hey everyone today we are going to do another study from the biological approach which is by hosal it all on mindfulness and brain scans now as always let's look at the main assumptions of the biological approach please remember that these can be asked in the exam and maximum you need to know to which I have provided so the first main Assumption of biological approach is behavior cognitions and emotions can be explained in terms of the working of the brain and the effects of hormones genetics and evolution second one is similarities and differences between people can be understood in terms of biological factors and their interactions with the other factors and now we need to know the content of the study we're going to first look at the psychology being investigated then the background then the aim then the research methodology the procceed results evaluation and ethical issues and I've actually added two more things which are issues and debates and application to everyday life or real world which is helpful in the exam because some questions are asked sometimes relate to those things so before we actually jump into the study let's understand some key terms what is an MRI scale scan its long form is magnetic resonance imaging and it is a brain scanning technique that creates detailed images of the brain structure it uses strong magnetic and radio waves instead of x-rays so it's basically not an x-ray it's something else and it's safer than an x-ray an MRI helps scientists see different brain areas and measures their size and shap shape is commonly used to study brain damage mental health conditions and even localization of function which we will learn about later on second key concept to know is what is gray matter concentration gray metal concentration is the part of the brain that processes information it contains nerve cells also known as neurons which are responsible for three type of things thinking emotion and memory gray matter concentration refers to how much gray matter there is in a specific brain region the more the gray matter in an area it means the more stronger connections and better functioning is in that part of the brain so the more gray matter in a certain brain region is actually good because it helps in more better functioning now scientists they use MRI scans and a special technique called voxal based morphometry vbm to measure changes in the grain matter to see is the gray matter increasing or decreasing so these are the key Concepts and now let's jump onto the psychology being investigated there are two psychological concepts for this study first is what is mindfulness and second is what is localization of function let's look at mindful fness mindfulness is a technique that helps people feel calmer and more focused it's like meditation and you obviously know what meditation is it's all about paying attention to the present moment without judging anything you don't have to think about your past and you don't have to worry about your future just observing your thoughts feelings and surroundings in the present moment people use mindfulness to reduce their stress improve their mental health and become more self-aware localization of function it means that specific brain structures are responsible for specific behaviors specific brain regions different parts of your brain are responsible for different type of behaviors for example your hippocampus helps with memory and your insula it is linked to emotions and self-awareness awareness similarly there are a million other brain regions linked to a million other things there are some brain regions such as broka area which is linked to your language so that is what localization of function is about now let's move on to the background of the study scientists have always been curious about how meditation affects the brain in earlier studies in the past what happened was that two groups of people were being compared a group of people who meditated and a group of people who did not meditate and well the people who meditated you could see that they had a lot more gray matter than the ones who did not but there was a problem in this this was a cross-sectional study and the problem was that you didn't really track the change over time what if the group who meditated who had more gray matter what if they were born with more gray matter and it's not actually because of meditation because we're not really tracking any change in the gray matter so to fix this problem Hil they conducted a longitudinal study which tracked the change over time to see does gray matter actually increase as someone meditates so that is the background of the study the study had two aims so there was a mindfulness based dress Reduction Program the mbsr program and the first aim of the study was to see if practicing this program for 8 weeks would lead to any change in the brain the second aim of the study was to see which brain structure would change as a result of this 8we program so the first was to see is it leading to any change and the second was to see which brain structure is it leading a change in now let's look at what type of experiment the study was what type of designs were used any correlations IV DV and any type of data collection techniques the study was done over a span of 8 weeks what does that make the study it makes it a longitudinal experiment it was done over a long period of time making it a longitudinal experiment and it was helpful as it helped track changes over that specific period period of time the experiment was mixed design meaning it used two different types of measure designs the first one was independent measures design the second was repeated measures design now let's look at how was it a independent measures design it was an independent measures design because two groups were made experimental group and a control group the experimental group were the mbsr group the one that took the program and the control group were the group that did not take the mbsr program and these two groups were compared how is the study a repeated measures design the study is a repeated measures design because something was repeated and that was brain scans and also questionnaires these were taken before the study and after the study at the beginning and the end of an 8-week period making it a repeated measures design correlations were also looked at the researchers analyzed the correlations between the amount of time that the participants meditated for and if it had any link to increase in Gray matter so did meditating for a long time lead to a more increase in Gray matter well that was to be seen that if there was any correlation in it now let's see at the IV and the D the IV consists of experimental group again these were the people that took the mbsr program for 8 weeks this mbsr program was a 2.5 hour session that happened weekly and there was also one day one full day in week six this mbsr program had exercises that included body scan mindful yoga and sitting meditation these subjects or participants they were taught how to practice mindfulness and to integrate it into their daily lives and for this they were given a 45 minute instructional video that they could even use at home to do it and they were even given homework to do at home so they did mindfulness even at home and even when they came to do the program then there was a control group this is also known as the weight list group because they had to wait for 8 weeks before taking the mbsr program meaning they were not given any mindfulness for a whole 8 weeks now the dependent variable of the study is the changes in Gray matters that were assessed using the MRI scans the changes in Gray matter before and after the 8 week mbsr program there were two types of d data collection techniques again MRI scans these were taken before and after pre and post and these kept a track of the changes in brain of gray matter concentration and other brain structures then the second type of data collection technique was self-report in this they used a five set of mindfulness questionnaires ffmq and it was used to measure five key aspects of mindfulness we are going to dive in to the detail about this questionnaire later in the procedure first let's look at the sample of the study how many participants were there there were 33 participants in total 16 were in the experimental group 17 were in the control group so basically one more person in the control group in the experimental group there were six males and 10 females their average age was 38 years in the control group there were 11 males and six females their average age was 39 years the demographics of these participants were that all of them were right-handed none of them were left-handed all of them were right-handed there were healthy adults they were from age ranging 25 to 55 no regular meditation and they had very very limited meditation experience the sampling technique that was used to recruit these participants was volunteer exampling these participants volunteered that they wanted to be part of the study they were recruited from four mbsr courses held at a mindfulness Center in the University of Massachusetts they were referred by doctors for stress reduction or through personal choice so basically all of the participants were suffering from a stress problem now let's move on to the procedure you have to keep in mind that there were two things done pre and pro meaning something that was done before the study started and something after the study was done and that was the questionnaire and the brain scans the experimental and control groups both completed the five mindfulness questionnaire ffmq before and after the experiment now what is the fmq it's a questionnaire it has 39 items and it measures five things it's basically in the name it measures five things it measures observing describing acting with awareness non judg menting of inner experience and nonreactivity to Inner experience now each item of this questionnaire was responded on a 5 point liquor type scale that's all that you need to know about the questionnaire nothing more now both of the experimental group and the control group also had what they had taken their MRI scans before the experiment started and also after the experiment so the brain scans were taken on two occasions for the experimental group these were during the two weeks before the experiment and then the two weeks after the 8 we mbsr program there's an average gap of approximately 56 days the participants in the control group had an average gap of approximately six 66 days between their two scans during the 8 week participants in the experimental group were given 45 minute audio recordings of guided mindfulness exercises and they were even given it as homework to do in their homes and integrate it in their daily life in whatever activities they did normally in their life and the mindfulness exercises again they included three things body scan yoga and meditation and this was to help them complete the exercises at home that is all you need to know about the procedure of the study that scans and a questionnaire was taken before and after the experiment and that the experimental group were supposed to do certain type of exercises and they were given homework to do and the control group basically did nothing they were on a wait list now what were the results of the study what were the results after 8 weeks of an mbsr program for the experimental group and the control group well the average time spent on mindfulness exercise by the experimental group was 27 minutes per day and a total of 22.6 hours over 8 weeks the experimental group they showed significant improvements in three of the five faet of mindfulness and these three facets were acting with awareness observing and non-judging there were also significant increases for the experimental group for the gray matter concentration in a few brain regions not just one but a few and these brain regions are the left hippocampus posterior kulite cortex and tempor I don't know how to pronounce that one but you can read it off and learn its name and lastly the cereum so these were four brain rions that were that had a change in their gry matter concentration by the help of mindfulness program of 8 weeks these four regions had an increase in Gray matter concentration that's all you need to know about the results the control group they did not show any significant Improvement now that is all to the study those were the results it basically concludes that an 8we mbsr program had lead to an increased gray matter concentration in four parts of the brain and therefore it shows that mindfulness is actually a good thing because it leads to increased gray matter and people should actually do it because it is beneficial so let's look at the strengths and the weaknesses of the study and then we will go to application after this so what were the strengths of the study the strengths of the study quite obvious we are using a scientific method which is an MRI scanner it is no human type of technique it's actually a machine and therefore the strength is of objectivity and quantitative data the use of MRI scanner helped measure dependent variable which is a strength it provided the researchers with quantitative data helping them carry out St statistical analysis whenever you are answering a question about evaluation you're talking about strengths about quantitative data for quantitative data you will say that it helps in statistical analysis if you're going to talk about qualitative data you're going to say it helps in thematic analysis that's the difference for quantitative it helped carry out statistical analyses such as comparisons between pre and post test levels of gray matter concentration between the mbsr and the control group the second strength of the study was reliability a questionnaire was used the ffmq which is a highly reliable study the reason that it is reliable is because it has a correlation a high and good correlation between the eight questions on acting with awareness which is plus 0.87 making it a highly reliable questionnaire and therefore making making the study reliable second strength of reliability is the longitudinal study which helped in allowing time for intervention to have an effect so this is actually a strength because previous studies that were done they did not really track changes over time but this longitudinal study actually allowed time for intervention to have effect actually actually allowed time for a change to occur and therefore a measurable way for the researchers therefore a strength now we're going to look at the weaknesses I've given three weaknesses lack of reliability lack of validity and lack of generalizability how did this study lack reliability it lacked reliability because it lacked standardization the procedure was not standardized it was not the same for every single participant and how was that it was because the participants they had the freedom to choose what mindful exercise they wanted to do so not all the participants did the exact same exercises some of them might have done brain scans some of them might have done the yoga part and therefore all of them just did different ones which makes it hard to replicate the study to see if it would result in the same results that they found out in 2011 if we do this study today we can't really replicate it as it was in 2011 because participants they did different type of exercises and not all all of them did the exact same thing which is why it lacks reliability secondly it lacks validity because the questionnaire that was used is a self-report and therefore the participants might not have really answered the questionnaire with deep consideration reducing the validity of the study because if they did not really answer it properly it affects the results of the study and it affects the validity in turn the cud also lacks generalizability because the sample was really really small it was only 33 participants and all these 33 participants were somewhat similar they were all right-handed they were from age 25 to 55 and it had similar educational backgrounds therefore the study cannot be generalized to the public based on these 33 people the study cannot be generalized to older people it cannot be generalized to left-handed people and also to those with different educational levels now we are going to look at the ethical issues most of the ethics were maintained except for one which we will look into first let's look at how the ethics were maintained the subjects or participants they gave their written informed consent so they consented to the study secondly all the participants were protected from any type of harm how was was that done it was done by clearing them for the MRI scans it was made sure that none of them had any metal in their bodies that would be of potential harm when they were put into the MRI scan and then secondly they were looked for claustrophobia did any of them have claustrophobia because if you put a claustrophobic person in an MRI scan they are going to have a panic attack or an anxiety attack which will literally lead them to a lot of harm so by clearing the participants for metal in their bodies and no claustrophobia they were protected from harm therefore ethics were maintained thirdly fair treatment for the control group yes the control group was on a wait list for a whole 8 weeks but they were given their fair treatment after the experiment was done they were ensured that they received their mbsr program and lastly they had the right to withdraw if they found the study or experiment uncomfortable if they did not want to go in the MRI SCU and wanted to withdraw they had the right to do so therefore ethics were maintained in this case now how were the ethics not maintained even though fair treatment was provided the control group did receive their mbsr program in the end there were still on a wait list for eight whole weeks which means that there was a delay in help there were still stress patients they were still experiencing stress and they experienced that stress for a whole 8 weeks which basically harmed the patients and the study did not protect them from harm for those whole 8 weeks and therefore ethics is broken in this sense and not maintained in this sense and this could also be a potential weakness for the study now the study is completely completed we have covered up all the points and content of this study and this whole video that I just explained this is all that you need to know about the study and is that could be asked on the exam next two things that I'm going to be talking about very briefly is issues and debates and application to everyday life which is very very simple so issues and debates the one that I chose is nature versus nurture how is the study nature side of the debate and how is it nurture side of the debate nature side it supports nature in the way that the study focuses on brain functions your biological brain which is controlled by gen genetics which makes it a nature side of debate and how is it nurture side how does it support the nurture side of the debate well experiences like mindfulness practice something an outward experience or practice can physically change your brain which is nurture side of the debate now applications to Everyday Life the last thing that we have to do how is mindfulness applicable to Everyday Life mindfulness could be integrated in schools and workplaces and not just that it could also be integrated into your daily life to help you regulate stress levels now stress is something that is rising in today's world everyone is stressed about something and regular mbsr can help maintain your stress regulate your stress make you feel better you don't really have to do it in a lengthy way you can do it in small and a regular effort is enough to make a measurable Brain Change and bring Improvement into your well-being schools and workplaces can integrate mbsr into their systems for schools like physical education schools could include mindfulness sessions to support their students students have stress from their exams and studies so this would really help the students mental health and build lifelong habits for workplaces employees are stressed about a million things their deadlines their projects everything so the employers could invest in mbsr programs and help the employees boost their productivity and reduce stress related sick days and that is how it is applicated to Everyday Life you can include more examples not just from school and workplaces but even from a person's life at home so that is all to the video it covers all the content related to the study and that could be asked in the exam for people that ask notes for this video the notes are actually in this video all you have to do is you can take screenshots or you could just note it in your notebook and this is literally all that you need to know about the hosal at all study and all that can be asked so thank you for watching this video and please like And subscribe and if you want me to make a video on another topic please tell me in the comments so I can start working towards it