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This book shows, the way we think about attention is usually through its instrumentality, by what can be achieved if we give something enough of it--say, a crisply written report, a newly built bookcase, or even a satisfied child who has yearned for engagement. Yet in losing ourselves to the objects of our fixation, we often neglect the process of attention itself. Exploring everything from attention's effects on our neurons to attention deficit disorder, from the mindfulness movement to the relationship between attention and creativity, it examines attention in action through many disciplines and ways of life. Along the way, the book offers interviews with an astonishing cast of creative people--from composers to poets to artists to psychologists--including John Luther Adams, Stephen Batchelor, Sue Blackmore, Guy Claxton, Edmund de Waal, Rick Hanson, Jane Hirshfield, Wayne Macgregor, Iain McGilchrist, Garry Fabian Miller, Alice and Peter Oswald, Ruth Ozeki, and James Turrell.

College students experience high levels of stress. Mindfulness meditation delivered via a mobile app may be an appealing, efficacious way to reduce stress in college students. We aimed to test the initial efficacy and sustained effects of an 8-week mindfulness meditation mobile app-Calm-compared to a wait-list control on stress, mindfulness, and self-compassion in college students with elevated stress. We also explored the intervention's effect on health behaviors (ie, sleep disturbance, alcohol consumption [binge drinking], physical activity, and healthy eating [fruit and vegetable consumption]) and the feasibility and acceptability of the app. This study was a randomized, wait-list, control trial with assessments at baseline, postintervention (8 weeks), and at follow-up (12 weeks). Participants were eligible if they were current full-time undergraduate students and (1) at least 18 years of age, (2) scored ≥14 points on the Perceived Stress Scale, (3) owned a smartphone, (4) were willing to download the Calm app, (5) were willing to be randomized, and (7) were able to read and understand English. Participants were asked to meditate using Calm at least 10 minutes per day. A P value ≤.05 was considered statistically significant. A total of 88 participants were included in the analysis. The mean age (SD) was 20.41 (2.31) years for the intervention group and 21.85 (6.3) years for the control group. There were significant differences in all outcomes (stress, mindfulness, and self-compassion) between the intervention and control groups after adjustment for covariates postintervention (all P<.04). These effects persisted at follow-up (all P<.03), except for the nonreacting subscale of mindfulness (P=.08). There was a significant interaction between group and time factors in perceived stress (P=.002), mindfulness (P<.001), and self-compassion (P<.001). Bonferroni posthoc tests showed significant within-group mean differences for perceived stress in the intervention group (P<.001), while there were no significant within-group mean differences in the control group (all P>.19). Similar results were found for mindfulness and self-compassion. Effect sizes ranged from moderate (0.59) to large (1.24) across all outcomes. A significant group×time interaction in models of sleep disturbance was found, but no significant effects were found for other health behaviors. The majority of students in the intervention group reported that Calm was helpful to reduce stress and stated they would use Calm in the future. The majority were satisfied using Calm and likely to recommend it to other college students. The intervention group participated in meditation for an average of 38 minutes/week during the intervention and 20 minutes/week during follow-up. Calm is an effective modality to deliver mindfulness meditation in order to reduce stress and improve mindfulness and self-compassion in stressed college students. Our findings provide important information that can be applied to the design of future studies or mental health resources in university programs. ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03891810; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03891810.

\"This book brings together a cutting-edge selection of the most current applications of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT), giving clinicians as well as researchers a concise guide to current and future directions. Each chapter begins with in illustrative case study to give readers an example of how MBCT would be used in the clinical setting, followed by an overview of the condition, the theoretical rationale for using MBCT, modifications of MBCT for that disorder, and evidence for MBCT use. Chapters also discuss practical considerations of MBCT, including patient selection, home practice, group size, format, and facilitator training. Written by some of the world's leading physicians using MBCT, Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy: Innovative Applications is of great value to psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, and therapists.\"--Publisher's description.

There has been an explosion of interest in mindfulness-based programs (MBPs) such as Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy. This is demonstrated in increased research, implementation of MBPs in healthcare, educational, criminal justice and workplace settings, and in mainstream interest. For the sustainable development of the field there is a need to articulate a definition of what an MBP is and what it is not. This paper provides a framework to define the essential characteristics of the family of MBPs originating from the parent program MBSR, and the processes which inform adaptations of MBPs for different populations or contexts. The framework addresses the essential characteristics of the program and of teacher. MBPs: are informed by theories and practices that draw from a confluence of contemplative traditions, science, and the major disciplines of medicine, psychology and education; underpinned by a model of human experience which addresses the causes of human distress and the pathways to relieving it; develop a new relationship with experience characterized by present moment focus, decentering and an approach orientation; catalyze the development of qualities such as joy, compassion, wisdom, equanimity and greater attentional, emotional and behavioral self-regulation, and engage participants in a sustained intensive training in mindfulness meditation practice, in an experiential inquiry-based learning process and in exercises to develop understanding. The paper's aim is to support clarity, which will in turn support the systematic development of MBP research, and the integrity of the field during the process of implementation in the mainstream.

Given that the ability to attend to a task without distraction underlies performance in a wide variety of contexts, training one's ability to stay on task should result in a similarly broad enhancement of performance. In a randomized controlled investigation, we examined whether a 2-week mindfulness-training course would decrease mind wandering and improve cognitive performance. Mindfulness training improved both GRE reading-comprehension scores and working memory capacity while simultaneously reducing the occurrence of distracting thoughts during completion of the GRE and the measure of working memory. Improvements in performance following mindfulness training were mediated by reduced mind wandering among participants who were prone to distraction at pretesting. Our results suggest that cultivating mindfulness is an effective and efficient technique for improving cognitive function, with wide-reaching consequences.

Training in mindfulness, classically described as a receptive attentiveness to present events and experiences, has been shown to improve attention and working memory. Both are key to long-term memory formation, and the present three-study series used multiple methods to examine whether mindfulness would enhance episodic memory, a key form of long-term memory. In Study 1 (N = 143), a self-reported state of mindful attention predicted better recognition performance in the Remember-Know (R-K) paradigm. In Study 2 (N = 93), very brief training in a focused attention form of mindfulness also produced better recognition memory performance on the R-K task relative to a randomized, well-matched active control condition. Study 3 (N = 57) extended these findings by showing that relative to randomized active and inactive control conditions the effect of very brief mindfulness training generalized to free-recall memory performance. This study also found evidence for mediation of the mindfulness training-episodic memory relation by intrinsic motivation. These findings indicate that mindful attention can beneficially impact motivation and episodic memory, with potential implications for educational and occupational performance.

Il Gruppo verso una Comunità della salute sul Serio, all’interno dell’associazione Shape, lavora alacremente in modo volontario per mettere i mattoni di una Comunità di Cura della salute su un terreno, duramente colpito durante la pandemia Covid, che si presenta fertile ai cambiamenti, nonostante la timidezza istituzionale. Quattro medici di medicina generale, un medico libero professionista, un pediatra, due infermieri, un assistente sociale, due psicologi, un formatore, un educatore e un operatore sociale, con la stretta collaborazione di CSV Bergamo, hanno costruito un modello di lavoro di rete interprofessionale chiamato Progetto Paracadute. Questo è dunque il focus su cui si è mossa l’attività, quest’anno, alla quarta edizione del Progetto Jump, laboratorio peer e out door education in cui i ragazzi sperimentano, nella cornice di una esperienza riconosciuta come PCTO (alternanza scuola-lavoro), degli strumenti trasversali, come la mindfulness, la lettura presso la biblioteca, l’attività presso il Consultorio Familiare, la cucina e la video game therapy, come mezzi per apprendere e donare la salute. Alla terza edizione è anche il percorso che coinvolge i docenti del Liceo come nodo cruciale di promozione della salute dell’adolescente: prima sono stati coinvolti in un percorso di riflessione sui loro punti di forza e sulle loro fatiche, poi sono stati messi in rete con il Progetto Paracadute, sia con la conoscenza e consapevolezza culturale sul tema del disagio psichico dell’adolescente, che come professionisti all’interno della rete stessa di cura. Il 12 settembre 2023, in una serena giornata di sole, nel piazzale antistante la Biblioteca comunale, all’interno del Parco Montecchio, hanno accolto l’invito 27 docenti del Liceo Scientifico E. Amaldi di Alzano L.do con la loro Dirigente, il team del consultorio Familiare di Alzano L.do (psicologa, assistente sociale, ostetrica), Referente del Servizio Adolescenti AS, referente per Servizio Emergenza adolescenti, tutti in rappresentanza anche per ASST Bergamo est, due pediatre, quattro medici di medicina generale, l’Assistente sociale del Comune, gli educatori del Progetto Giovani (Coop Aeper), e la responsabile della Biblioteca del Comune di Alzano L.do, un’infermiera di uno dei servizi ADI territoriali, due formatori del progetto Jump e del percorso per i docenti. Monica Altobelli - Pediatra di libera scelta Giulia Forapan - Medico Libero Professionista, Direttore sanitario Centro diurno per anziani Marco Zanchi - Formatore Romina Zanotti - Infermiera care manager cure domiciliari