

The training was given to one group of 31 soldiers but not to a control group of 17. To investigate the protective effects of mindfulness practices on soldiers, Jha and collaborator Elizabeth Stanley, an Assistant Professor of Security Studies at Georgetown University, provided mindfulness training to Marines preparing for deployment in Iraq. Not only does it safeguard against distraction and emotional reactivity, but it also provides a mental workspace to ensure quick and considered decisions and action plans." – Amishi Jha

"Working memory is an important feature of mind-fitness. medical centers offering mindfulness-based stress-reduction programs. The clinical value of meditation practice for treating physical and psychological disorders is widely recognized, and there are more than 250 U.S.
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Mindfulness training is the technique of deliberately bringing full attention to present experience and holding it there moment to moment, without judgment or emotional engagement, and returning to the present each time the mind wanders. Last spring she briefed members of Congress on her findings, and she has discussed her mindfulness research with the Dalai Lama. That research led to million-dollar grants from the Department of Defense to study mindfulness training in soldiers. In a 2007 study with physician Michael Baime, M' 81, who heads the Penn Program for Stress Management, Jha found that mindfulness meditation practice changes how the brain works, sharpening focus and performance. She is particularly interested in understanding how these brain functions can be improved with exercises like stress reduction, mindfulness training and long-term meditation practice. Jha, an Assistant Professor of Psychology, uses various neuroscience methods and imaging technologies to study the neural machinery involved in working memory and attention. We know that physical conditioning, weapons training and fighting skill prepare soldiers for the rigors of combat, but a recent study by cognitive neuroscientist Amishi Jha shows that meditation practice gives them "mental armor" to better withstand the trauma of war.
