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Participating in an eight-week mindfulness meditation program appears to alter how the brain processes fear memories. In a study that will appear in the November 1st print issue of Biological Psychiatry, a team led by Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) researchers report that mindfulness meditation appears to help extinguish fearful associations.
A common way to treat anxiety disorders is to expose patients to the cause of their anxiety in a safe environment until it no longer elicits fear, a process known as exposure therapy. This exposure provides an opportunity to learn that these causes are not threatening and thereby help individuals regulate their emotional responses. To be successful, first a new memory must be created between the root of the anxiety and a feeling of safety, then the ‘safety’ memory must be recalled when the cause is presented again in a new environment, rather than the original fearful memory.
Mindfulness meditation been proposed to provide an optimal condition for exposure therapy because it involves experiencing the present moment with an open, curious and non-reactive mindset. Numerous studies have documented that mindfulness meditation programs are useful for reducing anxiety, however, the exact reasons were unknown. The current study investigated enhanced learning of the ‘safety’ signal as one way through which mindfulness can help individuals learn to adapt more positively to the causes of their anxiety.
“Mindfulness training may improve emotion regulation by changing the way our brain responds to what we’re afraid of and reminding us that it is no longer threatening,” said Gunes Sevinc PhD, investigator in the Department of Psychiatry at MGH and the paper’s first author.
A common way to treat anxiety disorders is to expose patients to the cause of their anxiety in a safe environment until it no longer elicits fear, a process known as exposure therapy. This exposure provides an opportunity to learn that these causes are not threatening and thereby help individuals regulate their emotional responses. To be successful, first a new memory must be created between the root of the anxiety and a feeling of safety, then the ‘safety’ memory must be recalled when the cause is presented again in a new environment, rather than the original fearful memory.
Mindfulness meditation been proposed to provide an optimal condition for exposure therapy because it involves experiencing the present moment with an open, curious and non-reactive mindset. Numerous studies have documented that mindfulness meditation programs are useful for reducing anxiety, however, the exact reasons were unknown. The current study investigated enhanced learning of the ‘safety’ signal as one way through which mindfulness can help individuals learn to adapt more positively to the causes of their anxiety.
“Mindfulness training may improve emotion regulation by changing the way our brain responds to what we’re afraid of and reminding us that it is no longer threatening,” said Gunes Sevinc PhD, investigator in the Department of Psychiatry at MGH and the paper’s first author.
