Neural correlates of mindful disengagement from worry.
Ceci Westbrook, Janine M. Dutcher, Susan Kusmierski, J. David Creswell, Essang Akpan, Lauren S. Hallion
Journal of Psychopathology and Clinical Science 2023 DOI: 10.1037/abn0000804 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Within-subjects experimental design with functional magnetic resonance imaging Preregistered Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 40 |
| Population | Participants with clinically significant worry |
| Interventions | focused attention acceptance suppression |
| Topics | Anxiety Default mode network Meditation |
| Keywords | Worry Disengagement theory Ventrolateral prefrontal cortex Cognition Posterior cingulate Psycinfo Cognitive psychology Clinical psychology |
| Citations | 7 |
| Key findings | All disengagement strategies downregulated default mode and upregulated frontoparietal and salience networks, but focused attention was most effective for promoting disengagement and elicited decreased activity in cognitive control and sensorimotor regions. |
Abstract
Uncontrollable worry is a hallmark of generalized anxiety disorder and a transdiagnostic feature of psychopathology. Mindfulness-based strategies show promise for treating worry, but it is unknown which specific strategies are most beneficial, and how these skills might operate on a neurobiological level. We recruited 40 participants with clinically significant worry to undergo functional magnetic resonance imaging while engaging in real-time, idiographic worry and instructed disengagement using two mindfulness strategies (focused attention, acceptance) and one comparison strategy (suppression). Hypotheses were preregistered and partially supported. All disengagement strategies downregulated default mode and upregulated frontoparietal and salience networks, suggesting some shared mechanisms. Focused attention was most effective for promoting disengagement and elicited decreased activity in cognitive control and sensorimotor regions. Successful disengagement was associated with increased activity in rostrolateral prefrontal cortex and functional connectivity between posterior cingulate and primary somatosensory cortex. Findings support the role of cognitive control and somatosensory networks in disengagement from worry and suggest common and distinct mechanisms of disengagement, with focused attention a particularly promising strategy. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).
Comparable studies
Other experimental studies on default mode network, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Functional connectivity of default mode network components: Correlation, anticorrelation, and causality Healthy subjects | 2008 | Observational study using resting-state fMRI and seed correlation analysis | |
| Patterns of Brain Activity Supporting Autobiographical Memory, Prospection, and Theory of Mind, and Their Relationship to the Default Mode Network Healthy subjects | 2009 | Experimental study using fMRI | |
| Dynamic reconfiguration of the default mode network during narrative comprehension Human subjects | 2016 | Experimental study | |
| Broadband Cortical Desynchronization Underlies the Human Psychedelic State Healthy human participants | 2013 | Experimental study | |
| The brain on art: intense aesthetic experience activates the default mode network Human observers | 2012 | Observational study with fMRI and behavioral analysis |