User:Peytonmk/Effects of meditation

Insight (Vipassana) meditation[edit]
Vipassana or "insight" meditation '''is a form of mindfulness meditation believed to have been taught by the Buddha himself. As such, it is one of the most ancient forms of meditation. The practice aims to increase a sense of awareness of the present moment. The practitioner becomes a quiet observer of their thoughts, emotions, and sensations; allowing them to come and go without passing judgement .'''  is a component of Buddhist practice. Phra Taweepong Inwongsakul and Sampath Kumar from the University of Mysore have been studying the effects of this meditation on 120 students by measuring the associated increase of cortical thickness in the brain . The results of this study are inconclusive. A plethora of evidence now exists to suggest that vipassana meditation does indeed lead to increased mindfulness, but the benefits of the practice do not stop there.

''' In a study conducted by Szekeres and Wertheim (2014), Vipassana meditation was found to reduce stress and increase both self-kindness and overall well-being. While these effects were most powerful directly following the intervention, a substantial impact was still noted at follow-up six months later. While regression was evident in each domain at follow-up, stress appeared to be the most vulnerable to retrogression over time. '''

Vipassana meditation leads to more than just mindfulness, but has been found to reduce stress, increase well-being and self-kindness. These effects were found to be most powerful short-term, but still had a relatively significant impact six months later. In a study conducted by Szekeres and Wertheim (2014), they found stress was found to show be the category that seemed to have the most regression, but the others contained higher prevalence when compared to the participants' original scores that were given before embarking on Vipassana meditation. Overall, according to self-reports, Vipassana can have short and long-term effects on an individual.

EEG studies on Vipassana meditators seemed to indicate significant increase indicated significant increases in parieto-occipital gamma rhythms in experienced meditators (35–45 Hz). In another study conducted by NIMHANS on Vipassana meditators, researchers found readings associated with improved cognitive processing after a session of meditation, with distinct and graded difference in the readings between novice meditators and experienced meditators.

An essential component to the Vipassana mediation approach is the focus on awareness, referring to bodily sensations and psychological status. In a study conducted by Zeng et al. (2013), awareness was described as the acknowledgement of consciousness which is monitoring all aspects of the environment. This definition differentiates the concept of awareness from mindfulness. The emphasis on awareness, and the way it assists in monitoring emotion, is unique to this meditative practice.

'''Khoury and colleagues (2017) conducted a meta-analysis including a total of 21 studies and 2,912 participants. The study aimed to evaluate the effects of traditional vipassana meditation retreats in various populations including advanced meditators, novice meditators, and incarcerated individuals. More specifically, it explored the psychological outcomes including anxiety symptoms, depressive symptoms, and stress following the retreats, evaluated the impacts of the retreats on levels of mindfulness, and explored variables moderating the effectiveness of traditional retreats. Results suggested that traditional vipassana meditation retreats were moderately effective at improving psychological outcomes, with novice meditators and members of the general population experiencing particularly large reductions in anxiety, depression, and stress when compared to both experienced meditators and incarcerated individuals. Moreover, the results suggested an increased capacity for emotional regulation, acceptance, compassion, and mindfulness as well as higher quality of life scores following the retreats across all populations. These results held steady even at follow-up .'''

''Maybe post to the talk page - I think that it makes more sense to organize the article based on the actual effects of meditation (E.g. life satisfaction, improved cardiometabolic health, improved attention, decreased depressive symptoms, reduction in stress, age-related brain changes) rather than by types of meditation. There are large overlaps in the impacts of various types of meditation and it seems like types of meditation is a different topic entirely that should have its own page.''

BASED ON PEER-REVIEW FEEDBACK:

I fixed a typo in the sentence "The practice aims to and increase a sense of awareness of the present moment." by removing the word 'and'. I separated the sentence "higher quality of life scores following the retreats with results holding steady even at follow-up" and changing it into, "higher quality of life scores following the retreats. These results held steady even at the follow-up."

A peer suggested that I look into adding a bit more to the section on pain in the main article, as it currently seems underdeveloped. I have not yet added to the section, but I am searching for articles on that topic.

Brain mechanisms
The analgesic effect of mindfulness meditation may involve multiple brain mechanisms, of which, chronic pain is shown to have a small decrease when performing meditation. Current research demonstrates a lack of high-quality data to support a strong case for clinical prescription of mediation, however future research may further change our understanding of chronic pain treatment and mindfulness, but there are too few studies to allow conclusions about its effects on chronic pain.

Changes in the brain
Mindfulness meditation is under study for whether '''The act of mindful meditation creates alterations in the brain that lead to a heightened ability to improve emotions. In an 8-week mindfulness meditation study, Gotink et al. discovered that amygdala, insula, cingulate cortex, and hippocampus activity decreased. Importantly, these short-term changes are often equated to a brain with longer time spent doing mindfulness meditation and interventions, such as months or years. There is a clear benefit for performing mindful meditation even if for a short duration.  Another''' meta-analysis found preliminary evidence for effects in the prefrontal cortex and other brain regions associated with body awareness. However, these results should be interpreted with caution as funnel plots indicate that publication bias is an issue in meditation research. A 2016 review using 78 functional neuroimaging studies suggests that different meditation styles are associated with different brain activity. While other studies have found structural changes in the brain may occur, but most studies have utilized weak methodology.

Controversies in mindful emotion regulation[edit]

It is debated as to whether top-down executive control regions such as the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), are required or not to inhibit reactivity of the amygdala activation related to the production of evoked emotional responses. Arguably an initial increase in activation of executive control regions developed during mindfulness training may lessen with increasing mindfulness expertise.

'''Furthermore, current research data is inconclusive and incomplete in linking positive effects of mindful meditation with a variety of reported positive effects. Additional high-fidelity studies are needed before a more complete understanding of the full effects of mindfulness can be reached.'''

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Effects of Loving, Kindness, & Compassion
'''Several meta-analyses have examined the effects of mindful meditation on one’s loving, kindness, and compassionate disposition and behaviors. Significant increases in self-reported self-compassion. Compassion, and well-being were reported alongside decreases in depression and anxiety. Another study indicated an increase in positive emotions. There may be further benefits that are yet to be discovered, with only preliminary data on mindfulness and mediation. Further studies and explorations into the effects of mindful meditation on the self are needed to draw further conclusions.'''