August 14, 2026
Rachel E. Jones, Negar Fani, Michael T. Treadway et al.
preprint
This study is testing a novel neuromodulation method capable of directly targeting deep brain regions—temporal interference (TI)—to enhance emotion regulation. Pilot data show that, compared to sham stimulation, TI targeting the ventral striatium (VS) during breath-focused mindfulness (BFM) enhances neural markers of reward processing (measured via electroencephalography, EEG) and reduces...
Neuroimage
July 1, 2026
Jonathan S Ryan, Timothy J Mcdermott, Boris Botzanowski et al.
Temporal interference (TI) electrical stimulation is a novel neuromodulation method that can target deep brain structures to enhance the impact of behavioral techniques. We tested the feasibility of TI targeting the ventral striatum (VS) during an emotion regulation practice (breath-focused mindfulness meditation). To assess target engagement, we used electroencephalography (EEG) to measure...
Research Square
February 9, 2026
Jonathan S Ryan, Timothy J Mcdermott, Boris Botzanowski et al.
preprint
Temporal interference (TI) electrical stimulation is a novel neuromodulation method that can target deep brain structures to enhance the impact of behavioral techniques. We tested the feasibility of TI in targeting the ventral striatum (VS) in concert with an emotion regulation practice (breath-focused mindfulness meditation). As an assay of target engagement, we used electroencephalography...
Research Square
December 22, 2025
Negar Fani, Alexa Kondas, Vishwadeep Ahluwalia et al.
preprint
Vibration-based therapies are understudied but promising methods for alleviating psychiatric symptoms, particularly when paired with behavioral practices. The potential neuroplastic changes associated with a novel neurostimulation method, sternal vibration, and associations with clinical change remain unknown. We examined effects of sternal vibration paired with mindfulness meditation on change...
Scientific Reports
August 5, 2025
S. Moser, Hans Knoblauch, B. Müller-Myhsok et al.
Survival mechanisms are evolutionary grown behaviors in life-threatening situations. They are thought to be determined by genetic patterns involved in stress systems, such as the control of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. FK506 binding protein 5 (FKBP5) is a co-chaperone that is involved in modulating glucocorticoid receptor (GR) sensitivity in response to stress. Dissociation is...
Journal of Anxiety Disorders
June 1, 2025
Timothy J Mcdermott, Greg J Siegle, Alfonsina Guelfo et al.
2 citations
Stress and anxiety are associated with increased autonomic arousal, including altered respiration. Breath-focused mindfulness meditation can reduce stress and anxiety, but trauma-exposed adults with dissociation have difficulty engaging in this practice. Our ongoing clinical trial examines if vibration-augmented breath-focused mindfulness (VABF) can improve outcomes and increase engagement....
Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging
April 1, 2025
Saampras Ganesan, Fernando A Barrios, Ishaan Batta et al.
6 citations
Meditation is a family of ancient and contemporary contemplative mind-body practices that can modulate psychological processes, awareness, and mental states. Over the last 40 years, clinical science has manualized meditation practices and designed various meditation interventions that have shown therapeutic efficacy for disorders including depression, pain, addiction, and anxiety. Over the past...
Psychological Medicine
May 5, 2023
Negar Fani, Alfonsina Guelfo, Dominique L. la Barrie et al.
10 citations
BACKGROUND: Dissociative symptoms can emerge after trauma and interfere with attentional control and interoception; disruptions to these processes are barriers to mind-body interventions such as breath-focused mindfulness (BFM). To overcome these barriers, we tested the use of an exteroceptive augmentation to BFM, using vibrations equivalent to the amplitude of the auditory waveform of the...
Frontiers in Psychiatry
August 25, 2017
J. Douglas Bremner, Sanskriti Mishra, Carolina Campanella et al.
81 citations
OBJECTIVE: Brain imaging studies in patients with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have implicated a circuitry of brain regions including the medial prefrontal cortex, amygdala, hippocampus, parietal cortex, and insula. Pharmacological treatment studies have shown a reversal of medial prefrontal deficits in response to traumatic reminders. Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) is a...