"Why Is It So Hard to Pay Attention, or Is It? Mindfulness, the Factors of Awakening and Reward-Based Learning" dives into the intricate connections between mindfulness, attention, and habit formation. Dr. Jud Brewer, alongside co-authors Jake H. Davis and Joseph Goldstein, explores how reward-based learning shapes our ability to pay attention and sustain mindfulness practice. This episode unpacks the seven factors of awakening, discusses the pitfalls of craving and aversion, and provi...
Mar 08, 2025•14 min
Targeting Anxiety to Improve Sleep Disturbance: A Randomized Clinical Trial of App-Based Mindfulness Training In this episode, Dr. Jud Brewer and colleagues discuss a novel randomized clinical trial examining the impact of the Unwinding Anxiety app on improving sleep disturbances caused by anxiety and worry. The study demonstrates that app-based mindfulness training significantly reduces worry-related sleep disturbances (WRSDs), with a 27% reduction after two months of use. By increasing emotion...
Mar 01, 2025•11 min
Testing a Mobile Mindful Eating Intervention Targeting Craving-Related Eating: Feasibility and Proof of Concept In this episode, Dr. Jud Brewer and colleagues discuss the results of a groundbreaking study testing a smartphone-based mindful eating intervention. Designed to target craving-related eating through mindfulness and operant conditioning principles, the intervention demonstrated significant reductions in food cravings, emotional eating, and overeating among overweight and obese women. Dr...
Feb 22, 2025•18 min•Ep. 4
Meditation Experience Is Associated with Differences in Default Mode Network Activity and Connectivity explores how mindfulness meditation impacts brain function. In this episode, Dr. Jud Brewer and his colleagues reveal groundbreaking research using fMRI to compare experienced meditators and meditation-naïve controls. The study identifies reduced activity in the brain's default mode network (DMN) during meditation and enhanced connectivity with regions responsible for self-monitoring and c...
Feb 15, 2025•16 min
Physician Anxiety and Burnout: Symptom Correlates and a Prospective Pilot Study of App-Delivered Mindfulness Training In this episode, Dr. Jud Brewer and colleagues delve into the alarming rise of physician burnout and its strong correlation with anxiety. This pilot study examines the efficacy of an app-based mindfulness training program, Unwinding Anxiety , designed specifically for busy physicians. The findings reveal a significant reduction in anxiety (57%) and burnout symptoms such as cynici...
Feb 08, 2025•14 min
Awareness Drives Changes in Reward Value Which Predict Eating Behavior Change: Probing Reinforcement Learning Using Experience Sampling from Mobile Mindfulness Training for Maladaptive Eating In this episode, Dr. Jud Brewer and colleagues explore how mindfulness-based interventions can reshape maladaptive eating behaviors through changes in reward value. Leveraging reinforcement learning theory, the study uses an app-based mindful eating tool to reveal how awareness reduces the reward value of c...
Feb 01, 2025•14 min•Ep. 3
Clinical Efficacy and Psychological Mechanisms of an App-Based Digital Therapeutic for Generalized Anxiety Disorder: Randomized Controlled Trial In this episode, Dr. Jud Brewer and Alexandra Roy discuss a pioneering randomized controlled trial evaluating the clinical efficacy and mechanisms of the Unwinding Anxiety app for generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). The app integrates mindfulness training to disrupt worry and anxiety cycles driven by reinforcement learning. Results show a 67% reduction ...
Jan 25, 2025•15 min
Self-Regulation Without Force: Can Awareness Leverage Reward to Drive Behavior Change In this episode, Dr. Jud Brewer and colleagues introduce a groundbreaking approach to sustainable behavior change that moves beyond willpower-based strategies. By combining insights from reinforcement learning, self-determination theory, and mindfulness, they explore how bringing present-moment awareness to habits and behaviors can update the brain’s reward system, fostering autonomous, long-lasting self-regula...
Jan 18, 2025•17 min•Ep. 2
Can Approaching Anxiety Like a Habit Lead to Novel Treatments? In this episode, Dr. Jud Brewer and Alexandra Roy explore how anxiety, a growing mental health epidemic, may be approached through the lens of habit formation. This groundbreaking review delves into worry-driven habit loops, the mechanics of reinforcement learning, and how mindfulness-based training offers a promising, scalable solution. Highlighting the potential of digital therapeutics like the "Unwinding Anxiety" app, th...
Jan 11, 2025•21 min
Can Mindfulness Address Maladaptive Eating Behaviors? Why Traditional Diet Plans Fail and How New Mechanistic Insights May Lead to Novel Interventions In this episode, Dr. Jud Brewer and colleagues explore the limitations of traditional diet plans and reveal how mindfulness training offers a new, mechanistic approach to addressing maladaptive eating behaviors. They discuss how reward-based learning and habit loops drive emotional and stress-related eating, often undermining willpower-based diets...
Jan 04, 2025•13 min•Ep. 1
The Posterior Cingulate Cortex as a Plausible Mechanistic Target of Meditation: Findings from Neuroimaging Join Dr. Jud Brewer and Kathleen A. Garrison as they explore the neurobiological underpinnings of mindfulness and meditation. This episode delves into how the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), a key node in the brain's default mode network, plays a pivotal role in self-referential thinking, mind-wandering, and stress. The discussion highlights groundbreaking insights from real-time fMR...
Dec 28, 2024•13 min•Ep. 3
Quitting Starts in the Brain: A Randomized Controlled Trial of App-Based Mindfulness Shows Decreases in Neural Responses to Smoking Cues That Predict Reductions in Smoking In this episode, Dr. Jud Brewer and his team dive into groundbreaking research on mindfulness and its impact on smoking cessation. Discover how app-based mindfulness training influences the brain’s default mode network, specifically the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), to reduce cue-induced cravings. This randomized controlle...
Dec 21, 2024•9 min•Ep. 2
Title: Mindfulness Training for Addictions: Has Neuroscience Revealed a Brain Hack by Which Awareness Subverts the Addictive Process? Description: Can mindfulness offer a revolutionary approach to overcoming addictions? In this episode, we dive into Dr. Jud Brewer’s 2019 review article exploring how mindfulness-based interventions target reward-based learning mechanisms to interrupt addictive behaviors. Discover how awareness and curiosity can transform the cycle of craving, making mindful curio...
Dec 16, 2024•19 min•Ep. 1
Being empathetic with patients is important for their recovery but it has its limits. In this podcast, you will learn: - How empathy fatigue can lead to burnout. - How to recognize coping behavior strategies employed by clinicians to protect from patients’ suffering that become habits and contribute to exhaustion. - How to name the core elements of the process of reinforcement learning in habit loops. - To identify new strategies to step out of unhelpful habit loops. Empathy is all about feeling...
Jun 17, 2022•18 min•Season 1Ep. 1
Compassion is a way to feel patients’ suffering without being emotionally exhausted by it. In this podcast, you will learn: - How to differentiate between empathy and compassion. - How to stay with patients’ suffering without being consumed by it. A way to feel patients’ suffering and not be consumed by it is to not take it personally, by removing the “me” element: not getting stuck in their story (i.e. throwing them a rope instead of jumping in the river). Compassion allows us to be with the ex...
Jun 16, 2022•17 min•Season 1Ep. 2
Intrusive thoughts are distracting and can cause great distress. In this podcast, you will learn: - How our minds deal with intrusive thoughts. - To apply skills to manage intrusive thoughts in clinical settings and private life. We have no control over our thoughts. One thought can lead to another until we are overwhelmed by a train of thoughts. The harder we try to stop these thoughts, the more the mind fights back and keeps going. But we can control how we relate to our thoughts. By naming or...
Jun 15, 2022•10 min•Season 1Ep. 3
Self-judgement gets in the way of doing our own tasks and interacting with patients and it contributes to exhaustion. In this podcast, you will learn: -How to name the core elements of the habit loop of self-judgment. -New strategies to step out of habit loop of self-judgment. -How to practice kindness toward oneself and others. Self-judgment gets in the way of being grounded in the present moment, being connected with ourselves or patients like intrusive thoughts and it contributes to exhaustio...
Jun 14, 2022•16 min•Season 1Ep. 4
Our brain does not like uncertainty and this causes stress and anxiety. In this podcast, you will learn: - How the brain works with uncertainty. - How to reduce stress and anxiety for uncertainty Information is like food for our brain. Uncertainty is like that hunger signal telling us that we don’t have enough information, and need to gather it. Uncertainty can cause stress and anxiety. And these can be learned as habit loops. For example, anxiety tricks our brains into thinking that worrying is...
Jun 13, 2022•16 min•Season 1Ep. 5
Emotional contagion is unconscious and can be toxic when we interact with other people. In this podcast, you will learn: - How emotional contagion impacts on the interactions with patients and colleagues. - How to use curiosity against the maladaptive effects of emotional contagion. Emotions can be unconsciously spread from one person to another through facial expression, tone of voice and body language. Emotional contagion occurs everywhere, at any distance (e.g. through social media). Clinicia...
Jun 12, 2022•16 min•Season 1Ep. 6
Pain is subjective and several factors influenced the diagnosis and treatment of pain in patients. In this podcast, you will learn: - The complexities involved in diagnosing and treating pain. - How to recognize and deal with our own biases in the diagnosis and treatment of pain. Diagnosing and treating pain are not straightforward because pain is a complex and subjective experience composed of both physical and emotional dimensions. The way we perceive our own pain and others’ pain is influence...
Jun 11, 2022•18 min•Season 1Ep. 7
In this podcast, you will listen to the summary of all we have explored in the course. To ask questions or suggest future topics, please comment below or connect with me on Twitter @judbrewer Click here to subscribe to my Youtube Channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi6bQu-Df7Wh2x3gFT5a8aw Build your body awareness using mindfulness practices, like those in the free "Breathe by Dr. Jud" app, available on both Apple and Android devices. Apple: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/breathe-b...
Jun 10, 2022•8 min•Season 1Ep. 8
During this time of panic and uncertainty, it's critical to build good mental habits and practice mental hygiene. In this podcast, you'll learn: -What to do whenever you notice stress or anxiety, and how to nip it in the bud. All you need is your breath and your awareness. -How to respond to urges to check social media or to call someone -The power of this question: "What do I need right now?" and why that's more important than "what do I want?" -How to connect...
Aug 20, 2020•5 min•Season 1Ep. 6
In today’s episode, you’ll learn the following: -Why people have been buying what seems like a decade’s worth of the toilet paper in the grocery store, and why when you see them, you suddenly feel the urge to buy toilet paper yourself. -The mechanics of reward based learning, which underpins all of our anxious thinking and behavior. -The role of the neocortex in anxiety. The neocortex is the part of the brain involved in thinking and planning. -Why a lack of information leads to anxiety, and how...
Aug 20, 2020•4 min
Did you know that your mindset has a big impact on how you deal with uncertainty, and may be affecting your reaction to not just the current crisis, but any life challenge you’re going to face? Resources: 1. Subscribe to the Dr. Jud channel (click the red SUBSCRIBE button) to be notified of future daily updates, and join a free weekly "office hours" anxiety Q&A session on Mondays at noon eastern US (12:00 EST) 2. Build your awareness using mindfulness practices, like those in the f...
Aug 19, 2020•10 min•Season 1Ep. 24
Did you know that your eyes really are the window into your soul? Or at least, a window into your current emotional state? By understanding how your eyes connect to your emotions, you can learn to tap into curiosity to help you let go of anxiety and fear. Resources: 1. Subscribe to the Dr. Jud channel (click the red SUBSCRIBE button) to be notified of future daily updates, and join a free weekly "office hours" anxiety Q&A session on Mondays at noon eastern US (12:00 EST) 2. Build y...
Aug 19, 2020•7 min•Season 1Ep. 23
Ever wonder why tightness in your jaw and shoulder are linked to stress? Did you know that you can use curiosity to change your relationship to anxiety and fear? The Irish novelist and poet James Stephen’s wrote, “curiosity will conquer fear even more than bravery will.” Learn how to do this today. Resources: 1. Subscribe to the Dr. Jud channel (click the red SUBSCRIBE button) to be notified of future daily updates, and join a free weekly "office hours" anxiety Q&A session on Monda...
Aug 19, 2020•9 min•Season 1Ep. 22
Do you ever wonder why it’s so hard to stop scrolling Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter? That restless itch to see what’s next? Struggling with wanting to get all of the information you need? That itch is curiosity. But not all curiosity is created equal, and by understanding how curiosity works, you can use it to change habits and feel better — at any time. Resources: 1. Subscribe to the Dr. Jud channel (click the red SUBSCRIBE button) to be notified of future daily updates, and join a free weekl...
Aug 19, 2020•8 min•Season 1Ep. 21
When you read the news, do you find yourself getting more afraid? Do you tend to read the headlines and articles that confirm your worst fears? Our brains are not set up to think critically in an environment of uncertainty, but there are ways to keep our rational brain in charge and think more clearly about the world around us… even during a crisis. Links to articles I mentioned in the episode: https://www.latimes.com/california/st... https://beachgrit.com/2020/04/fake-ne... Resources: 1. Subscr...
Aug 19, 2020•9 min•Season 1Ep. 20
When you’re anxious, one of the best things to do is to slow down and focus on your breath. But what about when you’re so anxious or stressed that regular breathing exercises don’t seem to work? In today’s episode, I’ll teach you a simple but effective exercise that brings in more of your senses to help cut through the anxiety so you can be calm and focused in the present moment. Resources: 1. Subscribe to the Dr. Jud channel (click the red SUBSCRIBE button) to be notified of future daily update...
Aug 19, 2020•7 min•Season 1Ep. 19
Stress, anxiety and other emotions are running high for many people right now. But if you’re a parent with kids at home, trying to juggle work, homeschooling, and the overall uncertainty, your house may feel like an emotional minefield. Your kids are also trying to make sense of everything, and may not be reacting in “normal” ways. And even if you don’t have kids at home, your inner child probably isn’t feeling very safe or secure right now. Let's connect on Instagram...
Aug 19, 2020•7 min•Season 1Ep. 18
