Clinical and Neuroimaging Effects of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Symptomatic Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Patients after First-Line Treatments: A Randomised Controlled Trial.
Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics January 1, 2026 Maria Serra-Blasco, Neus Miquel-Giner, Muriel Vicent-Gil et al.
Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) added to usual treatment reduces obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) symptoms more than usual treatment alone. In a trial of 68 moderately symptomatic adults, those receiving MBCT showed a 31.73% reduction on the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale compared to 8.07% in the treatment-as-usual group. MBCT also lowered depressive symptoms, rumination, and perceived stress, and improved quality of life. No changes in resting-state brain connectivity were detected after treatment, but lower baseline connectivity in fronto-striatal, salience, and default mode networks predicted greater symptom reduction, suggesting a neural basis for MBCT response.