Group items tagged

PET and SPECT images can also be coregistered with anatomical MRI, but this must be obtained during a separate session and therefore, matching the scans is more difficult.

The ability to measure these neurotransmitter systems is unique to PET and SPECT imaging.

Another major drawback to PET and SPECT imaging is that these techniques have generally poor temporal resolution.

Y oga is an eight-limbed holistic system of health that includes a number of different mindbody practices. The yoga asanas are represented in the third limb of this system as organized by Patanjali (circa 400 B.C.). According to the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), at least 1300 different yoga postures have been described in ancient texts (Sinha, K. 2011).

After twelve weeks of training, significant changes in the mean CBF ratio were noted in the baseline (pre- yoga session) scans in the right amygdala, right dorsal medial cortex and right sensorimotor area. After twelve weeks, the activated (post- yoga session) scans showed significantly increased activity in the right dorsal frontal lobe, right prefrontal cortex, right sensorimotor cortex, right inferior frontal lobe, right superior frontal lobe and left dorsal medial frontal lobe.

This supports a model of excitatory dysfunction in mood disorders across the age spectrum

Theoretical models propose that these practices alter the interoceptive messages from the respiratory system to higher CNS centers via modulation of vagal activity

resulting in shifts in attention, perception, emotional regulation and behavior

Subjects participating in the meditation intervention displayed a significant improvement in self‐perceived general well‐being after training. In addition, compared with control subjects they also showed a significant change in brain structure and intrinsic activity in inferior fronto‐insular regions associated with executive control, and previously highlighted by cross‐sectional studies on the neural effects of long‐term SY meditation (Hernandez et al., 2015).

A significant time‐by‐group interaction on spectral power highlighted, in meditators vs controls, a training‐related remodeling of the contribution of slow frequencies in the anterior component of the fronto‐parietal “executive control” network.

involved in goal‐directed behavior

This set of regions, which is commonly recruited by tasks requiring controlled information processing (Dosenbach et al., 2007), has been recently proposed as a “superordinate” cognitive control network, recruited across different executive domains including flexibility, working memory, initiation, and inhibition (Niendam et al., 2012).

This hypothesis fits with neuroimaging evidence on other types of short‐term meditation interventions, sharing with the SY meditation an open monitoring approach aiming to develop the capacity for mindfulness (i.e., awareness of present‐moment experiences with a compassionate, non judgmental, stance). Across different studies, such interventions resulted in stronger intensity of activation (Holzel et al., 2011) and efficiency (Xue, Tang, & Posner, 2011) in functional networks involving the dACC, possibly reflecting higher cognitive control and improved suppression of distracting events

our results suggest a potential broad impact of meditative practice on neural organization, in turn reflecting on other outcomes related to health and well‐being (Muehsam et al., 2017).

General well‐being

Fatigue

Dissatisfaction

The SY meditation training consisted of four one‐hour sessions per week over 4 consecutive weeks, that is, a total of 16 hr.

No other commitments, including home practice, were required.