Breath Versus Emotions: The Impact of Different Foci of Attention During Mindfulness Meditation on the Experience of Negative and Positive Emotions

Mindfulness meditation yields beneficial effects on the processing of emotions. However, it is still unclear whether the focus of attention during meditation influences these effects. In the present study we aimed at comparing the effects of breathing meditation and emotion-focused meditation on the immediate and delayed processing of negative and positive emotions. The study included 65 adult novice meditators who were exposed to positively and negatively valenced film clips. Participants were randomly assigned to three conditions. While watching the films at t1, they were asked to mindfully focus on their breath (condition 1), on emotions (condition 2), or on nothing in particular (condition 3). Ten minutes later at t2, comparable film clips were shown but all participants watched them without taking up a mindful attitude. Dependent measures were emotional states at t1 and t2. Participants of both meditation conditions particularly showed a more preferable delayed emotional reaction to negative stimuli than participants of the control condition. Breathing meditation and emotion-focused meditation may constitute effective emotion regulation strategies to deal with negatively valenced emotional states.

Effects of vagal stimulation on swimbladder blood flow in the european eel Anguilla anguilla

The influence of the vagus nerve on swimbladder blood flow in the European eel (Anguilla anguilla) was characterized by recording the changes in blood flow rate and blood pressure following stimulation of the vagus nerve. After electrical stimulation, blood flow in the swimbladder artery increased from 0.9 ml min-1 to 2.1 ml min-1. Video recordings of small vessels on the caudal side of the rete mirabile revealed an increase in erythrocyte velocity combined with a small vasodilation. This effect could not be blocked by injection of the -adrenergic antagonist phentolamine, the ss-adrenergic antagonist propranolol or the muscarinic cholinoceptor antagonist atropine. In all preparations with a high initial flow rate (>1.9 ml min-1), vagotomy resulted in a marked decrease in blood flow (by approximately 80 %). This effect was not observed in preparations with a low initial swimbladder blood flow. Stimulation of the vagus nerve produced a decrease, and vagotomy produced an increase, in perfusion pressure in blood-perfused swimbladder preparations. Histological studies revealed the presence of a ganglion in the vagus nerve located on the anterior part of the resorbing section of the swimbladder close to the origin of the ductus pneumaticus, which is probably associated with swimbladder function. These results suggest that swimbladder blood flow, at least to some extent, is under vagal tonic control. The effects do not, however, appear to involve the classical - and ss-adrenergic or muscarinic cholinoceptor functions.