Neuroscience Reveals the Secrets of Meditation’s Benefits

Evaluated self-esteem and locus of control in a group of high school students prior to, during, and following a single academic year. Using a randomized, crossover experimental design, 26 Ss were exposed to either a health curriculum based on elicitation of the relaxation response (RLR) and then a follow-up period, while 24 were assigned to a control health curriculum and then the RLR. Psychological testing was conducted using the Piers-Harris Children's Self Concept Scale and the Now […]

To clarify the mechanisms of gender-related mind/body relationships, the authors analyzed the characteristics of 1,132 outpatients (848 women and 284 men) attending a mind/body medicine clinic. At entry in the program, the patients completed the Medical Symptom Checklist, Symptom Checklist-90 revised (SCL-90R), and Stress Perception Scale. Women reported 9 out of 12 symptoms (fatigue, insomnia, headache, back pain, joint or limb pain, palpitations, constipation, nausea, and dizziness) […]

The treatment of chronic pain is costly and frustrating for the patient, health care provider, and health care system. This is due, in part, to the complexity of pain symptoms which are influenced by behavior patterns, socioeconomic factors, belief systems, and family dynamics as well as by physiological and mechanical components. Assessment of treatment outcomes is often limited to the patient's subjective, multidimensional, self-reports. Outcome measures based on data about return t […]