PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Small electric shocks to ear can boost self-compassion from meditation training

2025-08-04
(Press-News.org) Stimulating the vagus nerve with a device attached to the outer ear can help make compassion meditation training more effective at boosting people’s capacity for self-kindness and mindfulness, finds a new study led by University College London (UCL) researchers.

The study, published in Psychological Medicine, adds to evidence of the potential benefits of stimulating this key nerve that connects the brain with major organs in the chest and abdomen.

The vagus nerve plays a crucial role in the 'rest-and-digest' (parasympathetic) system, counteracting the 'fight-or-flight' (sympathetic) stress response, and allows the brain to communicate with all major organs in the body. By transmitting signals from the body up to the brain, the vagus nerve can also regulate a range of psychological processes, including some involved in social interactions and emotional control.

The researchers stimulated study participants’ vagus nerve by delivering a painless electric pulse to the tragus, the small cartilaginous flap located in front of the ear canal on the outer ear. This electronic pulse was designed to activate nerve fibres that pass close to the skin surface.

The academics tested 120 healthy participants who either received vagus nerve stimulation through the skin on their tragus, or a placebo stimulation to another part of the ear. This was combined either with self-compassion meditation training or another form of training not designed to promote compassion.

The participants who received the vagus nerve stimulation alongside the self-compassion training experienced a larger and more immediate increase in self-compassion than those in the other three groups. The participants’ level of mindfulness (awareness of the present moment and calm acknowledgement of one’s thoughts and feelings) was also measured, and the benefits to mindfulness accumulated across multiple training sessions, suggesting that while some effects of stimulation and training are immediate, others build over time.

Lead author Professor Sunjeev Kamboj (UCL Psychology & Language Sciences) said: “We found that delivering a small shock to the ear, to stimulate the vagus nerve, can amplify the benefits of certain meditation techniques, particularly those involved in cultivating self-compassion.

“Our findings reveal how neuroscience technology may have a meaningful impact on how we feel about ourselves. Neurostimulation alone had limited benefits, but it may have an important role to play in supporting meditation therapies, which are increasingly used to help people with mental and physical health problems. Meditation can be hard work, requiring persistence and dedication, so a way to boost and accelerate its impacts could be a welcome development for therapists and patients alike.”

The researchers say that further research is needed to refine the technique and to see how long the effects last. Additionally, as this study only investigated healthy participants without a diagnosed psychological disorder, further research is needed to see if this approach could benefit people with conditions such as anxiety, depression or trauma.

In a separate study published last week, a separate team co-led by a UCL researcher also found that vagus nerve stimulation could help to improve fitness and exercise tolerance.*

 

 

 

* Separate UCL study: Vagus nerve stimulation could help people get more exercise

END


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Metabolism may unlock the secret to a deeper understanding of neurodegeneration

2025-08-04
Unlike most cells in the human body, neurons—the functional cells of our nervous system—cannot typically replace themselves with healthy copies after being damaged.  Rather, after an injury from something like a stroke, concussion or neurodegenerative disease, neurons and their axons, fiber-like projections that relay electrical signals, are far more likely to degrade than regenerate.  But new research from the University of Michigan opens new ways to think about neurodegeneration that could help protect patients against that degradation ...

Resource-poor neighborhood conditions may increase gestational diabetes risk

2025-08-04
TUCSON, Ariz. — New research from the University of Arizona Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health showed that living in resource-poor neighborhoods may raise the risk of women developing diabetes during pregnancy, a condition with potential long-term effects on the health of both mother and child.  Researchers found that mothers living in more deprived neighborhoods in Arizona were 20% more likely to have gestational diabetes mellitus, or GDM, compared with those living in neighborhoods with adequate resources. They reported their ...

Turning down the dial on inflammation to protect against lupus nephritis

2025-08-04
At the time when patients with lupus, or systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), are diagnosed, approximately 15% to 30% will already have the inflammation-caused kidney disease lupus nephritis, which compromises kidney function and can lead to kidney failure. Between 30% and 50% of SLE patients will ultimately go on to develop lupus nephritis, and half of them will eventually develop end-stage renal disease. A Medical University of South Carolina research team led by Jim Oates, M.D., director of the Division of Rheumatology and Immunology and vice chair for Research in the Department of Medicine, is developing ...

Mailing at-home test kits most effective in getting people ages 45 to 49 to screen for colorectal cancer, UCLA study finds

2025-08-04
In a new study aimed at identifying the best approach to promote colorectal cancer screening in adults ages 45 to 49, UCLA researchers found that simply mailing a stool-based test directly to people's homes was the most effective strategy for increasing screening rates.   The study, published in JAMA, compared four strategies to increase colorectal cancer screening in this population, which only recently became eligible for screening. Of the four options tested, the researchers found that automatically mailing a stool-based ...

It’s not just how many – it’s when: Global study reveals people judge a potential partner’s sexual history by timing, not total number

2025-08-04
It’s not just how many – it’s when: global study reveals people judge a potential partner’s sexual history by timing, not total number A major international study has found that when it comes to choosing a long-term partner, people across the globe consider not just how many sexual partners someone has had, but also when those encounters took place. This is the first time researchers have explored the timing of sexual history alongside quantity – offering a fresh perspective on human mating psychology. Led by Swansea University, the study surveyed more than 5,000 participants from 11 countries across five continents. It found that ...

Fast food, including cheeseburgers and fried chicken, shouldn’t be sold in hospitals, say most Americans in new poll

2025-08-04
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Fast food like cheeseburgers, fried chicken, and pizza shouldn’t be sold in hospitals, say most Americans in a new Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine/Morning Consult poll. The poll comes as a new report from the Physicians Committee—a health advocacy nonprofit with 17,000 doctor members—finds that Chick-fil-A is located in at least 20 U.S. hospitals or medical centers. When asked, “Do you believe fast food—such as fried chicken, cheeseburgers, or pizza—should be sold in hospitals to patients, visitors, and staff?” 52% of respondents said “no,” and 57% said that hospitals should not ...

UofL research shows combined exposure to alcohol and “forever chemicals” increases liver damage

2025-08-04
Have you ever wondered why some people who drink alcohol develop serious liver problems while others don't? A study from University of Louisville researchers published in May in Toxicological Sciences suggests that the answer might be hidden in everyday sources such as drinking water, food packaging or even non-stick cookware. Scientists at UofL, along with colleagues from Boston University and the University of Massachusetts Lowell, have identified perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) as a potential environmental factor that worsens alcohol-associated liver disease. PFOS is a man-made chemical belonging to the group known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), often referred to ...

Brown University neuroscientists help identify a biomarker for Alzheimer’s disease progression

2025-08-04
PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Using a custom-built tool to analyze electrical activity from neurons, researchers at Brown University have identified a brain-based biomarker that could be used to predict whether mild cognitive impairment will develop into Alzheimer’s disease. “We’ve detected a pattern in electrical signals of brain activity that predicts which patients are most likely to develop the disease within two and a half years,” said Stephanie Jones, a professor of neuroscience affiliated with Brown’s Carney Institute ...

Imperfect underground processes help filter wastewater in Florida Keys

2025-08-04
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — For seaside communities reducing their pollution, nitrogen is a prime target. Often found in agricultural runoff and human waste, nitrogen and the nitrogen-containing nitrate molecule can enter coastal waters as a critical nutrient for algae. Its abundance leads to a surplus of algal blooms, upsetting delicate balances of plant and marine life. Many South Florida communities dispose of treated wastewater — which contains nitrate and more — by shallowly injecting it ...

Both flexibility and persistence make some birds successful in human-made environments

2025-08-04
(Santa Barbara, Calif.) — Across North America, grackles are virtuosos of adaptation. The small- to medium-sized New World blackbirds are particularly social and known for foraging skills that help them flourish in environments ranging from rural farms to urban parking lots. They are often viewed as rather bold and somewhat amusing birds that pick up French fries and other fast food scraps — or, alternatively, as annoying pests that eat our grain crops.  UC Santa Barbara scientist Corina Logan, however, is fascinated by what goes on in their bird brains and how they manage to adapt to the growing footprint of human-made environments. In a pair of papers ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Trailblazing Young Scientists honored with $250,000 prizes at Blavatnik National Awards Gala

Revolutionary blood test for ME / Chronic Fatigue unveiled

Calorie labelling linked to 2% average reduction in energy content of menu items

Widely prescribed opioid painkiller tramadol not that effective for easing chronic pain

Exercise snacks may boost cardiorespiratory fitness of physically inactive adults

15,000 women a year with breast cancer could benefit from whole genome sequencing, say researchers

Study highlights risks of Caesarean births to future pregnancies

GLP-1 agonists pose emerging challenge for PET-CT imaging, study finds

Scripps Research scientists unlock new patterns of protein behavior in cell membranes

Panama Canal may face frequent extreme water lows in coming decades

Flash Joule heating lights up lithium extraction from ores

COMBINEDBrain and MUSC announce partnership to establish biorepository for pediatric cerebrospinal fluid and CNS tissue bank

Questionable lead reporting for drinking water virtually vanished after Flint water crisis, study reveals

Assessing overconfidence among national security officials

Bridging two frontiers: Mitochondria & microbiota, Targeting Extracellular Vesicles 2025 to explore game-changing pathways in medicine

New imaging tech promises to help doctors better diagnose and treat skin cancers

Once dominant, US agricultural exports falter amid trade disputes and rising competition

Biochar from invasive weed shields rice from toxic nanoplastics and heavy metals

Rice University announces second cohort of Chevron Energy Graduate Fellows

Soil bacteria and minerals form a natural “battery” that breaks down antibiotics in the dark

Jamestown colonists brought donkeys, not just horses, to North America, old bones reveal

FIU cybersecurity researchers develop midflight defense against drone hijacking

Kennesaw State researcher aims to discover how ideas spread in the digital age

Next-generation perovskite solar cells are closer to commercial use

Sleep patterns linked to variation in health, cognition, lifestyle, and brain organization

University of Oklahoma researcher awarded funding to bridge gap between molecular data and tissue architecture

Nationally-recognized pathologist Paul N. Staats, MD, named Chair of Pathology at University of Maryland School of Medicine

The world’s snow leopards are very similar genetically. That doesn’t bode well for their future

Researchers find key to stopping deadly infection

Leafcutter ants have blind spots, just like truck drivers

[Press-News.org] Small electric shocks to ear can boost self-compassion from meditation training