Lifestyle News and Research

Increased Theta and Alpha EEG Activity During Nondirective Meditation.

J Altern Complement Med. 2009 Nov;15(11):1187-1192

Authors: Lagopoulos J, Xu J, Rasmussen I, Vik A, Malhi GS, Eliassen CF, Arntsen IE, Sæther JG, Hollup S, Holen A, Davanger S, Ellingsen O

Abstract Objectives: In recent years, there has been significant uptake of meditation and related relaxation techniques, as a means of alleviating stress and maintaining good health. Despite its popularity, little is known about the neural mechanisms by which meditation works, and there is a need for more rigorous investigations of the underlying neurobiology. Several electroencephalogram (EEG) studies have reported changes in spectral band frequencies during meditation inspired by techniques that focus on concentration, and in comparison much less has been reported on mindfulness and nondirective techniques that are proving to be just as popular. Design: The present study examined EEG changes during nondirective meditation. The investigational paradigm involved 20 minutes of acem meditation, where the subjects were asked to close their eyes and adopt their normal meditation technique, as well as a separate 20-minute quiet rest condition where the subjects were asked to close their eyes and sit quietly in a state of rest. Both conditions were completed in the same experimental session with a 15-minute break in between. Results: Significantly increased theta power was found for the meditation condition when averaged across all brain regions. On closer examination, it was found that theta was significantly greater in the frontal and temporal-central regions as compared to the posterior region. There was also a significant increase in alpha power in the meditation condition compared to the rest condition, when averaged across all brain regions, and it was found that alpha was significantly greater in the posterior region as compared to the frontal region. Conclusions: These findings from this study suggest that nondirective meditation techniques alter theta and alpha EEG patterns significantly more than regular relaxation, in a manner that is perhaps similar to methods based on mindfulness or concentration.

PMID: 19922249 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Effectiveness of exercise in the treatment of lumbar spinal stenosis, knee osteoarthritis, and osteoporosis.

Aging Clin Exp Res. 2009 Nov 6;

Authors: Iwamoto J, Sato Y, Takeda T, Matsumoto H

Background and aims: Lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS), osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee, and osteoporosis are major locomotive diseases in the elderly population. The objective of the present study was to examine the effectiveness of exercise in these three major locomotive diseases. Methods: We reviewed the relevant literature, i.e., systematic reviews and meta-analyses searched with PubMed. Results: There is no sufficient evidence to draw conclusions regarding the effectiveness of exercise for LSS. However, muscle strengthening and aerobic exercises are effective in reducing pain and improving the physical function in patients with mild to moderate OA of the knee. On the other hand, aerobics, weight bearing and resistance exercises are effective in increasing the bone mineral density of the spine in postmenopausal women, and walking is effective for the hips. Muscle strengthening, balance training and traditional Chinese Tai Chi reduce the fall risk in the elderly. Conclusion: Based on the review of the literature, appropriate exercises should be emphasized for elderly patients especially for those with mild to moderate OA of the knee or osteoporosis.

PMID: 19920410 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Oral health and the postcontact adaptive transition: A contextual reconstruction of diet in Mórrope, Peru.

Am J Phys Anthropol. 2009 Nov 16;

Authors: Klaus HD, Tam ME

This work explores the effects of European contact on Andean foodways in the Lambayeque Valley Complex, north coast Peru. We test the hypothesis that Spanish colonization negatively impacted indigenous diet. Diachronic relationships of oral health were examined from the dentitions of 203 late-pre-Hispanic and 175 colonial-period Mochica individuals from Mórrope, Lambayeque, to include observations of dental caries, antemortem tooth loss, alveolar inflammation, dental calculus, periodontitis, and dental wear. G-tests and odds ratio analyses across six age classes indicate a range of statistically significant postcontact increases in dental caries, antemortem tooth loss, and dental calculus prevalence. These findings are associated with ethnohistoric contexts that point to colonial-era economic reorganization which restricted access to multiple traditional food sources. We infer that oral health changes reflect creative Mochica cultural adjustments to dietary shortfalls through the consumption of a greater proportion of dietary carbohydrates. Simultaneously, independent skeletal indicators of biological stress suggest that these adjustments bore a cost in increased nutritional stress. Oral health appears to have been systematically worse among colonial women. We rule out an underlying biological cause (female fertility variation) and suggest that the establishment of European gender ideologies and divisions of labor possibly exposed colonial Mochica women to a more cariogenic diet. Overall, dietary change in Mórrope appears shaped by local responses to a convergence of colonial Spanish economic agendas, landscape transformation, and social changes during the postcontact transition in northern Peru. These findings also further the understandings of dietary and biocultural histories of the Western Hemisphere. Am J Phys Anthropol 2010. (c) 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

PMID: 19918990 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]