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People with severe speech and physical impairments may benefit from mindfulness meditation training because it has the potential to enhance their ability to cope with anxiety, depression and pain and improve their attentional capacity to use brain-computer interface systems. Seven adults with severe speech and physical impairments (SSPI) - defined as speech that is understood less than 25% of the time and/or severely reduced hand function for writing/typing - participated in this exploratory, uncontrolled intervention study. The objectives were to describe the development and implementation of a six-week mindfulness meditation intervention and to identify feasible outcome measures in this population. The weekly intervention was delivered by an instructor in the participant's home, and participants were encouraged to practise daily using audio recordings. The objective adherence to home practice was 10.2 minutes per day. Exploratory outcome measures were an n-back working memory task, the Attention Process Training-II Attention Questionnaire, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, the Perceived Stress Scale, the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule, and a qualitative feedback survey. There were no statistically significant pre-post results in this small sample, yet administration of the measures proved feasible, and qualitative reports were overall positive. Obstacles to teaching mindfulness meditation to persons with SSPI are reported, and solutions are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To propose a screening protocol that identifies requisite sensory, motor, cognitive and communication skills for people with locked-in syndrome (PLIS) to use the RSVP Keyboard™ brain-computer interface (BCI). Method: A multidisciplinary clinical team of seven individuals representing five disciplines identified requisite skills for the BCI RSVP Keyboard™. They chose questions and subtests from existing standardized instruments for auditory comprehension, reading and spelling, modified them to accommodate nonverbal response modalities, and developed novel tasks to screen visual perception, sustained visual attention and working memory. Questions were included about sensory skills, positioning, pain interference and medications. The result is a compilation of questions, adapted subtests and original tasks designed for this new BCI system. It was administered to 12 PLIS and 6 healthy controls. Results: Administration required 1 h or less. Yes/no choices and eye gaze were adequate response modes for PLIS. Healthy controls and 9 PLIS were 100% accurate on all tasks; 3 PLIS missed single items. Conclusions: The RSVP BCI screening protocol is a brief, repeatable technique for patients with different levels of LIS to identify the presence/absence of skills for BCI use. Widespread adoption of screening methods should be a clinical goal and will help standardize BCI implementation for research and intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is difficult to treat and current PTSD treatments are not effective for all people. Despite limited evidence for its efficacy, some clinicians have implemented biofeedback for PTSD treatment. As a first step in constructing an effective biofeedback treatment program, we assessed respiration, electroencephalography (EEG) and heart rate variability (HRV) as potential biofeedback parameters for a future clinical trial. This cross-sectional study included 86 veterans; 59 with and 27 without PTSD. Data were collected on EEG measures, HRV, and respiration rate during an attentive resting state. Measures were analyzed to assess sensitivity to PTSD status and the relationship to PTSD symptoms. Peak alpha frequency was higher in the PTSD group ( F(1,84) = 6.14, p = 0.01). Peak high-frequency HRV was lower in the PTSD group ( F(2,78) = 26.5, p < 0.00005) when adjusting for respiration rate. All other EEG and HRV measures and respiration were not different between groups. Peak high-frequency HRV and peak alpha frequency are sensitive to PTSD status and may be potential biofeedback parameters for future PTSD clinical trials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Clinicians and researchers working with dementia caregivers typically assess caregiver stress in a clinic or research center, but caregivers’ stress is rooted at home where they provide care. This study aimed to compare ratings of stress-related measures obtained in research settings and in the home using ecological momentary assessment (EMA).Methods: EMA of 18 caregivers (mean age 66.4 years ±7.8; 89% females) and 23 non-caregivers (mean age 66.4 years ±7.9; 87% females) was implemented using a personal digital assistant. Subjects rated their perceived stress, fatigue, coping with current situation, mindfulness, and situational demand once in the research center and again at 3–4 semi-random points during a day at home. The data from several assessments conducted at home were averaged for statistical analyses and compared with the data collected in the research center.Results: The testing environment had a differential effect on caregivers and non-caregivers for the ratings of perceived stress (p < 0.01) and situational demand (p = 0.01). When tested in the research center, ratings for all measures were similar between groups, but when tested at home, caregivers rated their perceived stress as higher than non-caregivers (p = 0.02). Overall, caregivers reported higher perceived stress at home than in the research center (p = 0.02), and non-caregivers reported greater situational demand in the research center than at home (p < 0.01).Conclusions: The assessment method and environment affect stress-related outcomes. Evaluating participants in their natural environment provides a more sensitive measure of stress-related outcomes. EMA provides a convenient way to gather data when evaluating dementia caregivers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this cross-sectional study was to assess group differences between veterans with and without posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in mindful awareness and mindful non-judging. The relationships between mindfulness and PTSD symptom clusters were also evaluated. Three age and gender-matched groups, (1) 15 combat veterans with PTSD, (2) 15 combat veterans without PTSD, and (3) 15 non-combat veterans without PTSD, completed the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale and the Accept without Judgment Scale. PTSD status was determined with the Clinician Administered PTSD Scale and excluded disorders screened with the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV. Mindfulness scale group differences were assessed with analysis of variance. Mindfulness and the PTSD symptom clusters relationships were assessed with hierarchical regression analysis. There were group differences on mindful non-judging ( F(2,44) = 7.22, p = .002) but not mindful awareness (p > .05). Combat exposure accounted for significant variation in PTSD symptoms (hyper-arousal 47%; numbing-avoiding 32%; re-experiencing 23%). Mindfulness accounted for a significant percentage variance of PTSD symptoms (re-experiencing 32%; numbing-avoiding 19%, hyper-arousal 16%), beyond combat exposure effects, although only mindful non-judging was significant in the model. This study confirms in a clinical sample that mindful non-judging is associated with PTSD symptoms and could represent a meaningful focus for treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Certain micronutrients are protective against cognitive decline. We examined whether there is any uniform pattern of circulating micronutrients cross–culturally that are associated with successful cognitive aging. For the U.S. sample, we used the stored serum/plasma of 115 participants, collected in Oregon, USA. The Okinawa sample consisted of 49 participants selected using similar inclusion criteria as the Oregon sample, from the Keys to Optimal Cognitive Aging Project. All participants were aged 85 years and older without cognitive impairment. We found that the Okinawan elders used fewer vitamin supplements but had similar levels of vitamin B12 and α-tocopherol, lower folate and γ-tocopherol, compared with Oregonian elders. That is, we did not find a uniform pattern of circulating micronutrients, suggesting that micronutrients other than those examined here or other lifestyle factors than nutrition could play an important role in achieving successful cognitive aging. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]