Media Release
April 1 2011
Meditate to reduce stress
While
most people are aware that meditation can help us to relax, a group of
UniSA researchers hope to prove that a daily dose of meditation can do
much more.
They have begun a research project investigating stress responses in
people who meditate regularly compared to people who are long-term
carers and who do not meditate.
Behavioural neuroscience researcher
Dr Maarten Immink says ultimately the project aims to show that
meditation reduces stress and that it can have physical as well as
mental function benefits for people who live in higher stress
situations.
“Previous research has already shown that meditation helps with
attention, memory and decision making,” he says.
“The general notion of meditation is not to avoid stress but to learn to
deal with the stress a little bit differently. So when stress is
triggered, as it is in all of us, it’s about how we respond to that,
whether it’s about breathing differently or thinking in a different way.
We’re hoping to show that meditation can have impacts on physical health
and mental function, by evaluating differences in stress biomarkers
(cortisol) and in how people handle stressful challenges.”
Public health researcher
Dr Shona Kelly says there is a lot of information about the mental
strain faced by carers, however there is less information about how
their physical health and mental function are affected.
“We do know that carers have impaired immunity, higher blood pressure
and a greater risk of dying than non-carers of the same age and sex.
What we don’t understand is the physiological processes that lead to
this poorer health,” Dr Kelly says.
The researchers are looking for people to take part in the study, which
is a multi-disciplinary research project in UniSA’s
Division of Health Sciences.
Also involved are Dr Chris Della Vedova and Dr John Hayball from the
School of Pharmacy, research assistant Steph Kershaw, and Dr Stuart
Cathcart from the University of Canberra Centre for Applied
Psychological Research.
They need 40 participants who are regular meditators (have engaged in
meditation practice five days a week for at least three years) and who
are in good health. They also need 40 participants who have been carers
for at least three years, who are generally in good health and who are
not regular meditators.
Dr Kelly says all participants will be asked to collect samples of
saliva at home using a provided kit. These will be compared with samples
collected during a socially stressful challenge (public speaking) in a
two-hour testing session at UniSA’s
City East Campus.
“Saliva contains stress related chemicals which can be measured,” she
says.
“We’re expecting to see the chemical cortisol will rise less and come
down faster in the people who are regular meditators. We are also
looking for stress biomarkers which can be incorporated into large
health surveys where bringing people into the university is not
practical.”
Anyone interested in being involved, or wanting more information, can
contact Dr Kelly on (08) 8302 2901 or by email
shona.kelly@unisa.edu.au
Video courtesy of Ten News
Media contact
- Kelly Stone office (08) 8302 0963 mobile 0417 861 832 email kelly.stone@unisa.edu.au