Alda Marta, Puebla-Guedea Marta, Rodero Baltasar, Demarzo Marcelo, Montero-Marin Jesus, Roca Miquel, Garcia-Campayo Javier
Miguel Servet University Hospital, University of Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain ; Instituto Aragonés de Ciencias de la Salud. Red de Investigación en Atención Primaria (REDIAPP), Zaragoza, Spain.
Instituto Aragonés de Ciencias de la Salud. Red de Investigación en Atención Primaria (REDIAPP), Zaragoza, Spain.
Mindfulness (N Y). 2016;7:651-659. doi: 10.1007/s12671-016-0500-5. Epub 2016 Feb 22.
Mindfulness refers to an awareness that emerges by intentionally focusing on the present experience in a nonjudgmental or evaluative manner. Evidence regarding its efficacy has been increasing exponentially, and recent research suggests that the practice of meditation is associated with longer leukocyte telomere length. However, the psychological mechanisms underlying this potential relationship are unknown. We examined the telomere lengths of a group of 20 Zen meditation experts and another 20 healthy matched comparison participants who had not previously meditated. We also measured multiple psychological variables related to meditation practice. Genomic DNA was extracted for telomere measurement using a Life Length proprietary program. High-throughput quantitative fluorescence in situ hybridization (HT-Q-FISH) was used to measure the telomere length distribution and the median telomere length (MTL). The meditators group had a longer MTL ( = 0.005) and a lower percentage of short telomeres in individual cells ( = 0.007) than those in the comparison group. To determine which of the psychological variables contributed more to telomere maintenance, two regression analyses were conducted. In the first model, which applied to the MTL, the following three factors were significant: age, absence of experiential avoidance, and Common Humanity subscale of the Self Compassion Scale. Similarly, in the model that examined the percentage of short telomeres, the same factors were significant: age, absence of experiential avoidance, and Common Humanity subscale of the Self Compassion Scale. Although limited by a small sample size, these results suggest that the absence of experiential avoidance of negative emotions and thoughts is integral to the connection between meditation and telomeres.
正念是指通过以非评判或非评价的方式有意关注当下体验而产生的一种觉知。关于其功效的证据呈指数级增长，最近的研究表明冥想练习与更长的白细胞端粒长度相关。然而，这种潜在关系背后的心理机制尚不清楚。我们检查了一组20名禅宗冥想专家以及另外20名未进行过冥想的健康匹配对照参与者的端粒长度。我们还测量了与冥想练习相关的多个心理变量。使用Life Length专有程序提取基因组DNA用于端粒测量。采用高通量定量荧光原位杂交（HT-Q-FISH）来测量端粒长度分布和中端粒长度（MTL）。与对照组相比，冥想者组的MTL更长（ = 0.005），单个细胞中短端粒的百分比更低（ = 0.007）。为了确定哪些心理变量对端粒维持的贡献更大，我们进行了两项回归分析。在应用于MTL的第一个模型中，以下三个因素具有显著性：年龄、没有经验性回避以及自我同情量表的共同人性子量表。同样，在检查短端粒百分比的模型中，相同的因素具有显著性：年龄、没有经验性回避以及自我同情量表的共同人性子量表。尽管受样本量小的限制，但这些结果表明，对负面情绪和想法没有经验性回避对于冥想与端粒之间的联系至关重要。
