The effects of mind–body training on stress reduction, positive affect, and plasma catecholamines

This study was designed to assess the association between stress, positive affect and catecholamine levels in meditation and control groups. The meditation group consisted of 67 subjects who regularly engaged in mind–body training of “Brain-Wave Vibration” and the control group consisted of 57 healthy subjects. Plasma catecholamine (norepinephrine (NE), epinephrine (E), and dopamine (DA)) levels were measured, and a modified form of the Stress Response Inventory (SRI-MF) and the Positive Affect and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS) were administered. The meditation group showed higher scores on positive affect (p = .019) and lower scores on stress (p < .001) compared with the control group. Plasma DA levels were also higher in the meditation (p = .031) than in the control group. The control group demonstrated a negative correlation between stress and positive affects (r = −.408, p = .002), whereas this correlation was not observed in the meditation group. The control group showed positive correlations between somatization and NE/E (r = .267, p = .045) and DA/E (r = .271, p = .042) ratios, whereas these correlations did not emerge in the meditation group. In conclusion, these results suggest that meditation as mind–body training is associated with lower stress, higher positive affect and higher plasma DA levels when comparing the meditation group with the control group. Thus, mind–body training may influence stress, positive affect and the sympathetic nervous system including DA activity.