Altered neural reward activation predicts clinical depression improvement after a novel loving-kindness meditation: a multimodal neuroimaging study.
Psychiatry research. Neuroimaging October 1, 2025 Zhaohua Chen, Chun Cui, Xiaoxiao Sun et al.
A newly developed therapy, loving-kindness meditation integrating cognition and behavior (LKM-CB), improved clinical depression in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD). In study 1, 30 MDD patients who received 8 weeks of LKM-CB showed significantly greater improvement in depression compared to 31 controls. Study 2, involving 16 MDD patients, used brain imaging to explore neural changes. After LKM-CB, patients showed reduced activation in frontal-striatal regions (orbitofrontal cortex, anterior cingulate, insula) during reward outcomes and anticipation after loss, but increased activation in frontal-striatal regions and hippocampus during loss outcomes and anticipation after win. The findings suggest LKM-CB alters reward-related brain activity, offering a feasible non-pharmacological therapy for MDD.