One of the goals of my science cafe and blog is to humanize the science and the scientist. But I often get asked about all these studies I often quote. Who are these people? How do the researchers find these subjects?

It was probably a touch simpler to just interview some past study participants, but where’s the fun in that? So I took part in a meditation/anxiety study in February.

The study focused on emotion processing & anxiety and how these might change with mindfulness based stress reduction or cognitive-behavioral therapy i.e. how meditation affects anxiety.

The process was similar to the one shown in this vid (courtesy Science Friday)

Day 1 was relatively simple…just a phone screen making sure I was capable of taking part in the study. I’m not pregnant, I meet certain demographic criteria, I’m not currently in any other studies, yadda yadda.

Read the rest of this entry »

An attendee at the “Neuroscience of Meditation” event recently published an article on Divine Caroline detailing her experience with meditation. The article also details her experience at the DtaS event. Personally, I found the article deeply touching…I encourage everyone to check it out.

Here’s a brief excerpt:

After a break, I explained to Goldin that I had experienced the same results. I told him that my boyfriend, who had practiced mindfulness meditation for almost four years and had initially benefited, ultimately had a hard time with meditation in the end. I told Goldin that I was a writer searching for answers, and that my boyfriend had taken his own life last January, and so I wondered if mindfulness meditation was really for everyone.

He spoke about skillfulness in a meditation practice, and how we needed to have the awareness to ask ourselves, “Do I have the cast iron mind space, or the ability to hold the experiences that come up when I do deeper meditation practice?” Ultimately, his answer was the one I had been searching for all along.

Later, the woman sitting next to me handed me a folded piece of paper and said to me, “This isn’t from me; it’s from another women who just left.” On the front it read, “To a writer who will write a book I will read.” I opened the note from this mystery woman and read, “I came tonight thinking I would take my life. I won’t now because of you. Thank you.” I gasped. Once again, I became reminded of how we were all interconnected. My quest for truth had taken my breath away.

Takeaway
It is amazing the impact we have on each other, especially when we share our passions, our vulnerabilities, our humanity. In many ways, that’s all I’m trying to do with this science cafe.

More Info
Paper on Suicide Prevention using Mindfullness

About a year ago, Berkeley became the first city in the nation to regulate nanoparticles. The legislation requires any manufactured nanoparticle to be reported to the city. The law is aimed at small nanotechnology startups that are springing up all over the Bay Area. To be clear, this law only requires companies to report the development on nanoparticles. Nanoparticles are used in a myriad of products, everything from sunscreen to solar cells.

The motivation? Nanoparticles can pass directly into cells, with potential harmful effects.

How dangerous are these little particles? No one knows. Many studies are underway to understand the effect of continued nanoparticle exposure.

A recent study indicates nanoparticles of TiO2, a compound used in personal care and food products, generate oxygen free radicals when coming in contact with brain cells. Specifically, microglia cells, the brain’s cell protection against foreign pathogens, would release oxygen free radicals when coming in contact with the TiO2. The microglia cells were undamaged, but the free radical release could affect neuron in a way similar to neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinsons and Alzheimers. It is premature to say TiO2 damages the brain, but this study definitely brings up the possibility.

The federal government has responded by creating a list of research priorities around nanotoxicology. The US NNI established a research strategy to better understand nanotoxicology, including identification of nanomaterials at tissue, cellular, and molecular levels.

Takeaway
Our understanding of nanotoxicology is in its infancy. With hundreds of consumer products already using nanomaterials, it is good to hear the federal government stepping in. However, the research also indicates it’s time from more research, not necessarily time for policy right now. In that way, I believe strengthening legislation is ahead of the curve.

More Info
US NNI Nanotoxicology Research Strategy
Inventory of Nanomaterials in Consumer Products
Science report on TiO2 effects
Chronicle story of Berkeley Nano Regulation

Dr. Philippe Goldin, our November speaker on the Neuroscience of Meditation, is looking for healthy controls in an upcoming study. More info below.

We are looking for healthy controls (no history of any psychiatric conditions) with these criteria: age can be +-2 years in either direction. We pay controls $200 for about 6-7 hours of assessment.

45 y.o. caucasian man, Masters degree
43 y.o. caucasian man, Masters degree
43 y.o. african-american man, Bachelors degree
28 y.o. Indian man, Masters degree
25 y.o. pacific islander (filipino) man, some college
46 y.o. caucasian woman, some college
49 y.o. caucasian woman

If you are interested, please contact Philippe (pgoldin stanford.edu)

Pics and Videos from the Neuroscience of meditation event are up on the website. As always, you can watch snippets of the video on YouTube as well.

In addition, Phillippe has provided some pdfs for your reading pleasure:

Article from Science Magazine on meeting of buddhist monks and neuroscientists
Australian Journal Review Paper on Mindfullness Pyschotherapies
Overview of Mindfullness from Journal of Clinical Pyschology
Short Paper on Emotion Regulation
Paper on Suicide Prevention using Mindfullness

And finally, an attendee recorded a podcast of the event. Here’s some more links:

Podcast + Blog Recap of the event from attendee