Health Psychology: Mindfulness, Emotion Regulation, and Psychoneuroimmunology

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering Buddhist and Western perspectives on mindfulness, emotion theory, vagal regulation, coping mechanisms, and psychoneuroimmunology.

Dukkha

Defined by Bhikku Bhodi as the 'inescapable, flawed, deficient, unsatisfactory nature of sentient existence.' It encompasses physiological suffering (birth, aging, sickness, death), psychological suffering (exposure to the unpleasant, separation from the pleasant), and the universal law of impermanence.

Samsara

The endless cycle of wandering, death, and rebirth driven by unwholesome thoughts, desires, hatred, and ignorance.

Nibbana

The ultimate spiritual goal taught by the Buddha, representing liberation from desire, hatred, ignorance, and the cycle of suffering (dukkha), achieved through mind training rather than rituals or ceremonies.

Dhamma

The core teachings of the Buddha, which followers are instructed to investigate and test for themselves rather than accept through blind faith.

Ehipassiko

A Pali concept in the Buddha's teachings meaning 'come and see for yourself,' emphasizing personal empirical verification and practice over dogma.

Sati (Mindfulness)

The practice of keeping the mind and body in the exact same place in the present moment, exemplified by Thich Nhat Hanh's phrase 'washing dishes while washing dishes.'

Four Domains of Mindfulness

The four foundations of Buddhist contemplation: mindfulness of the body, feelings, states of mind, and Dhammas.

Anapanasati

Mindfulness of breathing (in-breath and out-breath) encompassing progressive meditative methods: counting breaths, using a calming word, visualizing an image, observing breath sensations, and one-pointed concentration.

One-Pointed Meditation (Bhavana)

The fifth and final stage of Anapanasati where concentration is locked onto a single point until random thoughts cease and the breath feels imperceptible.

Insula (Insular Cortex)

A cortical structure activated during mindfulness and meditation responsible for interoception (monitoring internal visceral and bodily states like heart rate and respiration), empathy, and metacognition.

Blue Mind State

A restorative state identified by Prof. Elissa Epel marked by deep physiological rest, safety, slow breathing, and the cellular recovery of mitochondria and DNA.

Classical View of Emotions

The traditional framework proposing that emotions are automatic, universal, and triggered by specific stimuli via dedicated, dedicated neural circuits.

Theory of Constructed Emotion

Prof. Lisa Feldman Barrett's model stating that emotions are not universal or biologically hardwired, but are actively predicted and constructed by the brain using past experiences, concepts, and physiological states.

Body Budget (Allostasis)

A metaphor for allostasis describing the brain's continuous prediction, regulation, and allocation of internal physiological resources (such as glucose, water, and salt) via biological deposits and withdrawals.

Affect

A fundamental neurophysiological state experienced as simple, lower-dimensional feelings characterized along two primary axes: valence (pleasant vs. unpleasant) and arousal (active vs. idle).

Emotional Granularity

The ability to recognize, distinguish, and verbally label subtle, specific differences among affective experiences (e.g., distinguishing between 'irritated,' 'peeved,' and 'enraged').

Mood Meter

A quadrant-based tool developed by Prof. Marc Brackett that categorizes feelings across dimensions of pleasantness and energy level to build emotional literacy.

Emotional Reactivity

The biological arousability or excitability of an emotional response, assessed by its onset speed, expression intensity, duration, and recovery time.

Emotion Regulation (ER)

The set of conscious and unconscious processes utilized to modulate the intensity, timing, and expression of emotions to adaptively meet environmental demands.

Vagus Nerve (Cranial Nerve X)

The primary nerve of the parasympathetic nervous system that projects to major visceral organs, functioning as a physiological brake to slow heart rate and support social engagement.

Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia (RSA)

The natural variation in heart rate synchronized with respiration; vagal activity is suppressed during inhalation (heart rate speeds up) and resumes during exhalation (heart rate slows down).

High Vagal Tone

Robust parasympathetic regulation of cardiac activity, physiologically indicated by low resting heart rate and high heart rate variability, which correlates with flexible and adaptive emotion regulation.

Problem-Focused Coping

An active coping strategy aimed directly at resolving, altering, or removing the source of stress, considered most effective when situational control is possible.

Emotion-Focused Coping

Coping behaviors geared toward dampening or managing the emotional distress caused by a stressor (e.g., seeking distraction or emotional solace) rather than directly solving the underlying issue.

Meaning-Focused Coping

Cognitive appraisal that reframes the significance of an uncontrollable stressor to identify deeper meaning, personal values, or constructive lessons.

Cognitive Reappraisal

An antecedent-focused emotion regulation strategy in Gross's model where an individual reinterprets the meaning of an event to decrease its negative physiological and emotional impact.

Expressive Suppression

A response-modulation strategy involving the deliberate, effortful inhibition of outward emotional displays, which taxes the body budget and often maintains internal stress.

Rumination

The passive and repetitive focus on distress, negative feelings, and their causes, which maintains emotional distress and impairs active problem solving.

Psychoneuroimmunology (PNI)

The interdisciplinary scientific field investigating the bidirectional communication networks connecting psychological processes, neural structures, endocrine signaling, and immune defenses.

Innate Immunity

The non-specific, immediate branch of the immune system comprising baseline cellular responders including macrophages, neutrophils, dendritic cells, eosinophils, basophils, and natural killer (NK) cells.

Adaptive Immunity

The specialized, antigen-specific branch of the immune system that develops immunological memory, mediated by B cells (antibody production) and T cells ($CD4^+$ helper and $CD8^+$ cytotoxic cells).

'Barracks to Battlefield' Effect

The rapid redistribution of circulating leukocytes from blood vessels into skin, mucosal linings, and lymph nodes during acute stress to protect against potential injury and infection.

Pro-inflammatory Cytokines

Chemical messengers released by innate immune cells—most notably $IL\text{-}1\beta$, $IL\text{-}6$, and $TNF\text{-}\beta$—that produce localized inflammation and signal the brain to alter behavior.

Anti-inflammatory Cytokines

Protective signaling molecules such as $IL\text{-}10$, $IL\text{-}4$, $IL\text{-}1\text{Ra}$, and $TGF\text{-}\beta$ that are upregulated by cortisol to shut down acute inflammation.

Sickness Behavior

An organized suite of physiological and behavioral changes (fatigue, anhedonia, decreased appetite, social withdrawal) triggered by pro-inflammatory cytokines communicating with the brain to conserve metabolic energy for healing.

Glucocorticoid Resistance Hypothesis

The pathological blunting of immune cell sensitivity to cortisol following chronic stress, which impairs the anti-inflammatory feedback loop and promotes systemic inflammation.

C-Reactive Protein (CRP)

An acute-phase liver protein synthesized in response to high $IL\text{-}6$ levels; elevated circulating levels serve as a primary biomarker for chronic systemic inflammation.

Telomeres

Repetitive DNA-protein caps at chromosomal ends that maintain genomic integrity and shorten in response to cumulative cellular divisions, oxidative stress, and chronic toxic stress.

Telomerase

An intracellular enzyme that synthesizes and repairs telomeric DNA repeats, helping preserve chromosome length and longevity.

CCR5 Co-Receptor

A chemokine receptor present on the surface of $CD4^+$ helper T cells that acts as a necessary portal for HIV viral entry, serving as a key target for therapeutic blockade.