypmovation Inc. and author. Jim pioneered Self-hypnosis in the Corporate Marketplace 39 years ago and more than 50,000 people graduated his Life Enrichment Though Self Hypnosis training in his first 10 years of business. His seminars and workshops have been presented to a range of firms that are listed in Who's Who of fortune 500 companies.

As a long time member of the National Speakers Association and Gold Coast Speakers located in Southern California Jim has received the prestigious designation as a Certified Speaking Professional.

Certified Medical Hypnotherapist and Mental Coach addressing medical issues of cancer support, hypertension, childbirth preparation, phobias, and pain management and non-medical issues of sports enhancement, slump-busting,healing "mental scars" of past injuries, exercise motivation, accelerated learning, and internalized racism. Employs modalities of Ericksonian hypnosis, direct suggestion, NLP, applied sports psychology, transpersonal and cross-cultural therapies. Certified as a Transpersonal Hypnotherapy Trainer (NATH), Neuro-Linguistic Healing Instructor (NFNLP) and Medical Hypnotherapy Trainer (IMDHA).

Offers training in M.E.N.T.A.L. Games for Sports Enhancement, Transpersonal Medical Hypnotherapy, and Neuro-Linguistic Healing.

For more information visit: www.AEIHypnosis.com

His addrress: Post Office Box 870909, Stone Mountain, 30087 877/HYPNOTX (Toll-free)

This study hypothesized that hypnosis would enhance thought suppression by minimizing the effect of cognitive load. Twenty-eight high and 29 low hypnotizable hypnotized participants received the cognitive load of learning a 6-digit number. Participants then received either a suppression instruction or no instruction for a personal memory of a failure experience. Thought-suppression effectiveness was indexed by measures of self-report monitoring, competition of scrambled sentences, and facial electromyography. Low hypnotizable participants who received the suppression instruction displayed postsuppression rebound on the sentence-unscrambling task. In contrast, high hypnotizable participants did not display any rebound effects. These findings support the proposition that hypnosis facilitates thought suppression.

Int J Clin Exp Hypn. 2008 Jan;56(1):37-46.

Bryant RA, Sindicich N.

University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.

Percussionists inadvertently use visual information to strategically manipulate audience perception of note duration. Videos of long (L) and short (S) notes performed by a world-renowned percussionist were separated into visual (Lv, Sv) and auditory (La, Sa) components. Visual components contained only the gesture used to perform the note, auditory components the acoustic note itself. Audio and visual components were then crossed to create realistic musical stimuli. Participants were informed of the mismatch, and asked to rate note duration of these audio-visual pairs based on sound alone. Ratings varied based on visual (Lv versus Sv), but not auditory (La versus Sa) components. Therefore while longer gestures do not make longer notes, longer gestures make longer sounding notes through the integration of sensory information. This finding contradicts previous research showing that audition dominates temporal tasks such as duration judgment.

Perception. 2007;36(6):888-97. Schutz M, Lipscomb S. School of Music, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA. schutz@virginia.edu

Mr. Dilts has been a developer, author, trainer and consultant in the field of Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP)--a model of human behavior, learning and communication-- since its creation in 1975 by John Grinder and Richard Bandler. A long time student and colleague of both Grinder and Bandler, Mr. Dilts also studied personally with Milton H. Erickson, M.D., and Gregory Bateson. In addition to spearheading the applications of NLP to education, creativity, health, and leadership, his personal contributions to the field of NLP include much of the seminal work on the NLP techniques of Strategies and Belief Systems, and the development of what has become known as 'Systemic NLP'. Some of his techniques and models include: Reimprinting, Integration of Conflicting Beliefs, Sleight of Mouth Patterns, The Spelling Strategy, The Allergy Technique, Neuro-Logical Levels, The Belief Change Cycle, Generative NLP Patterns, the Unified Field Theory for NLP and many others.

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Over the past 70 years there has been solid scientific research behind brainwave entrainment. In are pharmacological-oriented medical culture, it has not been emphasized as much as it should for its medical and psychological value. While light and sound has been emphasized traditionally, the role of the human voice has heretofore been ignored. Using the vocal talents of competent hypnotists as an entrainment device offers some intriguing avenues for further research and discussion.

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Daniel F. Cleary, is an internationally recognized, certified Hypnosis Instructor and a certified Master Practitioner of NeuroLinguistic Psychology. Teaching Hypnosis and Hypnotic Techniques throughout the United States and Europe to Doctors, Psychologists, Therapists and other Hypnotists, his specialties include Pain Relief and Personal Transformation.

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INTRODUCTION: Despite current research interest in delusional beliefs, there are no viable models for studying delusions in the laboratory. However, hypnosis offers a technique for creating transient delusions that are resistant to challenge. The aim of this study was to develop an hypnotic analogue of one important delusion, mirrored-self misidentification. METHODS: Twelve high hypnotisable participants received an hypnotic suggestion to see either a stranger in the mirror, a mirror as a window, or a mirror as a window with a view to a stranger. Participants' deluded beliefs were challenged, and following hypnosis, Sheehan and McConkey's (1982) Experiential Analysis Technique was used to explore participants' phenomenological experience of the delusion. RESULTS: The majority of participants did not recognise their reflection in the mirror, described the person in the mirror as having different physical characteristics to themselves, and maintained their delusion when challenged. CONCLUSIONS: The hypnotic suggestion created a credible, compelling delusion with features strikingly similar to clinical cases of mirrored-self misidentification. Our findings suggest that Factor 2 within Langdon and Coltheart's (2000) two-factor framework may involve a lowering of the criteria used to accept or reject delusional hypotheses.

Cognit Neuropsychiatry. 2008 Sep;13(5):406-30. Barnier AJ, Cox RE, O'Connor A, Coltheart M, Langdon R, Breen N, Turner M. Macquarie Centre for Cognitive Science, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia. abarnier@maccs.mq.edu.au

Doug's interest in hypnosis began when, as a ten year old, he discovered a book on hypnosis. From that day on he has been constantly studying hypnosis and attending stage hypnosis shows. He began to use self-hypnosis twenty seven years ago to increase his concentration and retain a relaxed and calm attitude.

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Somatosensory event-related potentials (SERPs) to painful electric standard stimuli under an odd-ball paradigm were analyzed in 12 high hypnotizable (HH), 12 medium hypnotizable (MH), and 12 low hypnotizable (LH) subjects during waking, hypnosis, and a cued eyes-open posthypnotic condition. In each of these conditions subjects were suggested to produce an obstructive imagery of stimulus perception as a treatment for pain reduction. A No-Analgesia treatment served as a control in waking and hypnosis conditions. The subjects were required to count the number of delivered target stimuli. HH subjects experienced significant pain and distress reductions during posthypnotic analgesia as compared to hypnotic analgesia and between these two analgesic conditions as compared to the two control conditions. Outside of hypnosis, these subjects remembered less pain and distress levels than they reported during hypnotic and posthypnotic analgesia treatments. In contrast, for waking-analgesia treatment, HH subjects remembered similar pain and distress levels to those they reported concurrently with the stimulation. HH subjects, during hypnotic and posthypnotic analgesia treatments, detected a smaller number of target stimuli and displayed a significant amplitude reduction of the midline frontal and central N140 and P200 SERP components. No significant SERP differences were observed for these subjects between treatments in waking condition and between hypnotic and posthypnotic analgesic treatments. For the MH and LH subjects no significant N140 and P200 amplitude changes were observed among analgesic conditions as compared to control conditions. These amplitude findings are seen as indicating that hypnotic analgesia can affect earlier and later stages of stimulus processing.

Pain. 2007 Nov 17

De Pascalis V, Cacace I, Massicolle F.

University of Rome "La sapienza", Department of Psychology, Via dei Marsi 78, 00185 Rome, Italy.

This study investigated the effect of music listening for performance on a 25-question portion of the analytical section of the Graduate Record Exam by 72 undergraduate students (M age 21.9 yr.). Five levels of an auditory condition were based on Mozart Piano Sonata No. 3 (K. 281), Movement I (Allegro); a rhythm excerpt; a melody excerpt; traffic sounds; and silence. Participants were randomly assigned to one of the stimuli. After a 5-min., 43-sec. (length of the first Allegro movement) listening period, participants answered the questions. Analysis indicated participants achieved significantly higher mean scores after all auditory conditions than those in the silent condition. No statistically significant pairwise mean difference appeared between scores for the auditory conditions. Findings were interpreted in terms of an arousal framework, suggesting the higher means in all auditory conditions may reflect immediate exposure to auditory stimuli.

Percept Mot Skills. 2008 Oct;107(2):396-402. Roth EA, Smith KH. Western Michigan University, Neurologic Music Therapy, 1903 W. Michigan Avenue, Kalamazoo, MI 49008, USA. edward.roth@wmich.edu

You have always heard that "practice makes perfect." Have you wondered why? It might just be related to the synaptic plasticity of the brain. How many times does a thought need to be repeated before it becomes sufficient hard wired into the brain?

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Hypnosis has been commonly recognized as an effective intervention in the treatment of obsessions, compulsions, and addictions. It may not be for the reasons that we normally think. Too often efficacious findings are coupled with head scratching admissions pertaining to the lack of understanding of the causality. Modern findings and recent discoveries by neuroscientists may open the door for understanding the relationship between hypnosis and the treatment of addictions. Suggestions of relaxation and slow, calm breathing as promoted by hypnosis, meditation, and yoga are significant factors in the treatment of addictions.

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To explore the hypothesis that nontouch therapy such as therapeutic touch (TT) reduces stress to a clinically important degree and is safe to use in preterm infants. DESIGN: A pilot randomized, double-blind, controlled trial. SUBJECTS: Two groups of 10 infants were enrolled and randomly assigned to treatment or nontreatment groups. Gestational age was less than 29 weeks. Demographic descriptions of the 2 groups were statistically similar. METHODS: The observer and staff were blinded to assignment; the TT practitioner was blinded to observed measurements. Each infant received either TT or no therapeutic touch (NTT) for 5 minutes on 3 consecutive days at the same time of day, behind a curtain. Heart period variability (HPV) was measured 5 minutes before, during, and after the treatment phase. RESULTS: Examination of the parameters of oxygen saturation and episodes of apnea demonstrated no increase in adverse events in TT group compared with NTT group. Repeated-measures multivariate analysis of variance on HPV revealed differences in the interaction of group assignment with low-frequency, high-frequency, and low-to-high- frequency ratio interaction (F2,143 = 8.076, P = .000) and for group, day, and low-frequency, high-frequency, and low-to-high-frequency ratio (F2,288 = 3.146, P = .015), and in the posttreatment time period (F1,16 = 6.259, P = .024), reflective of greater parasympathetic activity in TT group. CONCLUSION: In this pilot trial, HPV showed an increase for the TT group compared with the NTT group. The study reveals no adverse effects of TT in preterm infants.

Adv Neonatal Care. 2008 Dec;8(6):315-33. Whitley JA, Rich BL. Neonatal Nurseries, McMaster Children's Hospital, Hamilton Health Sciences, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

When we listen to rhythm, we often move spontaneously to the beat. This movement may result from processing of the beat by motor areas. Previous studies have shown that several motor areas respond when attending to rhythms. Here we investigate whether specific motor regions respond to beat in rhythm. We predicted that the basal ganglia and supplementary motor area (SMA) would respond in the presence of a regular beat. To establish what rhythm properties induce a beat, we asked subjects to reproduce different types of rhythmic sequences. Improved reproduction was observed for one rhythm type, which had integer ratio relationships between its intervals and regular perceptual accents. A subsequent functional magnetic resonance imaging study found that these rhythms also elicited higher activity in the basal ganglia and SMA. This finding was consistent across different levels of musical training, although musicians showed activation increases unrelated to rhythm type in the premotor cortex, cerebellum, and SMAs (pre-SMA and SMA). We conclude that, in addition to their role in movement production, the basal ganglia and SMAs may mediate beat perception.

J Cogn Neurosci. 2007 May;19(5):893-906. Grahn JA, Brett M. MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, Cambridge, UK. Jessica.grahn@mrc-cbu.cam.ac.uk

Headache is one of the most common and enigmatic problems encountered by family physicians. Headache is not a singular entity, and different pathologic mechanisms are involved in distinct types of headache. Most types of headache involve dysfunction of peripheral or central nociceptive mechanisms. Mind-body therapies such as biofeedback, cognitive behavior therapy, hypnosis, meditation, and relaxation training can affect neural substrates and have been shown to be effective treatments for various types of headache. Meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials show that the use of mind-body therapies, alone or in combination, significantly reduces symptoms of migraine, tension, and mixed-type headaches. Side effects generally are minimal and transient.

Sierpina V, Astin J, Giordano J.

University of Texas Medical Center, Galveston, Texas, USA. vssierpi@utmb.edu

Am Fam Physician. 2007 Nov 15

A qualified hypnotherapist and for over 20 years of experience in the medical field, Kim has seen the results of hypnotherapy first-hand and knows how it can be used to effectively help people overcome a variety of issues. Kim is a Certified Medical Hypnotherapist with over 300 hours of specialized training.

In addition, Kim is committed to continuing education programs and is actively involved with various organizations, including the Clinical Care Network Professional Group, Clinical Hypnosis Institute and the International Medical and Dental Hypnotherapy Association and is an international educator.

For more information visit: http://www.hypnotherapy-michigan.com.

Book Review by Tim Brunson DCH

by Gregg Braden

When I read The Divine Matrix: Bridging Time, Space, Miracles and Belief by Gregg Braden for the second time, I still had not come to the conclusion if he was merely connecting the dots of the scientific discoveries of the past 70 years or if this book actually had any merit as a contribution. In many ways I saw the similarities between this book and Lynne McTaggart's The Field. Both authors seem to quote much of the same research and come to the same conclusions, while using somewhat different terminology (e.g., the Matrix versus the Zero Point Field).

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Scott McFall is a graduate of the American Institute of Hypnotherapy, Irvine, CA and holds their Advanced Certificate and Doctor of Clinical Hypnotherapy degree. He has a Clinical Certification and Master of Demonstrational Hypnosis from the National Guild of Hypnotists. He was certified by the National Board of Hypnosis in 1993 and is also registered and certified wih the American Board of Hypnotists. Dr. McFall was honored in 1998 as both a nominee and a presenter at the International Hypnosis Hall of Fame in Philadelphia, PA. He has been a presenter for the National Guild of Hypnotists and a vendor at the American Board of Hypnotherapy conference. Scott McFall was has been named, "#1 Hypnosis Trainer in the World Today", 1996 by the publisher of the (HBJ)Trade Journal. Dr. McFall has established a chain of five hypnosis clinics in the upper midwest, all of which he has sold and are still in operation by hypnotists he personally trained.

For more information visit: www.hypnosisconnection.com

OBJECTIVES: To review and synthesize the state of research on a variety of meditation practices, including: the specific meditation practices examined; the research designs employed and the conditions and outcomes examined; the efficacy and effectiveness of different meditation practices for the three most studied conditions; the role of effect modifiers on outcomes; and the effects of meditation on physiological and neuropsychological outcomes. DATA SOURCES: Comprehensive searches were conducted in 17 electronic databases of medical and psychological literature up to September 2005. Other sources of potentially relevant studies included hand searches, reference tracking, contact with experts, and gray literature searches. REVIEW METHODS: A Delphi method was used to develop a set of parameters to describe meditation practices. Included studies were comparative, on any meditation practice, had more than 10 adult participants, provided quantitative data on health-related outcomes, and published in English. Two independent reviewers assessed study relevance, extracted the data and assessed the methodological quality of the studies. RESULTS: Five broad categories of meditation practices were identified (Mantra meditation, Mindfulness meditation, Yoga, Tai Chi, and Qi Gong). Characterization of the universal or supplemental components of meditation practices was precluded by the theoretical and terminological heterogeneity among practices. Evidence on the state of research in meditation practices was provided in 813 predominantly poor-quality studies. The three most studied conditions were hypertension, other cardiovascular diseases, and substance abuse. Sixty-five intervention studies examined the therapeutic effect of meditation practices for these conditions. Meta-analyses based on low-quality studies and small numbers of hypertensive participants showed that TM(R), Qi Gong and Zen Buddhist meditation significantly reduced blood pressure. Yoga helped reduce stress. Yoga was no better than Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction at reducing anxiety in patients with cardiovascular diseases. No results from substance abuse studies could be combined. The role of effect modifiers in meditation practices has been neglected in the scientific literature. The physiological and neuropsychological effects of meditation practices have been evaluated in 312 poor-quality studies. Meta-analyses of results from 55 studies indicated that some meditation practices produced significant changes in healthy participants. CONCLUSIONS: Many uncertainties surround the practice of meditation. Scientific research on meditation practices does not appear to have a common theoretical perspective and is characterized by poor methodological quality. Firm conclusions on the effects of meditation practices in healthcare cannot be drawn based on the available evidence. Future research on meditation practices must be more rigorous in the design and execution of studies and in the analysis and reporting of results.

Evid Rep Technol Assess (Full Rep). 2007 Jun;(155):1-263. Ospina MB, Bond K, Karkhaneh M, Tjosvold L, Vandermeer B, Liang Y, Bialy L, Hooton N, Buscemi N, Dryden DM, Klassen TP.

Julie Lusk is president of Wholesome Resources, a company that believes stress management, wellness promotion, and mind-body techniques and strategies are indispensable to thrive in today's world and essential for personal and professional growth.

Wholesome Resources offers training, workshops, coaching, writing and recording services to businesses, organizations, groups and individuals

For more information visit: www.wholesomeresources.com

A book review by Tim Brunson DCH

Thinking Thin: D.E.P.T.H. of Behavior is a cute and enjoyable-to-read small book by one of hypnosis' master marketers, Tom Nicoli. He spends a large portion of the book eloquently expressing his opinion about the current obesity epidemic facing the Western world. Then he presents a well-communicated explanation about how self-hypnosis can be easily performed by the reader.

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Michael R "Ron" Eslinger, Captain, USN, Retired RN, CRNA, MA, APN, BCH, CI,

Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist, Master of Arts, Board Certified Hypnotherapists, Certified Instructor of Hypnosis

Ron Eslinger, Owner and CEO of Healthy Visions Wellness Center, Oak Ridge, Tennessee was nominated by the Department of the Navy to Represent the Department of Defense as Ex-Officio member to the National Institutes of Health's Health Service's Committee on Complementary and Alternative Medicine and the National Guild of Hypnotist's receiver of the Researcher of the Year award for 2003. He graduated from St. Mary's nursing school Knoxville, TN, in 1970 and completed Nurse Anesthesia training at the University of Tennessee in 1974. Certified in Hypnotherapy in 1978. He received his BS degree in Professional Arts from Saint Joseph's College in Wenham, Main, and his Masters Degree in Foreign Affairs for National Defense and Strategic Studies from the United States Naval War College, Newport, RI in 1994.

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A book review by Tim Brunson DCH

Ironically, I met Roger Moore for the first time at a Southern California Mexican fast-food restaurant. I remember that I was having a not-so-healthy burrito, I don't remember what he had, but I'm sure that it was healthier. He was presenting the Slender for Life^TM at a nearby hotel. Since then I've come to know him as true transformational master who actually was the beneficiary of his teachings and beliefs.

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Ronald Havens is a Professor of Psychology at the University of Illinois at Springfield where he has taught for the past 30 years. Throughout that time he also has conducted a part time private practice, written and spoken extensively on the therapeutic uses of hypnosis, and led numerous professional training workshops.

Mindfulness is defined as paying attention in the present moment. We investigate the hypothesis that mindfulness training may alter or enhance specific aspects of attention. We examined three functionally and neuroanatomically distinct but overlapping attentional subsystems: alerting, orienting, and conflict monitoring. Functioning of each subsystem was indexed by performance on the Attention Network Test. Two types of mindfulness training (MT) programs were examined, and behavioral testing was conducted on participants before (Time 1) and after (Time 2) training. One training group consisted of individuals naive to mindfulness techniques who participated in an 8-week mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) course that emphasized the development of concentrative meditation skills. The other training group consisted of individuals experienced in concentrative meditation techniques who participated in a 1-month intensive mindfulness retreat. Performance of these groups was compared with that of control participants who were meditation naive and received no MT. At Time 1, the participants in the retreat group demonstrated improved conflict monitoring performance relative to those in the MBSR and control groups. At Time 2, the participants in the MBSR course demonstrated significantly improved orienting in comparison with the control and retreat participants. In contrast, the participants in the retreat group demonstrated altered performance on the alerting component, with improvements in exogenous stimulus detection in comparison with the control and MBSR participants. The groups did not differ in conflict monitoring performance at Time 2. These results suggest that mindfulness training may improve attention-related behavioral responses by enhancing functioning of specific subcomponents of attention. Whereas participation in the MBSR course improved the ability to endogenously orient attention, retreat participation appeared to allow for the development and emergence of receptive attentional skills, which improved exogenous alerting-related process.

Cogn Affect Behav Neurosci. 2007 Jun;7(2):109-19. Jha AP, Krompinger J, Baime MJ. Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA. apjha@psych.upenn.edu

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.