- Jan
- 11
- 2023
Beyond Stress Reduction: Exploring Novel Mechanisms of Mindfulness Training to Improve Cardiovascular Health
This presentation will 1) Describe the physiological paths underlying the benefits of mindfulness training for patients with cardiovascular disease; 2) Summarize the currently proposed mechanistic models supporting the use of mindfulness training to promote cardiovascular health, and 3) Present novel insights on the possible effects of mindfulness training on important mediators (cognitive function, interoception) relevant for patients with CV disease with practical examples from research projects conducted by Dr. Salmoirago-Blotcher’s group.
About Speaker
Dr. Salmoirago-Blotcher, M.D., Ph.D., is a Senior Research Scientist in the Division of Cardiology at the Miriam Hospital and an Associate Professor of Medicine and Psychiatry & Human Behavior at the Brown University Warren Alpert School of Medicine in Providence, RI. As a practicing cardiologist in Italy, she had a first-hand experience of the psychological difficulties that patients face when recovering from an acute heart attack and of the many challenges they have to overcome when trying to modify the unhealthy lifestyle that increased their CV risk in the first place. She thus decided to dedicate her career to the study of the psychological and behavioral factors that contribute to the onset of CV disease and to the design of scalable interventions to alleviate distress in patients with CV disease.
Dr. Salmoirago-Blotcher (herself a meditation and yoga practitioner for over 25 years) studies the role of mindfulness training and mindful exercise in the promotion of CV health behaviors as well as the possible mechanisms (emotional self-regulation, cognitive processes, interoception) whereby mindfulness training could promote beneficial changes in CV health. With the design of a remote mindfulness intervention for patients with heart failure and of a mind-body exercise program for inactive patients who are unable to attend cardiac rehabilitation she also contributed to the ongoing efforts to reach patients who have fewer available options to improve their lifestyle. Dr. Salmoirago-Blotcher’s work has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, the American Heart Association, the Templeton Foundation, and the Norman Prince Neurosciences Institute.