“An ounce of practice is worth several tons of theory”

Swami Sivananda

BBC Horizon’s – The Truth About Personality

Yet another great BBC Horizon production presented by Michael Moseley. This time Dr Moseley is on a quest to find out more about personality. In part fueled by a desire to cure 20 years of chronic insomnia and to find out whether he can change his self-confessed pessimistic outlook on life. As a qualified doctor and BBC presenter I guess his pessimism hasn’t served him too badly so far!

In the 70s, Oxford Ohio was the seat of an interesting social experiment. People over 50 years old were questioned and followed over several years to learn more about aging. Professor Becca Levy (Yale University) analysed the data and found that it was in fact attitude that determined longevity. People with positive beliefs about aging live an average of 7.5 years longer than those with negative beliefs. They put it into context by noting that curing cancer would only add 3-4 years life expectancy.

One of the most important personality traits is whether we’re optimistic or pessimistic. Being pessimistic, anxious and neurotic affects our reaction to the world but how can we objectively measure this? Well, it’s been found that these traits lead to an increased activity of the right frontal cortex compared to the left. To measure this, Dr Moseley visited Professor Elaine Fox (University of Essex). It turned out he had 3 times more activity on the right than the left. His pessimism was confirmed! In addition, Prof Fox had him take a test to check his reaction time to dots on a screen. The dots were either preceded by an angry face or a happy face. His reaction time was a lot shorter when the dots were preceded by an angry face. Possibly because he had a habit of focusing more on the negative than the positive.

At MIT Professor Rosalind Picard asked him to wear a wristband whilst they had a chat. The wristband measured his skin temperature and electrical conductivity which are both affected by the autonomic nervous system and so gave a good indication of his emotional state. Dr Moseley’s baseline levels were high, suggesting heightened arousal, even though he felt relaxed. That’s because intriguingly, the body tells us about a change in state before the mind realises.

So now he had evidence indicating he was pessimistic and possibly a little anxious. What could he do about it? Professor Fox suggested using Cognitive Bias Modification (CBM). He simply had to look at screen shots of mainly unhappy faces and spot the one happy face…repeatedly. In theory this decreases the unconscious negative bias by breaking the habit of looking for the negative. Evidence has shown that it helps combat anxiety but not depression. Dr Moseley confided in being self- absorbed, worrying about the past, stressing about the future and as a result being unable to savour the present. So he decided to use CBM 3x/week for about 7 weeks.

His next encounter was with Andy Puddicombe, a former Buddhist monk, who now teaches mindfulness meditation. He said that 10-20 mins of meditation a day would be enough to make a psychological and physiological difference. MRI studies of meditators have shown they have increased grey matter in areas that regulate emotion and increased activity in the left prefrontal cortex which is a centre for positive emotions. The meditation he was taught consisted of focusing on breathing. With training, the mind wanders less down negative habitual routes. So in addition to his CBM training, Dr Moseley decided to do 7 weeks of daily mindfulness meditation.

How does our personality come about? Is it nature or nurture? Professor Tim Spector (King’s College London) has studied identical twins for over 20 years. He believes that 40-50% of personality is based on genetics. His study of discordant twins has revealed that genes can change through life! This is the fascinating field of epigenetics. Genes can be switched on or off by stressful life events. If they can change in one direction they can change in the other, which means we can regain control of our genes!

Professor Michael Meaney’s (McGill University) studies on mice have demonstrated that the effect of good maternal care (more contact, licking) protects rats from anxiety by modifying genes and these changes are transmitted through generations. The hippocampus controls stress, emotion and memory. Better mothering increases glucocorticoid receptors in this part of the brain.

After 7 weeks of CBM and mindfulness meditation Dr Moseley confessed he was sleeping better than he had in the last 10 years! He repeated the tests and measurements with professor Fox and found that he now had less than 2 times more activity in the right frontal cortex than the left. The activity in the right frontal cortex was half of what it previously was. His reaction time was now better when preceded by a happy face than an angry face, which suggested he may be noticing more of the positive in his daily life.

Exercise Prevents Stress

A lot of us know from experience that exercise is a great stress buster. Elizabeth Gould (Professor of Psychology at Princeton) and her associates have clarified the process. Their research was published in the March issue of the Journal of Neuroscience.

Their experiments were performed on mice. The mice were divided into 2 groups:

• Sedentary group: no running wheel
• Active group: free access to a running wheel (mice run about 4 km per day when given a running wheel!)

Six weeks later the mice were exposed to a stressor (cold water). The sedentary group showed an increase in ‘immediate early genes’ (short-lived genes that turn on rapidly when neurons fire). Whereas the active group showed no presence of these genes suggesting no neuronal excitation secondary to the stressor. In the active group, inhibitory neurons were more active and more gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) was released in the brain. GABA is a neurotransmitter that calms down neural excitement.

Gould concluded that “the results suggest that running improves anxiety regulation by engaging local inhibitory mechanisms in the ventral hippocampus”. In layman’s terms, this means that exercise prevents stress and anxiety by suppressing brain agitation.

Acupressure Wristband Relieves Nausea

A few days ago Medical News Today reported on how wearing a wristband could affect nausea. Nausea is one of the most debilitating symptoms experienced by people who get migraine. Dr. Zoltan Medgyessy of the Berolina Clinic in Lohne, Germany studied 41 patients who experienced an average of 33.1 migraine days during the previous three months. Their average nausea intensity was 6.2 out of 10. Within less than 30 mins of wearing the wristbands, over 80% of patients experienced a decrease in nausea symptoms and the average estimated nausea intensity dropped to 2.9 out of 10.

The wristband stimulates the acupuncture point Pc6 (Neiguan) which has been used for centuries in Traditional Chinese Medicine to help relieve nausea. Dr. Medgyessy commented “acupressure wristbands are drug-free and that is an important advantage in using this therapy for migraine nausea as they have no risks for interaction with migraine drugs or the side effects commonly experienced with antiemetics, such as dizziness or tiredness”. The wristbands can also be used for nausea from morning sickness, motion sickness, chemotherapy and post-operative nausea.

“We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light”.

Plato

Meditation Decreases Anxiety

It has been known for ages that meditation can decrease anxiety but until now the brain regions involved in the process have remained a mystery. Fadel Zeidan from the Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center has recently shed some light on the process. They selected 15 healthy volunteers with no history of meditation or anxiety disorders. The volunteers took four 20 min classes to learn mindfulness meditation. They were taught to focus on breathing and body sensations and non-judgementally assess distracting thoughts and emotions. Anxiety reports and MRI scans were taken before and after the meditation training course. The majority of the subjects displayed a decrease in anxiety of around 40% following meditation. During meditation, the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (controls worrying) and anterior cingulate cortex (controls thinking and emotion) were found to be more active and led to decreased anxiety.

Zeidan commented,  “Mindfulness is premised on sustaining attention in the present moment and controlling the way we react to daily thoughts and feelings. Interestingly, the present findings reveal that the brain regions associated with meditation-related anxiety relief are remarkably consistent with the principles of being mindful.” In short, if we focus on our breathing and body sensations in the present, it inhibits our ability to worry about imaginary problems in the future.

Yoga Improves Brain Function More Than Aerobic Exercise

A team of researchers led by Professor Neha Gothe from the University of Illinois recently studied the effects of yoga on mental function. Their subjects performed 3 different sessions:

• A 20-minute Hatha yoga session with progressions from sitting to standing and then lying in a meditative position whilst focussing on breathing
• A 20-minute aerobic work-out on an inclined treadmill with participants working at 60-70% of their maximum heart rate
• A baseline assessment

They found that mental performance after yoga was significantly better for both inhibition and working memory tasks (ie. shorter reaction times, increased accuracy) than after aerobic exercise and after baseline measurements.

Prof Gothe commented that, “The breathing and meditative exercises aim at calming the mind and body and keeping distracting thoughts away while you focus on your body, posture or breath. Maybe these processes translate beyond yoga practice when you try to perform mental tasks or day-to-day activities.”

Mr Smith

There’s a story about an old WWII veteran, Mr Smith. He was so proud of his contribution to his country, he wore his uniform until the day he died. On the first of each month he would receive a little pension from the government and he’d make quite a ceremony of receiving that little cheque.

One sunny morning on the 1st of June he looked through his mail and picked up a letter he knew contained his little cheque. He smiled to himself as he opened the letter and pulled out the cheque. As he looked out the window he noticed a young neighbour passing by. He swiftly opened his front door and shouted out, “Come here John, I want to show you something.”

He proudly exhibited his cheque and said, “Do you see that signature at the bottom of that cheque? That’s the signature of the Prime Minister. He’s an important man, probably the most important man in this country. John, do you see the signature just below his? That’s the signature of the Chancellor of the Exchequer who signs for Her Majesty’s Treasury. He’s an important man too. He’s responsible for developing and executing the country’s finance and economic policies.”

Mr Smith then proudly straightened himself out to his full height, pushed out his chest, turned over the cheque and said, “John, do you see that little thin line on the back of this cheque? That’s where I put my signature! And you know something John, until I put my signature right there, as important as those two men may be, their signatures aren’t worth a penny!”

I love this story because it brilliantly illustrates the significance and power of our own actions within our lives.

Adapted from a story by Cavett Robert

Yoga Helps Lower Blood Pressure

A new study by Cohen et al. at the University of Pennsylvania has found that yoga can help lower blood pressure. In fact, it was more effective than a supervised diet/weight reduction and walking programme. The patients did yoga 2-3 times a week for 24 weeks and lowered both their systolic and diastolic pressures by 3 mm Hg. It’s thought the reason yoga is so successful is because of the relaxation and mindfulness associated with it.

Can Antibiotics Cure Low Back Pain?

Last week I picked up a copy of Metro and came across an article entitled “Back pain ‘cured with a £114 dose of antibiotics'”. The story has also been covered by theguardian, The Times and the NHS. It’s based on the results of 2 studies published in the European Spine Journal by Hanne B Albert et al. from the University of Southern Denmark. It appears that oedema (swelling) of the vertebrae is observed in 6% of the general population and in 35-40% of people with low back pain. In their first study, Albert et al. examined 61 patients that had MRI-confirmed disc herniation and were undergoing surgery to address this. The disc material was analysed and it turned out that anaerobic bacteria were present in 43% of patients. Of those with anaerobic bacterial infections, 80% presented with oedema of the vertebrae next to the disc prolapse. Whereas only 44% of patients with negative cultures had bone oedema of adjacent vertebrae. The association between anaerobic bacterial presence and bone swelling was highly statistically significant. It’s thought that bacteria reach the inside of intervertebral discs via newly formed blood vessels that penetrate the damaged discs. The flow chart below shows how the process takes place.

In their second study, Albert et al. conducted a double-blind randomised controlled trial with 162 patients whose only known illness was chronic low back pain of greater than 6 months duration occurring after a previous disc herniation. They also had bone edema in the vertebrae next to the previous herniation. The patients were split into 2 groups. One group was given antibiotics for 100 days and the other group was given a placebo for 100 days. The patients were evaluated at the start of treatment, at the end of treatment and 1 year after the end of treatment. The patients given antibiotics improved on all measures; they had less low back pain, less leg pain and better function and the changes were highly statistically significant.

Although these results are extremely encouraging, they should be confirmed with larger groups. Additionally, it’s worth bearing in mind that this form of treatment only applies to a subgroup of people with low back pain and that the indiscriminate use of antibiotics for low back pain should be discouraged as it could lead to decreased efficacy of antibiotics through the spread of drug-resistant bacteria.