**6. Ethical guidelines of body-mind approach within the medical and educational domains**

The primary purpose of medical research involving human subjects is to understand the causes, development, and effects of diseases and improve preventive, diagnostic, and therapeutic interventions (methods, procedures and treatments). Even the best proven interventions must be evaluated continually through research for safety, effectiveness, efficiency, accessibility, and quality [78]. In this section we review four body-mind approaches that have gained attention in recent years. Each approach has different characteristics (see **Table 1**). Here, for practitioners and researchers, we discuss the current and future issues of each approach. First, further neurobiological examination is necessary for the body-mind approach. For example, yoga and mindfulness are speculated to be very similar approaches in their emphasis on enhancing attention control, emotional regulation, and self-awareness which using one's interoceptive sensations or breathing. However, to the best of our


**85**

**7. Conclusion**

**Source of funding**

**Conflict of interest**

ings of this study.

*Dynamic and Static Models of Body-Mind Approaches from Neurobiological Perspectives*

knowledge, there are few neurobiological studies that compare yoga and mindfulness. This is also true for research comparing the effects of the Pilates method to other approaches. A second important point regards the enhancement of treatment effects in each of the body-mind approaches. According to a previous meta-analysis study [79], the treatment effect of yoga is not sufficient compared to other types of active control (Hedges' g = 0.30). However, this study did not fully examine the therapeutic effect of each asana. We assume that a structured asana sequence is necessary to more greatly enhance the therapeutic effect of yoga. Third, as we noted above, there are many therapies applying the mindfulness meditation in recent years (e.g., dialectical behavior therapy, mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, and acceptance and commitment therapy). This is because the disease to be treated, the duration of the treatment effect, and the intervention duration are different for each therapy. On the other hand, it can be more conveniently implemented by someone, and versatility treatment is necessary. Thereby, it is necessary to examine the treatment model used in conventional mindfulness-based therapies from neurobiological perspectives to extract essential factors. Furthermore, new mindfulness meditation-based treatment, which integrates essential factors in conventional mindfulness-based therapies, should be developed. Forth, we speculate it is necessary to examine the treatment effects of body-mind approach for not only basic emotions (e.g., fear, anger) but also complex emotions (e.g., awe, shame) and social cognition. A few previous studies [80] indicated that mindfulness meditation alleviated subjective symptoms of anxiety and enhanced social skills for people with learning disabilities. From the evidence, it could be considered that other body-mind approaches may enhance complex emotions and social cognition. It is necessary to provide a higher-quality body-mind approach based on previous evidence that can be adjusted to fit the needs of medical institutions and school schedules. Finally, the research that uses the body-mind approach for psychiatric disorders is at an early stage at present. We speculate that it is necessary to establish more detailed ethical guidelines for each approach correspond-

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.81397*

ing high-quality body-mind approach in the near future.

Promotion of Science (JSPS) fellows (18J01157).

In this chapter, we introduced and discussed neurobiological treatment effects and mechanisms of yoga, mindfulness meditation, Pilates method, and cognitive behavior therapy. In recent years, these body-mind approaches have been actively adopted in the educational and medical fields in Western countries. In the future, it is necessary to clarify the detailed neurobiological mechanisms of each bodymind approach and provide higher quality service in both medical and educational settings. At the same time, we should also extend knowledge and technology to countries and regions where body-mind approaches are not widely available.

This article was supported by a Grant-in-Aid for the Japan Society for the

None of the authors have any conflicts of interest to declare regarding the find-

**Table 1.**

*The difference of characteristics for each body-mind approaches.*

*Dynamic and Static Models of Body-Mind Approaches from Neurobiological Perspectives DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.81397*

knowledge, there are few neurobiological studies that compare yoga and mindfulness. This is also true for research comparing the effects of the Pilates method to other approaches. A second important point regards the enhancement of treatment effects in each of the body-mind approaches. According to a previous meta-analysis study [79], the treatment effect of yoga is not sufficient compared to other types of active control (Hedges' g = 0.30). However, this study did not fully examine the therapeutic effect of each asana. We assume that a structured asana sequence is necessary to more greatly enhance the therapeutic effect of yoga. Third, as we noted above, there are many therapies applying the mindfulness meditation in recent years (e.g., dialectical behavior therapy, mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, and acceptance and commitment therapy). This is because the disease to be treated, the duration of the treatment effect, and the intervention duration are different for each therapy. On the other hand, it can be more conveniently implemented by someone, and versatility treatment is necessary. Thereby, it is necessary to examine the treatment model used in conventional mindfulness-based therapies from neurobiological perspectives to extract essential factors. Furthermore, new mindfulness meditation-based treatment, which integrates essential factors in conventional mindfulness-based therapies, should be developed. Forth, we speculate it is necessary to examine the treatment effects of body-mind approach for not only basic emotions (e.g., fear, anger) but also complex emotions (e.g., awe, shame) and social cognition. A few previous studies [80] indicated that mindfulness meditation alleviated subjective symptoms of anxiety and enhanced social skills for people with learning disabilities. From the evidence, it could be considered that other body-mind approaches may enhance complex emotions and social cognition. It is necessary to provide a higher-quality body-mind approach based on previous evidence that can be adjusted to fit the needs of medical institutions and school schedules. Finally, the research that uses the body-mind approach for psychiatric disorders is at an early stage at present. We speculate that it is necessary to establish more detailed ethical guidelines for each approach corresponding high-quality body-mind approach in the near future.

### **7. Conclusion**

*Neuroethics in Principle and Praxis - Conceptual Foundations*

two treatment mechanisms.

**educational domains**

**Dynamic component**

sequence and abdominal breathing

Pose sequence and costal breathing

Positive activities

*The difference of characteristics for each body-mind approaches.*

Yoga Asana

Mindfulness meditation

Pilates method

Behavioral activation

**Static component**

— Meditation Healthy

Meditation Healthy

— Healthy




are comparable in efficacy to pharmacological therapy for individuals suffering from depression. Our previous studies reported that behavioral activation improved abilities both to access positive reinforcing activities and to engage in rewarding behaviors under adverse circumstances [73, 74]. Additionally, Jacobson et al. [69] showed behavioral activation significantly improved self-concept in people with depression. A few previous neuroimaging studies have also demonstrated that behavioral activation enhances one's cognitive function and corresponds to brain activations in people with subthreshold depression [75–77]. Specifically, our previous studies indicated that brief behavioral activation had increased activation in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex in individuals with subthreshold depression, which is associated with metacognitive function, and that this activation is also correlated with an improvement in depressive symptoms [76, 77]. Based on these reports, we hypothesized that there should be two treatment mechanisms of behavioral activation for depression. The first is involved in reducing depressive symptoms to improve the reward system, and the second involved in improving depressive symptoms to enhance meta-cognitive function. Future research is needed to verify the above hypotheses related to these

**6. Ethical guidelines of body-mind approach within the medical and** 

The primary purpose of medical research involving human subjects is to understand the causes, development, and effects of diseases and improve preventive, diagnostic, and therapeutic interventions (methods, procedures and treatments). Even the best proven interventions must be evaluated continually through research for safety, effectiveness, efficiency, accessibility, and quality [78]. In this section we review four body-mind approaches that have gained attention in recent years. Each approach has different characteristics (see **Table 1**). Here, for practitioners and researchers, we discuss the current and future issues of each approach. First, further neurobiological examination is necessary for the body-mind approach. For example, yoga and mindfulness are speculated to be very similar approaches in their emphasis on enhancing attention control, emotional regulation, and self-awareness which using one's interoceptive sensations or breathing. However, to the best of our

**Subject Degree of** 

— Healthy Medium Low

**structuralization**

Medium Medium

High High

Low High

**Intervention effect**

**84**

**Table 1.**

In this chapter, we introduced and discussed neurobiological treatment effects and mechanisms of yoga, mindfulness meditation, Pilates method, and cognitive behavior therapy. In recent years, these body-mind approaches have been actively adopted in the educational and medical fields in Western countries. In the future, it is necessary to clarify the detailed neurobiological mechanisms of each bodymind approach and provide higher quality service in both medical and educational settings. At the same time, we should also extend knowledge and technology to countries and regions where body-mind approaches are not widely available.

#### **Source of funding**

This article was supported by a Grant-in-Aid for the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) fellows (18J01157).

#### **Conflict of interest**

None of the authors have any conflicts of interest to declare regarding the findings of this study.

*Neuroethics in Principle and Praxis - Conceptual Foundations*
