• Episode 32: Artificial Intelligence (AI) in scientific publishing: Benefits and concerns (with guest Chris Krägeloh)
    Aug 4 2023

    I am joined by Chris Krägeloh, PhD, a Professor of Psychology at the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand. His research interests include outcome measurement in mental health, mindfulness, and investigating psychosocial factors in robotics. He has authored more than 130 articles in international journals, was lead author of a mindfulness research book (Mindfulness-Based Intervention Research: Characteristics, Approaches, and Developments), co-editor of two major reference works on assessment (Handbook of Assessment in Mindfulness Research and International Handbook of Behavioral Health Assessment), and co-editor and co-author of several other books on research methods and well-being. He is the joint Editor-in-Chief of the journal Mindfulness. We discuss the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in research publishing and the benefits and challenges posed by this growing technology.

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    35 mins
  • Episode 31: Single session mindfulness practices aids performance on attention task (with guest Dr. Rita Sleimen-Malkoun)
    Jul 11 2023

    I am joined by Dr. Rita Sleimen-Malkoun, P.T., Ph.D., who is an assistant professor at Aix-Marseille University (AMU) in Marseille, France. She is affiliated with the Faculty of Sports Sciences and the Institute of Movement Science Etienne-Jules Marey. Dr. Sleimen-Malkoun's research focuses on understanding the interactions between cognition and motor control in various populations, and how factors like physical and mental training influence these interactions. Her work has applications in prevention, training, and rehabilitation. Over the past decade, she has dedicated a significant portion of her research to studying healthy aging, including its characteristics, mediators, and moderators. Recently, she has also been investigating the behavioral effects of mindfulness meditation. Currently, she is involved in the Active Aging Chair, supported by AMU and AG2R- La Mondiale, and is a partner in the Doctoral Translational Research Network in Motor Disorder Rehabilitation (TReND), funded by the Horizon Europe Framework Program. In our discussion, we explore her latest study, which examines the impact of a single session of mindfulness meditation on cognitive abilities using the Stroop task.

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    33 mins
  • Episode 30: Using reinforcement schedules to show mindfulness training aids learning (with guest Professor Phil Reed)
    Jun 13 2023

    My guest Professor Phil Reed is University Chair in Psychology at Swansea University in Wales. Dr. Reed's research interests span a wide range of basic and applied topics, including learning and behaviour, schedules of reinforcement, autism, and  urogynaecological health. He has authored books, notably "Interventions for Autism: Evidence for Educational and Clinical Practice," published over 300 papers, and has been invited to present his work at numerous international conferences. He currently serves as the Editor-in-Chief of Learning and Motivation. He and his team have presented research on Women's Health at the National Assembly for Wales, receiving the 'Medal of the President of the Republic' of Italy in 2016 for their scientific contributions to society in this area. He has held appointments for the Departments of Health and Education, the Children in Wales Policy Council, and the EU Commission on the Digital Economy. He regularly contributes articles to Psychology Today. We discuss his new study testing the effect of mindfulness training on response to schedules of reinforcement.

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    35 mins
  • Episode 29: Do mindfulness-based programs help children or not? (with guest Dr. Darren Dunning)
    May 10 2023

    Dr. Darren Dunning is a Scientist at the University of Cambridge's Medical Research Council, Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, and a Senior Research Adviser for the National Institute for Health and Care Research in the UK. His research focuses on mindfulness interventions for children and adolescents. In this interview, we discuss his recent BMJ network publication, which synthesizes research on mindfulness training for child and adolescent cognition and mental health. The results suggest that mindfulness training benefits anxious children but does not show significant improvement for various other conditions.

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    36 mins
  • Episode 28: Outpatient buprenorphine treatment plus mindful recovery for opioid use disorder (with guest Dr. Zev Schuman-Olivier)
    Apr 19 2023

    My guest Dr. Zev Schuman-Olivier is Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. He is the Director of the Center for Mindfulness and Compassion as well as the Center for Addiction Research at the Cambridge Health Alliance. He is a board-certified addiction psychiatrist. His research focuses on the treatment of addictive disorders with emphasis on outpatient maintenance therapy for opioid use disorder. We discuss his new proof of concept study that examines the potential benefit of trauma‐informed mindful recovery on comorbid pain, anxiety, and substance use during primary care buprenorphine treatment.

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    28 mins
  • Episode 27: Behavioral economics nudge to reduce mindless phone use (with guest David Grüning)
    Apr 5 2023

    David Grüning, M.Sc., is a researcher at the Department of Psychology at Heidelberg University and GESIS - Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences. He is also the lead scientist of one sec and Chair of the Science Board at Prosocial Design Network. His current research focuses on developing digital and app-based interventions to apply psychological mechanisms in online-environments. We discuss his recent article in the Proceedings of the National Academic of Sciences on reducing automatic smartphone consumption by nudging using the app One Sec.

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    37 mins
  • Episode 26: Mobile app mindfulness therapy for caregivers of older adults with cognitive impairment (with guest Dr. Elissa Kozlov)
    Apr 5 2023

    My guest Dr. Elissa Kozlov is Assistant Professor and the Director of the Population Aging Concentration at the Rutgers School of Public Health. She is a licensed clinical psychologist in New York and New Jersey. Her research investigates strategies to improve the mental health outcomes of older adults and adults with serious illness and their families. She is particularly interested in mHealth strategies to expand the reach of evidence-based mental health interventions. She received a KL2 award to investigate mHealth mindfulness therapy for caregivers of older adults with cognitive impairment. Currently, she is investigating dyadic mHealth mindfulness for older adults with serious illness and their caregivers with support from a Beeson K76 Career Development award from the National Institute on Aging.

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    29 mins
  • Episode 25: Amygdala reactivity in adolescents after mindfulness program (with guest Dr. Iroise Dumontheil)
    Feb 1 2023

    My guest Dr. Iroise Dumontheil is Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience in the Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London. Her research focuses on the typical development of social cognition and cognitive control during adolescence. Her studies combine methods including functional and structural neuroimaging, cognitive and behavioural assessments, and genetics. She is interested in the impact of cognitive training, from computerized games to mindfulness meditation practice, on child and adolescent cognition, as well as the potential implications of neuroscience research for education. We discuss her brain imaging findings after eight weeks of mindfulness training in adolescents 12–14 years of age while they completed an n-back task with emotional face distractors and an attentional control task.

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    26 mins