Taking time to feel our body: Steady increases in heartbeat perception accuracy and decreases in alexithymia over 9 months of contemplative mental training.
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| Title: | Taking time to feel our body: Steady increases in heartbeat perception accuracy and decreases in alexithymia over 9 months of contemplative mental training. |
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| Authors: | Bornemann, Boris, Singer, Tania |
| Source: | Psychophysiology. Mar2017, Vol. 54 Issue 3, p469-482. 14p. |
| Subjects: | Heart beat, Sensory perception, Alexithymia, Mental training, Mindfulness, Psychology |
| Abstract: | The ability to accurately perceive signals from the body has been shown to be important for physical and psychological health as well as understanding one's emotions. Despite the importance of this skill, often indexed by heartbeat perception accuracy (HBPa), little is known about its malleability. Here, we investigated whether contemplative mental practice can increase HBPa. In the context of a 9-month mental training study, the ReSource Project, two matched cohorts ( n = 77 and n = 79) underwent three training modules of 3 months' duration that targeted attentional and interoceptive abilities (Presence module), socio-affective (Affect module), and socio-cognitive (Perspective module) abilities. A third cohort ( n = 78) underwent 3 months of practice (Affect module) and a retest control group ( n = 84) did not undergo any training. HBPa was measured with a heartbeat tracking task before and after each training module. Emotional awareness was measured by the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS). Participants with TAS scores > 60 at screening were excluded. HBPa was found to increase steadily over the training, with significant and small- to medium-sized effects emerging after 6 months (Cohen's d = .173) and 9 months ( d = .273) of mental training. Changes in HBPa were concomitant with and predictive of changes in emotional awareness. Our results suggest that HBPa can indeed be trained through intensive contemplative practice. The effect takes longer than the 8 weeks of typical mindfulness courses to reach meaningful magnitude. These increments in interoceptive accuracy and the related improvements in emotional awareness point to opportunities for improving physical and psychological health through contemplative mental training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Copyright of Psychophysiology is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) | |
| Database: | Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection |
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| Header | DbId: pbh DbLabel: Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection An: 121348237 AccessLevel: 6 PubType: Academic Journal PubTypeId: academicJournal PreciseRelevancyScore: 0 |
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| Items | – Name: Title Label: Title Group: Ti Data: Taking time to feel our body: Steady increases in heartbeat perception accuracy and decreases in alexithymia over 9 months of contemplative mental training. – Name: Author Label: Authors Group: Au Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Bornemann%2C+Boris%22">Bornemann, Boris</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Singer%2C+Tania%22">Singer, Tania</searchLink> – Name: TitleSource Label: Source Group: Src Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Psychophysiology%22">Psychophysiology</searchLink>. Mar2017, Vol. 54 Issue 3, p469-482. 14p. – Name: Subject Label: Subjects Group: Su Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Heart+beat%22">Heart beat</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Sensory+perception%22">Sensory perception</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Alexithymia%22">Alexithymia</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Mental+training%22">Mental training</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Mindfulness%22">Mindfulness</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Psychology%22">Psychology</searchLink> – Name: Abstract Label: Abstract Group: Ab Data: The ability to accurately perceive signals from the body has been shown to be important for physical and psychological health as well as understanding one's emotions. Despite the importance of this skill, often indexed by heartbeat perception accuracy (HBPa), little is known about its malleability. Here, we investigated whether contemplative mental practice can increase HBPa. In the context of a 9-month mental training study, the ReSource Project, two matched cohorts ( n = 77 and n = 79) underwent three training modules of 3 months' duration that targeted attentional and interoceptive abilities (Presence module), socio-affective (Affect module), and socio-cognitive (Perspective module) abilities. A third cohort ( n = 78) underwent 3 months of practice (Affect module) and a retest control group ( n = 84) did not undergo any training. HBPa was measured with a heartbeat tracking task before and after each training module. Emotional awareness was measured by the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS). Participants with TAS scores > 60 at screening were excluded. HBPa was found to increase steadily over the training, with significant and small- to medium-sized effects emerging after 6 months (Cohen's d = .173) and 9 months ( d = .273) of mental training. Changes in HBPa were concomitant with and predictive of changes in emotional awareness. Our results suggest that HBPa can indeed be trained through intensive contemplative practice. The effect takes longer than the 8 weeks of typical mindfulness courses to reach meaningful magnitude. These increments in interoceptive accuracy and the related improvements in emotional awareness point to opportunities for improving physical and psychological health through contemplative mental training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] – Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright Label: Group: Ab Data: <i>Copyright of Psychophysiology is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) |
| PLink | https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=pbh&AN=121348237 |
| RecordInfo | BibRecord: BibEntity: Identifiers: – Type: doi Value: 10.1111/psyp.12790 Languages: – Code: eng Text: English PhysicalDescription: Pagination: PageCount: 14 StartPage: 469 Subjects: – SubjectFull: Heart beat Type: general – SubjectFull: Sensory perception Type: general – SubjectFull: Alexithymia Type: general – SubjectFull: Mental training Type: general – SubjectFull: Mindfulness Type: general – SubjectFull: Psychology Type: general Titles: – TitleFull: Taking time to feel our body: Steady increases in heartbeat perception accuracy and decreases in alexithymia over 9 months of contemplative mental training. Type: main BibRelationships: HasContributorRelationships: – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Bornemann, Boris – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Singer, Tania IsPartOfRelationships: – BibEntity: Dates: – D: 01 M: 03 Text: Mar2017 Type: published Y: 2017 Identifiers: – Type: issn-print Value: 00485772 Numbering: – Type: volume Value: 54 – Type: issue Value: 3 Titles: – TitleFull: Psychophysiology Type: main |
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