Introduction: Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a chronic condition where many patients remain symptomatic despite first-line treatments such as cognitive behavioural therapy and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. This randomised controlled trial evaluated mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) efficacy as an augmentation strategy and its impact on brain functional connectivity....
iScienceNovember 21, 2025Yuhua Yu, Quentin Raffaelli, Delaney Freveletti et al.
Human thoughts often arise unprompted, forming a stream of consciousness. Despite their ubiquity, it remains unknown how the brain supports unprompted thoughts as an integrated experience with rich content and dynamics. Applying latent state modeling to fMRI data collected while individuals spoke aloud their thoughts, we identified recurring brain states linked to moment-to-moment thought...
Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) stands out as a promising augmentation psychological therapy for patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). To identify potential predictive and response biomarkers, this study examines the relationship between clinical domains and resting-state network connectivity in OCD patients undergoing a 3-month MBCT programme. Twelve OCD patients...
Around 40-50% of patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) suffer from obsessions and compulsions after receiving first-line treatments. Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) has been proposed as a reasonable augmentation strategy for OCD. MBCT trains to decentre from distressful thoughts and emotions by focusing on them voluntarily and with consciousness. This practice develops...
Compassion meditation (CM) is a promising intervention for enhancing compassion, although its active ingredients and neurobiological mechanisms are not well-understood. To investigate these, we conducted a three-armed placebo-controlled randomized trial (N = 57) with longitudinal functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). We compared a 4-week CM program delivered by smartphone application...
Abstract A mismatch between top-down expectations and incoming sensory information is thought to be associated with hallucinations across a range of neuropsychiatric disorders. In Parkinson’s disease with visual hallucinations, abnormal activity within the default network, and its pattern of connectivity with early visual regions, has been identified as a potential pathological source of the...
Despite increasing scientific interest in self-generated thought-mental content largely independent of the immediate environment-there has yet to be any comprehensive synthesis of the subjective experience and neural correlates of affect in these forms of thinking. Here, we aim to develop an integrated affective neuroscience encompassing many forms of self-generated thought-normal and...
Compassion is critical for societal wellbeing. Yet, it remains unclear how specific thoughts and feelings motivate compassionate behavior, and we lack a scientific understanding of how to effectively cultivate compassion. Here, we conducted 2 studies designed to a) develop a psychological model predicting compassionate behavior, and b) test this model as a mediator of a Compassion Meditation...
The neural basis and cognitive functions of various spontaneous thought processes, particularly mind-wandering, are increasingly being investigated. Although strong links have been drawn between the occurrence of spontaneous thought processes and activation in brain regions comprising the default mode network (DMN), spontaneous thought also appears to recruit other, non-DMN regions just as...
The waking mind is often occupied with mental contents that are minimally constrained by events in the here and now. These self-generated thoughts-e.g., mind-wandering or daydreaming-interfere with external task performance and can be a marker for unhappiness and even psychiatric problems. They also occupy our thoughts for upwards of half of the time, and under non-demanding conditions they (i)...
Yuhua Yu, Quentin Raffaelli, Delaney Freveletti et al.
preprint
Human thoughts often arise unprompted, forming a stream of consciousness. Despite their ubiquity, it remains unknown how the brain supports unprompted thoughts as an integrated experience encompassing diverse content embedded in rich temporal dynamics. Using latent brain state modelling of fMRI data collected while individuals spoke aloud their unprompted thoughts, we identified recurring...