Document Detail


Innate immune, neuroendocrine and behavioral responses to psychosocial stress do not predict subsequent compassion meditation practice time.
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  19615827     Owner:  NLM     Status:  MEDLINE    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
Increasing data suggest that meditation impacts stress-related physiological processes relevant to health and disease. For example, our group recently reported that the practice of compassion meditation was associated with reduced innate immune (plasma interleukin [IL]-6) and subjective distress responses to a standardized laboratory psychosocial stressor (Trier Social Stress Test [TSST]). However, because we administered a TSST after, but not prior to, meditation training in our initial study, it remained possible that associations between practice time and TSST outcomes reflected the fact that participants with reduced stress responses prior to training were more able to practice compassion meditation, rather than that meditation practice reduced stress responses. To help resolve this ambiguity, we conducted the current study to evaluate whether innate immune, neuroendocrine and behavioral responses to a TSST conducted prior to compassion meditation training in an independent sample of 32 medically health young adults would predict subsequent amount of meditation practice time during a compassion meditation training protocol identical to the one used in our first study. No associations were found between responses to a TSST administered prior to compassion meditation training and subsequent amount of meditation practice, whether practice time was considered as a continuous variable or whether meditators were divided into high and low practice time groups based on a median split of mean number of practice sessions per week. These findings contrast strikingly with our original study, in which high and low practice time meditators demonstrated marked differences in IL-6 and distress responses to a TSST administered after meditation training. In addition to providing the first published data regarding stress responsivity as a potential predictor of subsequent ability/willingness to practice meditation, the current study strengthens findings from our initial work by supporting the conclusion that in individuals who actively engage in practicing the technique, compassion meditation may represent a viable strategy for reducing potentially deleterious physiological and behavioral responses to psychosocial stress.
Authors:
Thaddeus W W Pace; Lobsang Tenzin Negi; Teresa I Sivilli; Michael J Issa; Steven P Cole; Daniel D Adame; Charles L Raison
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Publication Detail:
Type:  Journal Article; Randomized Controlled Trial; Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't     Date:  2009-07-16
Journal Detail:
Title:  Psychoneuroendocrinology     Volume:  35     ISSN:  1873-3360     ISO Abbreviation:  Psychoneuroendocrinology     Publication Date:  2010 Feb 
Date Detail:
Created Date:  2010-02-01     Completed Date:  2010-04-16     Revised Date:  2013-01-03    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  7612148     Medline TA:  Psychoneuroendocrinology     Country:  England    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  310-5     Citation Subset:  IM    
Copyright Information:
2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Winship Cancer Center, 1365C Clifton Road, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA.
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MeSH Terms
Descriptor/Qualifier:
Attitude to Health
Behavior / physiology*
Empathy / physiology
Female
Humans
Hydrocortisone / blood
Immunity, Innate / physiology*
Interleukin-6 / blood
Male
Meditation* / methods,  psychology
Neuropsychological Tests
Neurosecretory Systems / physiology*
Social Environment
Stress, Psychological / blood,  immunology,  metabolism,  physiopathology*
Time Factors
Young Adult
Grant Support
ID/Acronym/Agency:
M01 RR000039-47/RR/NCRR NIH HHS; M01 RR0039/RR/NCRR NIH HHS; UL1 RR025008/RR/NCRR NIH HHS; UL1 RR025008/RR/NCRR NIH HHS; UL1 RR025008-05/RR/NCRR NIH HHS
Chemical
Reg. No./Substance:
0/IL6 protein, human; 0/Interleukin-6; 50-23-7/Hydrocortisone
Comments/Corrections

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine


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