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Neural and autonomic regulation during brief mindfulness and relaxation interventions in clinical populations: a multimodal MEG study protocol

Mental disorders pose a major and growing challenge for health care systems worldwide, marked by persistent treatment gaps and limited access to psychotherapeutic care. Mind–body interventions such as mindfulness and relaxation practices are widely used in clinical contexts as low-threshold strategies to support stress regulation and psychological well-being. Despite their broad application, the mechanisms underlying their acute effects remain insufficiently understood, particularly regarding brain–body interactions. This study protocol describes a prospective multimodal investigation of regulation during brief mindfulness-and relaxation-based interventions in clinical populations (at least n = 15 adults with depression according to SCID-5-CV and at least n = 15 adults with adult ADHD according to SCID-5-CV). Using a standardized within-subject experimental paradigm, magnetoencephalography (MEG) will be combined with electrocardiography (ECG) and respiratory measures to capture fast neural dynamics and autonomic regulation during three randomized auditory conditions: mindfulness (body scan), relaxation (safe place imagery), and an auditory control condition (podcast). Subjective ratings of stress and relaxation will be collected repeatedly across the procedure, complemented by questionnaires characterizing interindividual differences relevant to regulation. Outcome measures will include indices of autonomic regulation derived from cardiac activity and respiration, as well as repeated subjective ratings of stress and relaxation across conditions. Neural measures (MEG) will be used to characterize condition-related brain dynamics and brain–body coupling metrics linking neural oscillations to cardiac and respiratory rhythms. Speech-related measures during auditory guidance and brief speech-production features from post-condition reflections will be included as complementary and exploratory extensions to increase psychotherapy relevance, while accounting for methodological challenges related to overt speech in MEG. By integrating neural, physiological, and subjective measures within a single standardized paradigm, this study protocol aims to advance a mechanistic understanding of brief mind–body interventions in clinically relevant populations. Focusing on dynamic brain– body interactions during stress and regulation, the proposed approach is designed to support transparent and reproducible investigation of regulatory processes that are relevant to psychotherapy-related mind–body approaches, clinical practice, and everyday self-regulation. The findings are expected to inform future translational research and contribute to the development of mechanism-informed and potentially personalized applications of mindfulness-and relaxation-based interventions.Study protocol registrationPreregistration can be found here: https://osf.io/3rhk4/overview.
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Do stretch sensors expressed by aortic baroreceptors interact with circulating estradiol to mediate baroreflex sensitivity in hypertension?

Hypertension, or high blood pressure, is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of mortality worldwide. The incidence and the severity of hypertension is higher in middle-aged men than women. The hallmark of hypertension is an increased sympathetic nerve activity to the cardiovascular organs. One mechanism that regulates sympathetic nerve activity is the homeostatic baroreflex which maintains blood pressure at optimal levels for survival. Baroreceptive nerve endings innervating the aortic arch detect stretch at the vascular wall and convey these signals to the hindbrain which subsequently modulates sympathetic nerve activity. Although the baroreflex was described more than 80 years ago, the specific molecular, structural, and functional phenotype of aortic baroreceptors remain to be fully elucidated. Several recent studies suggest the involvement of various ion channels, termed as “Stretch Sensors”, in detecting vascular stretch. Stretch sensors are diverse, and they include Piezo, transient receptor potential, acid sensing ion, and epithelial sodium channels. Thus, stretch sensors engaged by aortic baroreceptors may evoke baroreception, leading to the regulation of sympathetic nerve activity and blood pressure. In pathophysiological conditions, impaired engagement of stretch sensors may lead to sympathetic nerve overactivity and sustained elevations in blood pressure. Furthermore, ovarian hormones, particularly estradiol, may interact with stretch sensors, increasing baroreflex sensitivity and leading to cardioprotective effects in women. However, low circulating levels of estradiol, such as in post-menopause, can lead to reduced baroreflex sensitivity, hypertension and cardiovascular disease. In this review, we discuss stretch sensors expressed by aortic baroreceptors, the role they play in baroreception and blood pressure regulation, interplay with estradiol, and the role they play the development of hypertension and mediating sex-specific differences.
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Perceived organizational climate and turnover intention among young nurses from a humanistic care perspective: the mediating role of work engagement

BackgroundThe high turnover of young nurses poses a significant challenge to the stability of healthcare systems worldwide. While the relationships between perceived organizational climate, work engagement, and turnover intention are established, there is a lack of research integrating a humanistic care management perspective to elucidate the specific psychological mechanisms among young nurses at their uniquely vulnerable career stage. Drawing upon this contextual lens, this study aims to evaluate the status of perceived organizational climate, work engagement, and turnover intention among young nurses, and to further explore the potential mediating role of work engagement in the relationship between perceived organizational climate and turnover intention.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted from July to September 2025, surveying 366 young nurses from a tertiary Grade-A hospital in Shaanxi Province, China, using convenience sampling. Data were collected using a general information questionnaire, the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale, the Organizational Climate Questionnaire, and the Turnover Intention Questionnaire. A Structural Equation Model was employed to analyze the mediating effect.ResultsThe findings revealed significant interrelationships among perceived organizational climate, work engagement, and turnover intention. Work engagement was found to partially mediate the relationship between perceived organizational climate and turnover intention during young nurses, explaining 34.78% of the variance.ConclusionThese findings suggest that organizational climate functions as a critical job resource that may buffer turnover intention by fostering higher levels of work engagement. To maintain workforce stability, nursing managers should integrate humanistic care into organizational policies to cultivate a supportive environment. However, due to the cross-sectional design and convenience sampling from a single institution, causal inferences should be made with caution, and the generalizability of the findings may be limited.
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Cultural adaptation and feasibility of action over inertia in Japan: a multi-site pilot intervention study

IntroductionAction Over Inertia (AOI) is a recovery-oriented intervention designed to promote occupational engagement and support personal recovery through changes in everyday activity patterns. While AOI has been examined in Western contexts, its applicability and clinical adaptation in East Asian settings remain underexplored. This study used a mixed-methods approach to examine the feasibility and cultural adaptation of a group-based AOI program in Japan.MethodsA mixed-methods pilot feasibility design was used. The quantitative component was a single-arm repeated-measures pilot study conducted across four psychiatric daycare facilities in Japan. Outcomes were assessed at baseline, post-intervention, and 1-month follow-up in 12 participants with serious mental illness using the Recovery Assessment Scale (RAS), Temple University Community Participation Measure-Japanese version (TUCP-J), and Social Functioning Scale (SFS), alongside symptom severity assessed with the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS). These measures were used as exploratory clinical outcomes to describe preliminary patterns of change and to inform future controlled studies, rather than to determine intervention effectiveness. The qualitative component involved semi-structured interviews with occupational therapists who delivered the intervention, to contextualize the quantitative findings and identify implementation barriers and adaptations. The quantitative intervention study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya University, Japan (2023-0209), and registered with the UMIN Clinical Trials Registry (UMIN000045392). The qualitative interview study was approved by the Ethics Review Committee for Research Involving Human Participants, Nihon Fukushi University, Japan (23-041-03).ResultsNo significant improvements were observed in the exploratory outcomes of recovery, participation, or social functioning. Although BPRS showed a significant overall time effect, post-hoc comparisons between time points were not significant, and this change cannot be causally attributed to AOI because of the single-arm design. In an exploratory observation, participants with higher symptom severity appeared to show lower community participation. Qualitative findings suggested that the intervention dose, participant–program fit, readiness for activity change, and group-based delivery conditions may need further optimization within Japanese psychiatric daycare settings.DiscussionThe findings suggest that group-based AOI may be feasible to implement in Japanese psychiatric daycare settings, but further cultural and clinical adaptation is needed before effectiveness can be evaluated in controlled trials. Adaptation may require preserving AOI’s theoretical foundations while making the intervention less exposing, less abstract, and more accessible in group-based settings. Future studies should use controlled designs, longer follow-up periods, and broader outcome indicators to examine the effectiveness and implementation of culturally adapted AOI.Clinical trial registrationUMIN Clinical Trials Registry https://www.umin.ac.jp/ctr/, identifier UMIN000045392.
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Social anxiety but not callous-unemotional traits predicts shame coping in conduct disorder

IntroductionConduct disorders are characterized by emotional dysregulation. Both callous-unemotional traits and social anxiety are heightened in conduct disorder patients and are associated with different mechanisms of emotion regulation. Previous evidence has proposed that secondary emotions, such as shame, might also be affected in conduct disorder and that callous-unemotional traits and social anxiety might be related to shame as well as to shame coping. Therefore, the current study investigated links between callous-unemotional traits, social anxiety, shame proneness, and shame coping in adolescent inpatients with conduct disorder.MethodsForty adolescent inpatients with conduct disorders (M = 12.4, SD = 1.4) filled in questionnaires on callous-unemotional traits, social anxiety, shame proneness, and shame coping. Correlational and regression analyses, as well as mediation analyses were performed.ResultsCallous-unemotional traits were not associated with any other construct. Social anxiety showed positive correlations with shame proneness and internalizing as well as externalizing shame coping. Social anxiety was also a significant predictor of internalizing shame coping while controlling for shame proneness and callous-unemotional traits. No predictors emerged for externalizing shame coping. Mediation analyses confirmed that neither shame proneness nor social anxiety mediated the relationship between CU traits and shame coping, as CU traits were not significantly associated with either variable.DiscussionThe findings suggest that social anxiety plays a key role in internalizing shame coping in conduct disorder patients. CU traits appear to be unrelated to shame proneness and shame coping, either directly or indirectly, in conduct disorder.