Journal of Medical Internet Research
May 5, 2025
Juan Wang, Qiuhong Yang, Naixue Cui et al.
6 citations
A digital mindfulness-based intervention for prenatal insomnia reduced insomnia symptoms in pregnant women with subthreshold to clinical insomnia. In a randomized trial with 160 women, those receiving the six-week digital program plus standard care showed greater improvement in insomnia symptoms immediately after the intervention and in the third trimester compared to standard care alone, with a moderate effect size. Benefits were not sustained at 42 days postpartum. The intervention also increased the likelihood of insomnia remission by the third trimester. Changes in sleep-specific worry and presleep arousal mediated the effect. Most secondary outcomes, including sleep quality and mood, did not differ significantly between groups.
World Journal of Psychiatry
June 30, 2026
Ling Zhu, Lu-Yao Ji, Chao Shi et al.
Mindfulness training combined with usual care reduced anxiety and depression more than usual care alone in a randomized trial of 133 patients with anxiety or depression symptoms. After eight weeks, the mindfulness group scored lower on the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (20.88 vs 25.95) and Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (21.24 vs 26.37) and higher on mindfulness and resilience measures. Psychological resilience partially mediated the improvements, accounting for about 10% of the anxiety reduction and 19% of the depression reduction. The results suggest mindfulness works both directly and by strengthening resilience, supporting its use as an add-on treatment.
Frontiers in Neuroscience
January 1, 2025
Fa Lu, Lunxu Li, Juan Wang et al.
Global signal regression (GSR), a common preprocessing step in fMRI analysis, affects brain activity patterns differently depending on the anesthetic agent used. Using fMRI data from patients under general anesthesia, the work shows that GSR alters specific network connections under propofol but broadly reduces connectivity differences under sevoflurane. Network topology analyses reveal that GSR minimally affects propofol-induced changes in graph theoretical measures but significantly diminishes sevoflurane-related network alterations. These findings indicate that GSR's impact on functional brain organization is anesthetic-specific, with sevoflurane-induced changes being particularly sensitive to global signal removal. The results suggest that GSR should be applied cautiously when comparing different anesthetic agents.
Communications Biology
December 18, 2025
Fa Lu, Juan Wang, Xuewei Qin et al.
Altered consciousness—from anesthesia and sleep to disorders of consciousness—involves distinct changes in thalamic nuclei. Analyzing fMRI data across these states, the authors found that propofol anesthesia disrupted pulvinar-cortical connections, sleep transitions affected specific nuclei (VLp, medial geniculate, centromedian), and disorders of consciousness showed widespread disconnections. Five key nuclei showed state-specific alterations, with higher-order nuclei (pulvinar, centromedian, mediodorsal) more consistently involved. Decreased local brain signal complexity occurred in 4–6 nuclei during anesthesia and 4–5 in patients with disorders of consciousness. The coupling between local fluctuation and connectivity varied systematically with consciousness state, suggesting potential therapeutic targets.
Journal of Medical Internet Research
August 11, 2020
Yaoyao Sun, Yanyan Li, Juan Wang et al.
An 8-week smartphone-based mindfulness training program during pregnancy reduced depression symptoms and improved anxiety and positive affect compared to an attention control group. Among 168 pregnant women at risk of perinatal depression, those in the mindfulness group showed a lower risk of positive depressive symptoms (EPDS score >9) postintervention (odds ratio 0.391) and higher depression symptom remission. Medium effect sizes were observed for depression and positive affect at postintervention and for anxiety in late pregnancy. Nulliparous women appeared to benefit more from the training. The overall dropout rate was 34.5%, with 52.4% completing the intervention.