DESCRIPTION

This one hour online presentation will focus on mindfulness, which is defined as paying attention to sensory experience in the present moment, non-judgmentally. In this talk, Dr. Lazar will present data concerning how mindfulness training alters the perception of painful stimuli at the neural level. She will then describe how these neural changes are related to changes in fear conditioning and anxiety.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Upon completion of this activity, participants will be able to:

1. Identify four brain regions impacted by mindfulness training.
2. Describe the role of the hippocampus in mediating the effects of mindfulness on fear extinction
3. Describe how changes in sensory awareness plays a central role in mindfulness mediated pain reduction.

TARGET AUDIENCE

This program is intended for Physicians and other clinical staff at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital.

ACCREDITATION

Partners HealthCare System is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

Partners HealthCare System designates this enduring material for a maximum of 1 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit^TM. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

FACULTY

Sarah Lazar, PhD

Sara W. Lazar, PhD, is an Associate Researcher in the Psychiatry Department at Massachusetts General Hospital and an Assistant Professor in Psychology at Harvard Medical School. The focus of her research is to elucidate the neural mechanisms underlying the beneficial effects of yoga and meditation, both in clinical settings and in healthy individuals. Her research has been covered by numerous news outlets including /The New York Times/, /USA Today,/ CNN, and WebMD.  More information can be found at https://scholar.harvard.edu/sara_lazar

FACULTY DISCLOSURE STATEMENTS

In accord with the disclosure policy of Partners HealthCare System as well as guidelines of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), planners, speakers and anyone who may have an influence on the content of the activity have been asked to disclose any relationship they or their spouse/partner have to companies producing pharmaceuticals, medical equipment, devices, etc. that may be germane to the content of their presentation. Such disclosure is not intended to suggest or condone bias, but provides participants with information that might be of potential importance to their evaluation of a given presentation.

RESOLUTION OF CONFLICTS OF INTEREST (COI)
Partners HealthCare System has implemented a process to resolve potential COIs for this CME activity to help ensure content objectivity, independence, fair balance and ensure that the content is aligned with the interest of the public.

The following planners and/or their spouse/partner have reported no relevant financial relationship with a commercial interest:

Jason Frankel, MD
Jeffrey Schneider, MD

The following planners and/or their spouse/partner have reported a relevant financial relationship with a commercial interest:

Mel Glenn, MD
Service Fee, Hypnotherap private practice
Stocks, MariMed

The following speaker and/or their spouse/partner have reported no relevant financial relationship with a commercial interest:

Sara Lazar, PhD