Mindfulness Training Changes Brain Dynamics During Depressive Rumination: A Randomized Controlled Trial.
Anne Maj van der Velden, Jacqueline Scholl, Else-Marie Elmholdt, Lone O Fjorback, Catherine J Harmer, Sara W. Lazar, Mia S O'Toole, Jonathan Smallwood, Andreas Roepstorff, Willem Kuyken
Biological Psychiatry February 1, 2023 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2022.06.038 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Randomized controlled trial Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 80 |
| Population | Adults with recurrent depression |
| Intervention | Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy |
| Topics | Depression Meditation |
| Keywords | Interoceptive awareness Mechanisms Neural connectivity Rumination |
| Key findings | Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy decreased salience network connectivity to the lingual gyrus during rumination, which mediated improvements in sustaining attention to body sensations. |
Abstract
Depression is a leading cause of disability worldwide and its prevalence is on the rise. One of the most debilitating aspects of depression is the dominance and persistence of depressive rumination, a state of mind that is linked to onset and recurrence of depression. Mindfulness meditation trains adaptive attention regulation and present-moment embodied awareness, skills that may be particularly useful during depressive mind states characterized by negative ruminative thoughts. In a randomized controlled functional magnetic resonance imaging study (N = 80), we looked at the neurocognitive mechanisms behind mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (n = 50) for recurrent depression compared with treatment as usual (n = 30) across experimentally induced states of rest, mindfulness practice and rumination, and the relationship with dispositional psychological processes. Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy compared with treatment as usual led to decreased salience network connectivity to the lingual gyrus during a ruminative state, and this change in salience network connectivity mediated improvements in the ability to sustain and control attention to body sensations. These findings showed that a clinically effective mindfulness intervention modulates neurocognitive functioning during depressive rumination and the ability to sustain attention to the body.