Mindfulness meditation reduces depressive symptoms in people with depression, according to a systematic review and meta-analysis of 26 randomized controlled trials conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic. The analysis found a significant effect favoring mindfulness meditation over comparison groups, with a standardized mean difference of -1.14. The findings suggest that mindfulness meditation is an effective evidence-based practice for lowering depressive symptoms during times of increased stress, such as a pandemic.
Adults who engage in emotional eating show different brain activity during mindfulness meditation compared to those who do not. After three audio-guided mindfulness practices, the emotional eating group had higher frontal midline theta power and lower frontal midline alpha power, particularly during the meditation phase. Two negative correlations emerged only in the emotional eating group: one between changes in frontal midline delta power and emotional eating behaviors, and another between beta-1 power and cognitive reappraisal during meditation. These findings suggest that modulation of frontal midline theta and alpha activity may contribute to the immediate effects of mindfulness meditation on emotional eating, while the clinical significance of the delta activity correlation requires further investigation.
Dextromethorphan (DXM), a common ingredient in cough medicine, is abused by adolescents and can cause euphoria, dissociation, hallucinations, and depressive symptoms with chronic use. Lycium barbarum (wolfberry), a traditional Chinese medicine for neurodegenerative diseases, may reduce depression-like behavior. In a rat study, DXM-treated animals showed increased depression-like and social anxiety-like behaviors after two weeks. Co-treatment with Lycium barbarum polysaccharide (LBP) reduced these adverse effects. Histological analysis revealed that LBP did not promote hippocampal neurogenesis alone but lessened the suppression of neurogenesis caused by DXM. These findings suggest wolfberry could be an adjunct treatment for mood disturbances during cough syrup abuse rehabilitation.