Neurocognitive and molecular effects of mind-body practices: an integrated approach
| Componente | Categoria |
|---|---|
| Laura Petitta | Componenti il gruppo di ricerca / Participants in the research project |
| Enrico Di Pace | Componenti il gruppo di ricerca / Participants in the research project |
| Anna Reale | Componenti il gruppo di ricerca / Participants in the research project |
| Sabrina Donatella Sonia Venditti | Componenti il gruppo di ricerca / Participants in the research project |
| Componente | Qualifica | Struttura | Categoria |
|---|---|---|---|
| Loredana Verdone | Researcher | Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), Institute of Molecular Biology and Pathology, c/o Sapienza University of Rome, Italy | Altro personale Sapienza o esterni / Other personnel Sapienza or other institution |
| Tal Dotan Ben-Soussan | Director | Research Institute for Neuroscience, Education and Didactics of the Patrizio Paoletti Foundation | Altro personale Sapienza o esterni / Other personnel Sapienza or other institution |
| Maria Giulia Bacalini | Post-doc Research Fellow | Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna, Italy. | Altro personale Sapienza o esterni / Other personnel Sapienza or other institution |
| Michele Zampieri | Researcher | Laboratory of Clinical Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Dep. of Cellular Biotechnologies and Haematology, Faculty of Pharmacy and Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy | Altro personale Sapienza o esterni / Other personnel Sapienza or other institution |
| Stefano Tagliatesta | PhD Student | Laboratory of Clinical Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Dep. of Cellular Biotechnologies and Haematology, Faculty of Pharmacy and Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy | Altro personale Sapienza o esterni / Other personnel Sapienza or other institution |
| Micaela Caserta | Senior Researcher | Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), Institute of Molecular Biology and Pathology, c/o Sapienza University of Rome, Italy | Altro personale Sapienza o esterni / Other personnel Sapienza or other institution |
Meditation, mindfulness and other mind-body practices have been increasingly studied in the recent years, as also related to their beneficial effects on cognition, physical and mental health.
The research project will focus on Focused Attention Meditation (FAM) and another mind-body practice, Quadrato Motor Training (QMT), with established effects on cognition, brain, body and psychological wellbeing. It is linked to recent important trends in cognitive neuroscience and biology, in an original integration with focus on FAM and QMT training and related longitudinal assessment.
Based on the interdisciplinary expertise and multiple research methods, the project is aimed to an advance in research about meditation and the neurocognitive and molecular correlates of mind-body practices, with a particular focus on brain networks and epigenetics, as well as relationships between variables at different levels: mental, behavioral (associated to cognition and emotion), electrophysiological, and molecular.
The research will involve three groups of participants (FAM, QMT, and control group) that will be assessed two times with an interval of 12 weeks.
To assess brain networks, EEG resting and task-related recording will be performed. Attentional functions will be assessed through the Attentional Network Test. To assess cognitive control, the Stroop task will be performed, also in its emotional form.
At the molecular level, we will investigate effects through the gene expression and the epigenetic regulation analysis of neurotrophin genes. To this end, saliva samples from participants practicing QMT and FAM (as well as in the control group) will be collected,
We will also assess correlations and conduct predictive and causal statistical analyses between measures at different levels, including electrophysiological, cognitive, emotional and molecular measures, in a novel integrated approach.