Mindful Moments Summer 2012 Newsletter Laboratory of Dr. Amishi Jha University of Miami Welcome to our Summer 2012 events of the past academic Newsletter! In the Jha Lab we year, we are filled with a sense investigate how the brain of excitement and gratitude pays attention and how for projects completed, visitors mental training, involving greeted, papers published, mindfulness-based and grants supported. Our techniques, may strengthen goal with this newsletter is to the brain’s attentional keep colleagues, friends, and capacity. Summer is a time supporters of the lab updated to reflect, relax, and replete on our recent scientific The Team: (L to R: Justin Dainer-Best, Cristina Garcia, Phillip Chan, Nina Rostrup, Judy Gomez, Amishi Jha, Emily Brudner, Shruti Baijal, our attention. As we, in the adventures. Zach Kornblum, Suzanne Parker, Adam Burton) Jha Lab, reflect on all of the Building a Mindfulness Research Community in MIAMI By Amishi Jha I began my position as Associate Professor at the University of Miami in the Fall 2010. I arrived from the University of Pennsylvania, where I was an Assistant The University of Miami’s Mindfulness Research Professor (2002-2010) at the Center for Cognitive and Practice Initiative (MRPI) was formed in Neuroscience. Since arriving at UM, there has been 2010 by Amishi Jha and Scott Rogers, director considerable activity and effort setting up our of the UM Mindfulness in Law Program. With brainwave recording lab and neurobehavioral the support of the Deans of the College of Arts computer facility. The lab will be moving to our and Sciences, Law, and the Miller School of permanent home in the University of Miami’s new Medicine, plans to form a new Center for Neuroscience Building in the Summer of 2013. This Mindfulness and Neuroscience are underway, new building was funded by a $14M NIH grant with a funding goal of $10M. The new Center awarded to the Dept of Psychology to establish a will serve as a destination for those in So. state-of the art functional neuroimaging Center. Florida and around the world to engage in retreats, workshops, and lectures at our In tandem with our neuroimaging efforts, I am beautiful Coral Gables Campus, while also passionate about expanding the research and participating in cutting-edge research on keeping the human brain healthy and well- practice of mindfulness on the UM Campus. The (Top, Brainwave recording; protected from stress-related illnesses and Mindfulness Research and Practice Initiative is the first Middle, Viewing EEG data age-related challenges. step toward my goal of leading a top-tier Center to and eye-movements during testing session; Bottom, To learn more about supporting our fundraising focus on mindfulness and contemplative practices. weekly lab meeting) efforts, please email [email protected]. The Jha Lab Online Research Highlights! Learn about our most As little as 12 minutes a day of mindfulness practice can improve working memory. recent findings, watch (Jha et al., 2010) videos from recent presentations, and get Concentrative meditation can improve children’s attentional control ability. (Baijal, Jha, et al., 2011) other up-to-date news on the cognitive neuroscience Intensive Mindfulness Training improves the ability to remember information with less of mindfulness. Visit us at encoding noise. (Van Vugt and Jha, 2011) www.amishi.com or follow on twitter @amishijha Mindfulness Training in Marines can improve subjective experience of being present and reduce stress levels. (Stanley, Schaldach, Kiyonaga, and Jha, 2011) Mindful Moments Summer 2012 Copyright Amishi P. Jha Page 2 Show on the Road! Attention is critical for everything we do, In the Spring of 2012, Amishi presented to from reading these words to having a educators and clinicians at meetings of the UC- conversation, driving, learning in school, or San Diego Center for Mindfulness and the performing on the battlefield. We have Mindfulness in Education Network Meeting. been fortunate to be able to share our These conferences were a terrific opportunity to research with a broad range of audiences. share how mindfulness might aid learning in In addition to conducting rigorous research, children. In a symposium co-organized by a central mission of our lab is to make Amishi and Philippe Goldin of Stanford science accessible without compromising University, held at the Annual meeting of the communication of complexity, nuance, UMass Center for Mindfulness, Amishi and and active research debates. several leaders in the field of neuroscience and mindfulness presented research on the topic of In the Fall of 2011, Amishi presented embodiment of mindfulness. Videos of Amishi’s research on the STRONG Project (see Page Conferences can be found at our lab website. 3) to Brigadier General Rhonda Cornum. BG Cornum is head of the US Army’s Nina Rostrup and Justin Dainer-Best, who Comprehensive Soldier Fitness Program, came to the Jha lab from the University of which aims to bring balance and optimal Pennsylvania and Haverford College, health in Soldiers’ emotion, spiritual, respectively, presented research on the psychological, and social functioning. Also STRONG project at the annual meeting of the this Fall, Amishi visited the US Capitol to brief Society for Neuroscience in Washington, D.C. Congressman Tim Ryan (D, Ohio) on the The topics were on the benefits of lab’s activities regarding mindfulness. His mindfulness training on working memory and new book, A Mindful Nation, features some in curbing mind wandering. of the lab’s work and provides a broad Photos: Amishi with General Cornum (top), with Congressman Tim survey of the benefits of mindfulness in Ryan (middle), and at the Center for Mindfulness Meeting (bottom). many sectors of our Society. Lab Visitors New Lab Members! We have several new folks joining us at the Jha Lab. Dr. Alexandra Morrison is a post- doctoral fellow, who recently received her Ph.D from Temple University in Philadelphia. Dr. Morrison will be spearheading two projects on short-form mindfulness training in undergraduates and ROTC cadets. Above: with Goldie Hawn, Dean of the Miller School of Medicine (Dr. Pasqual Goldschmidt) and Chair of Joshua Rooks is a new Psychology (Dr. Rod Wellens) Left: with Colonel Walter Piatt graduate student who will be joining us from Northwestern Goldie Hawn recently visited on the cognitive neuroscience University. Josh brings an the Jha Lab to discuss research of mindfulness training and unusual skill set which combines brain imaging, and a personal collaborations between our lab fruitful avenues for future background in mindfulness and the Hawn Foundation. research with the Hawn which is cultivated as a football Amishi is a scientific adviser for Foundation. player for Northwestern during all 4 years he attended. We are the Hawn Foundation, founded thrilled they are joining the lab by Goldie to help cultivate The Commandant of the US and look forward to sharing mindful attention and optimism Army Infantry School, Colonel (P) their updates and accomplishments in future in children. The meeting Walter Piatt, visited the Jha Lab issues. focused on the Jha lab’s work to discuss our work on the neurobehavioral effects of mindfulness. Mindful Moments Summer 2012 Copyright Amishi P. Jha Page 3 The STRONG Project [email protected] http://schofieldstrong.info The Jha lab has been awarded $3.72M to conduct the STRONG University of Miami Schofield Barracks PROJECT. This is a 6 year project, funded by the US Army that aims to S.T..R..O..N..G Training and Project Research track the impact of pre-deployment resilience training over the O n Neurobehavioral deployment cycle. The project is sited at Schofield Barracks Army Growth Base in Hawaii. Our main collaborator on the project is Dr. Liz Stanley from Georgetown University and the Mind Fitness Training Institute. Dr. Stanley created an 8-week mindfulness program specifically for predeployment military service members to promote their resilience to the stressors of combat, and ensure that they are able to make ethical, incisive-yet-nonreactive decisions and behavior during combat. Our research team just returned from Hawaii where we collected data from soldiers upon their return from deployment. We Photo: Amishi with BG are actively analyzing our results. Nixon and Dr. Liz Stanley New Projects beginning this Fall The Jha lab has recently been awarded a 3 year/$920K Grant from the Dept. of Defense to offer short-form mindfulness training to civilians. The central question of this project is to Project determine how effective training is when offered for as little as 20min per session, 3 sessions a week, for 8 weeks. We will be offering training to UM Psychology students this Fall. We will be collaborating with Scott Rogers of the UM Mindfulness in Law Program to offer training. The Jha lab has recently been awarded a 4 [email protected] year/$900K Grant from the Dept. of Defense to phone: 305-284-8148 University of Miami, Dept of Psychology determine how much training in mindfulness is S trength required by novices for them to effectively teach T raining for mindfulness techniques to others. We are S.T.A.R.R A ttention and partnering with the US Army and US Air Force Project R esilience in ROTC to conduct this project at the University of R OTC Cadets Miami. Military Spouse Resilience Project University of Miami The Jha lab has recently been awarded a pilot grant ($50K) from the 1440 Foundation to offer mindfulness and compassion training to spouses of military service members who are in the deployment cycle. This pilot grant will allow us to conduct proof-of-concept research on this group. Many soldiers ask us how can we “get this to my wife” when they experience first-hand benefits of mindfulness. We will be collaborating with Margaret Cullen to offer training in her 9-week program, which was originally developed to help K-12 teachers cope with job stress and burnout.