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At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Assessment of mindfulness by self-report: the Kentucky inventory of mindfulness skills.

A self-report inventory for the assessment of mindfulness skills was developed, and its psychometric characteristics and relationships with other constructs were examined. Participants included three samples of undergraduate students and a sample of outpatients with borderline personality disorder Based on discussions of mindfulness in the current literature, four mindfulness skills were specified: observing, describing, acting with awareness, and accepting without judgment. Scales designed to measure each skill were developed and evaluated. Results showed good internal consistency and test-retest reliability and a clear factor structure. Most expected relationships with other constructs were significant. Findings suggest that mindfulness skills are differentially related to aspects of personality and mental health, including neuroticism, psychological symptoms, emotional intelligence, alexithymia, experiential avoidance, dissociation, and absorption.

Adolescent↗

Unauthorized minds: how "theory of mind" theory misrepresents autism.

Recent representations of autism frequently include an assumption that autism is the result of a "theory of mind" deficit (i.e., an inability to understand others' mental states). This notion is examined using a social constructionist perspective. The belief that autism is a sort of "mind-blindness" has much in common with earlier representations of autism that depict it as a puzzle and, paradoxically, as a single entity defined by core characteristics. Theory of mind theorists also, like their predecessors, define autism as a form of insufficiency and as requiring fixing rather than accommodation. Alternative narratives about autistic minds that incorporate the perspectives of people labeled autistic are an important counterbalance to the limitations of such professional viewpoints.

Autistic Disorder↗

Mind reading: neural mechanisms of theory of mind and self-perspective.

Human self-consciousness as the metarepresentation of ones own mental states and the so-called theory of mind (TOM) capacity, which requires the ability to model the mental states of others, are closely related higher cognitive functions. We address here the issue of whether taking the self-perspective (SELF) or modeling the mind of someone else (TOM) employ the same or differential neural mechanisms. A TOM paradigm was used and extended to include stimulus material that involved TOM and SELF capacities in a two-way factorial design. A behavioral study in 42 healthy volunteers showed that TOM and SELF induced differential states of mind: subjects assigned correctly first or third person pronouns when providing responses to the stimuli. Following the behavioral study, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in eight healthy, right-handed males to study the common and differential neural mechanisms underlying TOM and SELF. The main factor TOM led to increased neural activity in the anterior cingulate cortex and left temporopolar cortex. The main factor SELF led to increased neural activity in the right temporoparietal junction and in the anterior cingulate cortex. A significant interaction of both factors TOM and SELF was observed in the right prefrontal cortex. These divergent neural activations in response to TOM and SELF suggest that these important differential mental capacities of human self-consciousness are implemented at least in part in distinct brain regions. Press

Adult↗

Acquired mind-blindness following frontal lobe surgery? A single case study of impaired 'theory of mind' in a patient treated with stereotactic anterior capsulotomy.

Social insight, specifically the ability to represent thoughts and feelings ('theory of mind'), may have a circumscribed and dedicated neurological substrate. Evidence of deficits in 'theory of mind' following acquired lesions would support this idea. Previous studies of lesions resulting from stroke or head injury have been hampered by lack of detailed lesion information and pre-lesion documentation. We report the case of a 76-year-old man who, following a standard surgical procedure to treat bipolar affective disorder, showed evidence of impaired 'theory of mind'. This case, which is the first of its type, may contribute to the search for the brain basis of social insight.

Aged↗

Mind and mindlessness in mind-body research.

This paper argues that the current mainstream of mind-body research makes no effort to understand the mind and its powers and so neglects a critical component of health. The paper points to two unattended sources of data that should be systematically explored for the mind's clinically important effects on health.

Cognition↗

Mind-body and mind-gut connection in inflammatory bowel disease.

A bidirectional pathway between the brain and immune system known as psychoneuroimmunology has been the basis of much research and discussion within this interdisciplinary field over the past 25 years. An overly aggressive immune response in inflammatory bowel disease makes the psychoneuroimmunology framework applicable in establishing evidence-based outcomes. Mind-body and mind-gut connections and behavioral interventions can influence outcomes for patients with inflammatory bowel disease. Professional nurses can help develop behavioral interventions to improve quality of life with symptom management for this patient population. Healthcare providers and patients through partnerships should consider the effects of psychosocial factors in manifestations of health and illness.

Humans↗

Understanding the mind as an active information processor: do young children have a "copy theory of mind"?

Most 4-, but no 3-year-olds, were able to understand the mind's active role in evaluating the truth of verbal information. They appreciated that a statement, whether true or false, will be disbelieved if the listener has existing beliefs to the contrary and that it will be believed if no such beliefs exist. Four- and 5-year-olds were equally competent in understanding the need for interpretation of pictorial material. They realized that an uninitiated person cannot make sense of a "droodle", which in itself is an uninterpretable section of a larger meaningful drawing. We discuss the impact of our findings on the question of whether children at this age entertain a copy theory of mind.

Attention↗

Other minds in the brain: a functional imaging study of "theory of mind" in story comprehension.

The ability of normal children and adults to attribute independent mental states to self and others in order to explain and predict behaviour ("theory of mind") has been a focus of much recent research. Autism is a biologically based disorder which appears to be characterised by a specific impairment in this "mentalising" process. The present paper reports a functional neuroimaging study with positron emission tomography in which we studied brain activity in normal volunteers while they performed story comprehension tasks necessitating the attribution of mental states. The resultant brain activity was compared with that measured in two control tasks: "physical" stories which did not require this mental attribution, and passages of unlinked sentences. Both story conditions, when compared to the unlinked sentences, showed significantly increased regional cerebral blood flow in the following regions: the temporal poles bilaterally, the left superior temporal gyrus and the posterior cingulate cortex. Comparison of the "theory of mind" stories with "physical" stores revealed a specific pattern of activation associated with mental state attribution: it was only this task which produced activation in the medial frontal gyrus on the left (Brodmann's area 8). This comparison also showed significant activation in the posterior cingulate cortex. These surprisingly clear-cut findings are discussed in relation to previous studies of brain activation during story comprehension. The localisation of brain regions involved in normal attribution of mental states and contextual problem solving is feasible and may have implication for the neural basis of autism.

Adolescent↗

Maternal mind-mindedness and attachment security as predictors of theory of mind understanding.

This study investigated relations between social interaction during infancy and children's subsequent theory of mind (ToM). Infant-mother pairs (N = 57) were observed in a free-play context at 6 months. Interactions were coded for (a) mothers' use of mental state language that commented appropriately on the infants' mental states, and (b) mothers' use of mental state language that did not appropriately reflect their infants' minds. A third variable was (c) security of attachment, which was assessed using the Strange Situation procedure at 12 months. Performance on a battery of ToM tasks at 45 and 48 months was positively correlated with (a), but was not related to (b) or (c). A regression analysis showed that mothers' use of appropriate mental state comments independently predicted overall ToM performance, accounting for 11% of the variance. Children's verbal ability was the only other independent predictor of ToM performance, accounting for 16% of the variance. These findings represent the earliest known social predictor of individual differences in ToM.

Child↗

When keeping in mind supports later bringing to mind: neural markers of phonological rehearsal predict subsequent remembering.

The ability to bring to mind a past experience depends on the cognitive and neural processes that are engaged during the experience and that support memory formation. A central and much debated question is whether the processes that underlie rote verbal rehearsal-that is, working memory mechanisms that keep information in mind-impact memory formation and subsequent remembering. The present study used event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to explore the relation between working memory maintenance operations and long-term memory. Specifically, we investigated whether the magnitude of activation in neural regions supporting the on-line maintenance of verbal codes is predictive of subsequent memory for words that were rote-rehearsed during learning. Furthermore, during rote rehearsal, the extent of neural activation in regions associated with semantic retrieval was assessed to determine the role that incidental semantic elaboration may play in subsequent memory for rote-rehearsed items. Results revealed that (a) the magnitude of activation in neural regions previously associated with phonological rehearsal (left prefrontal, bilateral parietal, supplementary motor, and cerebellar regions) was correlated with subsequent memory, and (b) while rote rehearsal did not--on average--elicit activation in an anterior left prefrontal region associated with semantic retrieval, activation in this region was greater for trials that were subsequently better remembered. Contrary to the prevalent view that rote rehearsal does not impact learning, these data suggest that phonological maintenance mechanisms, in addition to semantic elaboration, support the encoding of an experience such that it can be later remembered.

Adult↗

[Mind and heart--heart and mind].

In common parlance, the close relationship between the heart and the mind is well known. Epidemiologic investigations of the last 20 years have put this relationship on an empirically confirmed basis: patients with heart disease, especially coronary artery disease, suffer from major depression at a rate exceeding chance alone. The reasons are still unknown, but current hypotheses focus on the influence of depression on endothelial function, blood coagulation, cardiac arrhythmias, inflammatory reactions, and lifestyle factors. Major depression worsens the prognosis of cardiologic disorders. Depression in patients with heart disease must be treated equally vigorously as in patients without heart disease. In patients with coronary artery disease and depression, only few controlled clinical studies are available, but have shown that selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors are effective and safe. They are therefore currently the drugs of choice. It is important for the clinician to consider major and minor depression in the differential diagnosis of psychiatric and somatic symptoms in patients with heart disease, to diagnose depression without delay, and promptly initiate an appropriate therapy according to current treatment guidelines.

Antidepressive Agents↗

Keeping in mind the mind: mental functions, networks and neurosurgery.

The object of the neurosurgeons daily endeavour, the human brain, is less well understood in its overall organization than any other organ. This puts the neurosurgeon in a very difficult position. However, a substantial body of knowledge has been accumulated during recent years, and scientists from a variety of different disciplines have worked out theoretical frameworks to accomodate the available data. Here we present some of the evolving concepts on the organization of the substrate of the mind. Review of the literature shows that application of mathematical neural network models to the nervous system is very successful in explaining function. An implicit aspect of neural network models is that information storage is not localized in certain neurons but that the information is stored as the global pattern of activity in the network. Because networks of the brain involve often millions of neurons, exact identification and comparison with the theoretical models is not possible today.

Brain↗

Nutrition and theory of mind--The role of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) in the development of theory of mind.

Breast-milk provides nutrients required for the development of the brain. n-6 and n-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFAs) have been suggested to be particularly involved. In this study levels of fatty acids in breast-milk were examined in relation to theory of mind (ToM) (n = 13) and WISC-III (n = 22) in six-year-old children. ToM tasks comprised four illustrated stories with questions about emotional (sad) events. Single polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) were estimated as well as ratios between different fatty acids in order to describe putative associations between PUFA and psychological measures. Results show correlations between both ToM and WISC-III with single n-6 PUFA and the ratios DHA/AA and DHA/DPA. The correlations remained when socio-demographic factors were statistically controlled for. The positive findings related to the n-6 and n-3 LCPUFAs corroborate previous findings related to child cognitive development.

Child↗

What's inside someone's head? Conceiving of the mind as a camera helps children with autism acquire an alternative to a theory of mind.

A group of children with autism were taught a specific strategy to help them solve a series of theory of mind problems. We focused our teaching on the false-belief task and taught them the analogy that people have photos in their heads. This strategy draws on a domain of intact cognition in autism (understanding photographic representations) to bypass a cognitive impairment in a certain domain (understanding mental state representations). All the children were able to understand photographic misrepresentation during teaching and, following specific teaching, they could use the strategy of visualising photos in characters' heads to predict the character's behaviour. In contrast, none of the children could use the photo strategy to predict a character's mental states. The educational and theoretical implications of this study are discussed.

Journal Article↗

How the mind understands other minds: cognitive psychology, attachment and reflective function.

Jung's epistemological relativistic attitude was very advanced for his time and very much in line with the contemporary philosophy of science. Further, Jung states that the patient's unconscious has the capacity to represent itself by creating metaphors which give the therapist all the help he might need in treating his patient. As such, Jungian analysts have not been encouraged to embark on theoretical work and as a result, the Jungian movement has been lacking those theories that connect general psychological principles with clinical practices. In an attempt to enlarge our 'middle-range theories', we shall discuss Peter Fonagy's concept of reflective function. In our opinion, the theoretical hypothesis regarding the instinct of reading the mind (Baron-Cohen 1995) and Fonagy's idea of reflective function are extremely useful in our Jungian clinical practice and these concepts are utilizable because they are not at odds with analytical psychology's general epistemological and theoretical framework.

Cognition↗