An Evaluation of the Ability to Voluntarily Reduce the Heart Rate after a Month of Yoga Practice

The study aimed at determining whether novices to yoga would be able to reduce their heart rate voluntarily and whether the magnitude of reduction would be more after 30 days of yoga training. Two groups (yoga and control, n = 12 each) were assessed on Day 1 and on Day 30. During the intervening 30 days, the yoga group received training in yoga techniques while the control group carried on with their routine. At each assessment the baseline heart rate was recorded for one minute, this was followed by a six-minute period during which participants were asked to attempt to voluntarily reduce their heart rate, using any strategy. Both the baseline heart rate and the lowest heart rate achieved voluntarily during the six-minute period were significantly lower in the yoga group on Day 30 compared to Day 1 by a group average of 10.7 beats per minute (i.e., bpm) and 6.8 bpm, respectively (p < .05, Wilcoxon paired signed ranks test). In contrast, there was no significant change in either the baseline heart rate or the lowest heart rate achieved voluntarily in the control group on Day 30 compared to Day 1. The results suggest that yoga training can enable practitioners to use their own strategies to reduce the heart rate, which has possible therapeutic applications.     

Operant conditioning of large magnitude, 12-hour duration,heart rate elevations in the baboon

Two baboons were prepared with arterial and venous catheters and their heart rate and blood pressure were monitored continuously thereafter. Following a 2 to 3 week interval during which baseline cardiovascular levels were determined, the animals were exposed to daily 12 hr conditioning sessions (alternating with 12-hr “rest” or “Conditioning Off’ sessions) during which food reward and shockavoidance were programmed as contingent consequences of pre-specified increases in heart rate. Initially, the criterion heart rate was set at 10–15 bpm above the animal’s pre-experimental resting baseline level, with progressive increases programmed to occur at a rate approximating 7 bpm per week over a period of 8–10 weeks. Within this 2–3 month interval, heart rate doubled, reaching levels maintained above 160 bpm for more than 95 per cent of each daily 12-hour “Conditioning On” period. Propranolol selectively eliminated the conditioned heart rate increase but not the blood pressure elevation, indicating the contribution of sympathetic nervous activity to these operantly conditioned cardiovascular changes.     

A Comparative Study of Groups of High and Low Intelligence in Learning a Maze

In accordance with the determination of base-line heart rate and running in an activity wheel, 14 Long-Evans male rats were given ten 30 minute sessions of Immobile-Avoid conditioning followed by 30 minute sessions of Active-Avoid conditioning. Control Ss were yoked to the experimental Ss.

Experimental Ss made significantly fewer responses in the immobile-avoid period and significantly more responses in the active-avoid period than did the yoked control Ss. Heart rate was correlated with skeletal activity both for experimental and control Ss. For experimental Ss, low heart rate was concomitant with a low amount of activity in the immobile-avoid period and high heart rate was concomitant with greater skeletal activity in the active-avoid period.

These results support the position that heart rate is secondary to responses of the somatic-motor system and that heart rate during immobile-avoid or active avoid conditioning is more closely related to the level of somatic-motor activity than to the emotional stress which purportedly motivates instrumental avoidance behavior.     

Level of Muscular Tension as an Aspect of Personality

The purpose of this study was to compare two methods of analyzing the effects of exteroceptive feedback training on the voluntary bidirectional control of human cardiac rate with the use of a within-subject control design. In this design heart rate (HR) during an experimental period (increase or decrease) is compared with that recorded during some other control period, generally a baseline “rest” period. Ten male undergraduates were instructed to control HR and given visual feedback of heart activity. Trials on which Ss were to raise and to lower HR were both given in a single training session. The data were analyzed in two ways: (a) cardiac rate during HR control periods was compared to an initial pre-experiment baseline; (b) cardiac rate during HR control periods was compared to a running pretrial baseline. The results support the argument that the former procedure fails to take account of habituating levels of cardiac rate and favors finding large magnitude decreases in HR but small increases, whereas the latter procedure favors finding large magnitude increases but small decreases. It is suggested that magnitude of directional control will be artifactual when initial values are used to assess change. Contaminating influences on the running pretrial baseline were also discussed.     

Fractal dynamics of heart beat interval fluctuations in corticotropin-releasing factor receptor subtype 2 deficient mice

Non-linear fractal analysis of cardiac interbeat time series was performed in corticotropin-releasing factor receptor subtype 2 (CRFR2) deficient mice. Heart rate dynamics in mice constitutes a self-similar, scale-invariant, random fractal process with persistent intrinsic long-range correlations and inverse power-law properties. We hypothesized that the sustained tachycardic response elicited by intraperitoneal (ip) injection of human/rat CRF (h/rCRF) is mediated by CRFR2. In wildtype control animals, heart rate was increased to about maximum levels (~ 750 bpm) while in CRFR2-deficient animals baseline values were retained (~ 580 bpm). The tachycardic response elicited by ip-application is mediated by CRFR2 and is interpreted to result from sympathetic stimulation. However, the functional integrity of CRFR2 would not present a prerequisite to maintaining the responsiveness and resiliency of cardiac control to external environmental perturbations experimentally induced by extrinsic ip-application of h/rCRF or under physiological conditions that may be associated with an increased peripheral release of CRF. Under stressful physiological conditions achieved by novelty exposure, CRFR2 is not involved in the cardiodynamic regulation to external short-term stress. While the hypothesis of involvement of CRFR2 in cardiac regulation upon pharmacological stimulation cannot be rejected, the present findings suggest that the mechanism of action is by sympathetic stimulation, but would not unambiguously allow to draw any conclusions as to the physiological role of CRFR2 in the control of cardiac dynamics.     

Effectiveness of a mental training program for novice scuba divers

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to assess the effects of a mental training program on state anxiety, respiration rate and performance of novice scuba divers. Forty-four participants enrolled in novice open water diving courses served as participants. An intervention group (n = 15), in addition to scuba training, received an audiotaped mental training program designed to reduce anxiety and improve diving performance. A placebo-control group (n = 15) followed the same procedures except that their audiotape contained general information about scuba diving. A control group (n = 14) received only scuba training. The intervention group reported lower pre-dive scores for cognitive anxiety, higher pre-dive scores for self-confidence, performed better on bail-out and mask removal tasks, and showed lower respiration rate than either control group. Respiration rate and somatic anxiety scores significantly predicted bail-out performance. Respiration rate also predicted mask removal performance. These results suggest that novice divers may benefit from mental training as part of their pre-dive instruction.     

Varied intensities of training, predicted maximum oxygen uptake and the minimum threshold hypothesis

In this study, 24 sedentary first-year male university students aged 17 to 24 yr. were assigned to one of four groups. Three of the groups underwent a 6-wk. training program consisting of a 30-min. bicycle ergometer ride, three times per week. A fourth group acted as a control. The experimental groups trained at workload intensities corresponding to predetermined heart rates of 125, 140, and 155 bpm, respectively. Analysis of scores indicated that changes in aerobic capacity occurred only if the intensity of training exceeded a minimal level. Essentially, these results replicated data from other studies.     

Clinical outcomes of a coping with stress training program among patients suffering from schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder: a pilot study

This study evaluated the clinical effects of an intervention aimed at enhancing specific self-efficacy for coping with stress (CSSE) among patients with psychosis. Fourteen patients, 21–60 years old, diagnosed with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder voluntarily participated and were randomly assigned to a training and a control group. The Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale-24 was used to assess psychotic symptoms (primary outcomes) at baseline, post-intervention, and three- and six-month follow-ups. The participants also completed self-reports on well-being and satisfaction with intervention outcomes (secondary outcomes) at post-intervention and at the two follow-up assessments. Trained patients showed a significant decrease in all measures of psychotic symptoms (for disorientation, not significant (NS); effect sizes up to d = 4.80). This decline in symptoms remained significant at the follow-ups, with clinical enhancements on some of the subscales. By contrast, control participants showed no significant change in their symptoms. Short- and long-term overall well-being and satisfaction with outcomes were higher among the participants who received the training program. Our findings point out the relevance of enhancing CSSE among patients with psychosis, along with enhancing their coping skills for managing their illness. We conclude that CSSE training should be considered in future therapeutic interventions for psychotic disorders.     

Cardiac pacing and the law of initial value in rhesus monkeys

A cardiac pacemaker was used to produce a wide range of pre-CS heart rates in Pavlovian conditioning, and correlations were computed between pre-CS and CS heart rates. Two rhesus monkeys were presented trials in which 30 sec of light (CS) was followed by a brief electric shock (UCS). Pacing rates during the inter-trial intervals were varied from 150 to 350 bpm. Pacing was discontinued during CS. Unpaced control sessions showed that the maximum heart rate in CS on each trial was proportional to the pre-CS heart rate. Following pacing, however, heart rate in CS did not depend on the pacing rate; rather, the rates were not different from those of the unpaced control sessions. Pacing at high rates shifted the maximum heart rate toward the end of CS.     

Mindfulness and the Attenuation of Post-Event Processing in Social Phobia: An Experimental Investigation

The present experimental study examined the ability of metacognitive strategies to reduce the distress associated with post-event processing (PEP). Individuals with DSM-IV generalized social phobia (N = 57) were randomly allocated to receive brief training in mindfulness, distraction, or no training (control group). Next, they underwent an experimental PEP induction. Following the induction, they were instructed to apply the metacognitive strategy (mindfulness or distraction) they were taught or to continue thinking about the social event the way they typically would following such an event (control). Participants rated their distress on a visual analogue scale prior to the PEP induction, and then every minute for 5 min while applying the metacognitive strategy. They also rated their affect immediately after applying the metacognitive strategy. Results suggest that mindfulness reduces distress significantly over the post-event period and results in significantly more positive affect than when receiving no training. In contrast, distraction does not reduce distress over the post-event period performs comparable to receiving no training. The results of this experimental investigation suggest that mindfulness has the potential to reduce distress associated with PEP and provide further support for the clinical utility of mindfulness in the treatment of generalized social phobia.     

Mindfulness and the attenuation of post-event processing in social phobia: an experimental investigation

The present experimental study examined the ability of metacognitive strategies to reduce the distress associated with post-event processing (PEP). Individuals with DSM-IV generalized social phobia (N = 57) were randomly allocated to receive brief training in mindfulness, distraction, or no training (control group). Next, they underwent an experimental PEP induction. Following the induction, they were instructed to apply the metacognitive strategy (mindfulness or distraction) they were taught or to continue thinking about the social event the way they typically would following such an event (control). Participants rated their distress on a visual analogue scale prior to the PEP induction, and then every minute for 5 min while applying the metacognitive strategy. They also rated their affect immediately after applying the metacognitive strategy. Results suggest that mindfulness reduces distress significantly over the post-event period and results in significantly more positive affect than when receiving no training. In contrast, distraction does not reduce distress over the post-event period performs comparable to receiving no training. The results of this experimental investigation suggest that mindfulness has the potential to reduce distress associated with PEP and provide further support for the clinical utility of mindfulness in the treatment of generalized social phobia.     

Feasibility and Preliminary Outcomes of a School-Based Mindfulness Intervention for Urban Youth

Youth in underserved, urban communities are at risk for a range of negative outcomes related to stress, including social-emotional difficulties, behavior problems, and poor academic performance. Mindfulness-based approaches may improve adjustment among chronically stressed and disadvantaged youth by enhancing self-regulatory capacities. This paper reports findings from a pilot randomized controlled trial assessing the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary outcomes of a school-based mindfulness and yoga intervention. Four urban public schools were randomized to an intervention or wait-list control condition (n = 97 fourth and fifth graders, 60.8% female). It was hypothesized that the 12-week intervention would reduce involuntary stress responses and improve mental health outcomes and social adjustment. Stress responses, depressive symptoms, and peer relations were assessed at baseline and post-intervention. Findings suggest the intervention was attractive to students, teachers, and school administrators and that it had a positive impact on problematic responses to stress including rumination, intrusive thoughts, and emotional arousal.     

Self‐regulatory deficits associated with unpracticed mindfulness strategies for coping with acute pain

Training in mindfulness is a well‐supported therapeutic strategy for pain conditions, though short‐term mindfulness training for acute pain is not always effective. To explore the possibility that initial attempts at mindfulness in people without previous training may drain self‐regulatory resources, the current study used a student sample (N = 63) to test the hypothesis that brief instruction in mindfulness would lead to reduced pain tolerance on a cold pressor task, compared to more familiar strategies for coping with acute pain. We also investigated whether high heart rate variability (HRV), a physiological indicator of self‐regulatory capacity, would predict pain tolerance. Higher HRV predicted greater pain tolerance only in the control group, suggesting that applying unfamiliar mindfulness strategies while attempting to tolerate pain more rapidly sapped self‐regulatory strength.     

Anxiety and heart rate under psychological stress: The effects of exercise-training

Abstract The effects of a 12-week exercise-training program on cognitive, somatic, and behavioral anxiety and on heart rate responses to evaluative stress were scrutinized in 89 subjects randomly assigned to an experimental (exercise) or a control group. The training program consisted of exercises that were aimed to the improvement of the general physical fitness (i.e., strength, flexibility, and endurance). Following the 12-week training period, exercising subjects showed improved motor skill capacity as well as higher VO(2) max. In an anxiety inciting test situation, that consisted of the video-taped delivery of a 5-min speech, a mental arithmetic and a fine motor task, exercising subjects showed more favourable responses than control subjects in three ways: (a) they exhibited lower behavioral anxiety during the anticipation phase of the three stressors, (b) they reported lower cognitive and somatic anxiety during the anxiety provoking situation, and (c) their heart rate recovered faster, in contrast to both their baseline heart rate and the control subjects' heart rate, from the stress episode. These results demonstrate that a fitness-oriented exercise program has anxiolytic properties. They also provide a primary evidence that overt behavioral anxiety, as opposed to the usually measured self-reported anxiety, may be affected by exercise.     

Fractal Dynamics of Heart Beat Interval Fluctuations in Corticotropin-Releasing Factor Receptor Subtype 2 Deficient Mice

Non-linear fractal analysis of cardiac interbeat time series was performed in corticotropin-releasing factor receptor subtype 2 (CRFR2) deficient mice. Heart rate dynamics in mice constitutes a self-similar, scale-invariant, random fractal process with persistent intrinsic long-range correlations and inverse power-law properties. We hypothesized that the sustained tachycardic response elicited by intraperitoneal (ip) injection of human/rat CRF (h/rCRF) is mediated by CRFR2. In wildtype control animals, heart rate was increased to about maximum levels (approximately 750 bpm) while in CRFR2-deficient animals baseline values were retained (approximately 580 bpm). The tachycardic response elicited by ip-application is mediated by CRFR2 and is interpreted to result from sympathetic stimulation. However, the functional integrity of CRFR2 would not present a prerequisite to maintaining the responsiveness and resiliency of cardiac control to external environmental perturbations experimentally induced by extrinsic ip-application of h/rCRF or under physiological conditions that may be associated with an increased peripheral release of CRF. Under stressful physiological conditions achieved by novelty exposure, CRFR2 is not involved in the cardiodynamic regulation to external short-term stress. While the hypothesis of involvement of CRFR2 in cardiac regulation upon pharmacological stimulation cannot be rejected, the present findings suggest that the mechanism of action is by sympathetic stimulation, but would not unambiguously allow to draw any conclusions as to the physiological role of CRFR2 in the control of cardiac dynamics.     

Using a Mindfulness-Based Procedure in the Community: Translating Research to Practice

Maladaptive behaviors, such as aggressive and disruptive behaviors, are a significant risk factor for maintaining community placement by individuals with intellectual disabilities. When experienced researchers provide training to individuals with intellectual disabilities on a mindfulness-based strategy, Meditation on the Soles of the Feet, the individuals are able to effectively self-manage their maladaptive behaviors. We investigated whether similar effectiveness would be found if community-based therapists provided the training to similar individuals living in the community. Three adults with mild intellectual disabilities and mental illness living in the community were taught by a community-based therapist to use this strategy to control maladaptive behaviors that included verbal aggression, disruptive behavior and physical aggression. They were taught to shift the focus of their attention from the negative emotions that triggered their maladaptive behavior to a neutral stimulus, the soles of their feet. All three individuals were able to reduce their maladaptive behaviors to near-zero levels and maintain their community placement that they had been at risk for losing, due to their maladaptive behavior. Subjective measures of various psychological symptoms showed a reduction in two of the individuals. Our study suggests that the demonstrated effectiveness of Meditation on the Soles of the Feet can be achieved by a community-based therapist.     

A bridge too far: yoga,spirituality, and contested space in the Pacific Northwest

ABSTRACT

In 2015 a plan to celebrate the inaugural International Day of Yoga in Vancouver generated a powerful backlash. What might have been for some a public expression of their interest in a trendy wellness activity, and for others a meaningful demonstration of an important spiritual practice, was cancelled just a week after it was announced. How did this single postural yoga class so quickly and definitively galvanise public opinion, and what can this teach us about the machinations of public discourse? In this brief but revealing controversy, most interlocutors focused on local political considerations, paying somewhat less attention to the now common critique that postural yoga is elitist and vapid, and virtually none to claims and metaphors related to spirituality that circulated widely among practitioners and promoters. This incident may remind us that religious and spiritual claims are not sui generis but always part of larger social discourses that reveal a great deal about quite this-worldly concerns, interests, and values.     

Comparing the Effects of Three Online Cognitive Reappraisal Trainings on Well-Being

This experimental training study examined which of three brief online cognitive reappraisal training protocols best enhances well-being and emotion regulation in response to stressful events. Participants were randomly assigned to learn positive reframing, self-distancing, or temporal distancing, and were asked to practice these techniques in their daily lives as interpersonal stressors arose naturally. The control group was instructed to continue regulating their emotions as they naturally would. Compared to the control, all training groups showed decreased negative emotional reactivity to the visualization of a recent stressful event 2 weeks post-training. They also showed a significant increase in general well-being from baseline to post-training. Participants’ change in reappraisal accounted for the training groups’ increased well-being.     

Attention allocation under varied workload and effort perception in rowers

ObjectivesTenenbaum's effort-related model has proposed that as physical workload increases, attention allocation shifts from dissociation to association. Owing to equivocal research results regarding gender and experience differences in attention and perceived exertion reports, this study was designed to examine whether attention allocation varied as a function of perceived effort manipulated by physical workload, and whether gender and experience differences would emerge in regards to attention use.DesignA within-subjects study design was employed using measures of attention, perceived exertion, heart rate, and power output.MethodsSixty high school and collegiate rowers were recruited, and were divided into 30 experienced (15 men and 15 women) and 30 novice rowers (15 men and 15 women). After establishing a maximal power output value for each rower using the rowing ergometer, participants were asked to row at 30%, 50%, and 75% relative workload intensities for 10 min in a counterbalanced order. At each minute, measures of heart rate, attention, and perceived exertion were taken. Participants also recorded their thoughts during the session after each task.ResultsResults demonstrated that attention significantly (p<.01) shifted from dissociation to association as workload increased. The workload increase also resulted in elevated perceived exertion and heart rate. Similarly, thought classifications validated attention shift as workload increased. Experience and gender were not found to be discriminatory factors for attention allocation.ConclusionsAttention shifted from dissociation to association as workload increased; as environmental demands increase, physiological sensations dominate the individual's attention. Attention is forced to shift internally and narrow (i.e., associative) to adapt to these demands. During low or moderate workload, attention can be more flexible and voluntarily shift between associative and dissociative modes because the task demands are not overwhelming.     

Change over training sessions of relationship between locus of control and voluntary heart-rate control.

The present study investigated the effects of locus of control on learning to accelerate and decelerate heart over a number of training sessions. 15 Ss who scored internal in locus of control and 15 who scored external were trained to change their heart rates. Ss were given two training sessions in speeding heart rate and two in slowing heart rate. Results indicated that during the initial training sessions, internals were better able to increase their heart rates than externals; the externals were better able to decrease their heart rates than internals. However, this association diminished to nonsignificance when additional training sessions were provided. These results argue for routinely conducting a number of training sessions to avoid any premature statement of a relationship between personaltiy measures and learned control of heart rate.