Depression Research Unit, Psychiatric Hospital of the University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland. serge.brand @ upkbs.ch
Neuropsychobiology. 2012;65(3):109-18. doi: 10.1159/000330362. Epub 2012 Feb 24.
There is growing scientific interest in assessing the biological correlates of non-pharmacological interventions such as mindfulness. Examinations of the beneficial effects of mindfulness on hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenocortical system activity (HPA SA) and sleep are sparse. The aim of the present study was to explore the impact of long- and short-term meditation experience on HPA SA and sleep.
There were 20 participants, 9 of whom had long-term experience in meditation (mean = 264 months) and 11 novices. Novices underwent an 8-week course in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), and cortisol samples were taken in the lab at the beginning and end of the course. To assess the cortisol awakening response, 4 morning cortisol samples were collected. Sleep and mindfulness were assessed by self-rating questionnaires.
Among participants with long-term meditation experience, morning cortisol decreased with length of experience. For novices, after an 8-week introductory MBSR course, morning cortisol levels had decreased, while both sleep and self-attribution of mindfulness significantly improved. Cortisol levels did not, however, change between the beginning and end of individual MBSR sessions.
The pattern of results lends support to the view that MBSR/meditation has a favorable influence both on biomarkers of stress regulation, such as cortisol secretion, and on sleep.
人们对评估非药物干预（如正念）的生物学相关性越来越感兴趣。关于正念对下丘脑-垂体-肾上腺皮质系统活动（HPA 轴）和睡眠的有益影响的研究很少。本研究旨在探讨长期和短期冥想经验对 HPA 轴和睡眠的影响。
共有 20 名参与者，其中 9 名具有长期冥想经验（平均=264 个月），11 名新手。新手接受了为期 8 周的正念减压（MBSR）课程，在课程开始和结束时在实验室采集皮质醇样本。为了评估皮质醇觉醒反应，采集了 4 个早晨皮质醇样本。通过自我评估问卷评估睡眠和正念。
在具有长期冥想经验的参与者中，早晨皮质醇随经验的增加而降低。对于新手来说，在接受了为期 8 周的 MBSR 入门课程后，早晨皮质醇水平下降，而睡眠和自我归因的正念显著改善。然而，在个别 MBSR 课程的开始和结束之间，皮质醇水平并没有变化。
这些结果表明，MBSR/冥想对压力调节的生物标志物（如皮质醇分泌）和睡眠都有有利的影响。
