Religious and spiritual importance moderate relation between default mode network connectivity and familial risk for depression.
Connie Svob, Zhishun Wang, Myrna M Weissman, Priya Wickramaratne, Jonathan Posner
Neuroscience Letters October 4, 2016 DOI: 10.1016/j.neulet.2016.10.009 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational neuroimaging study (resting-state functional connectivity MRI) Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 104 |
| Population | Individuals aged 11-60 at high and low familial risk for depression |
| Measures | resting-state functional connectivity MRI (rs-fcMRI), self-report measures of religion/spirituality importance |
| Topics | Default mode network Depression Meditation |
| Keywords | Brain Humans Magnetic resonance imaging Risk Religion and psychology Spirituality Adolescent Middle aged Child Young adult Connectome |
| Key findings | Among individuals at high familial risk for depression, greater self-reported importance of religion/spirituality was associated with decreased default mode network connectivity. The authors propose this may represent a protective neural adaptation in the DMN and may have implications for meditation-based therapies for depression. |
Abstract
Individuals at high risk for depression have increased default mode network (DMN) connectivity, as well as reduced inverse connectivity between the DMN and the central executive network (CEN) [8]. Other studies have indicated that the belief in the importance of religion/spirituality (R/S) is protective against depression in high risk individuals [5]. Given these findings, we hypothesized that R/S importance would moderate DMN connectivity, potentially reducing DMN connectivity or increasing DMN-CEN inverse connectivity in individuals at high risk for depression. Using resting-state functional connectivity MRI (rs-fcMRI) in a sample of 104 individuals (aged 11-60) at high and low risk for familial depression, we previously reported increased DMN connectivity and reduced DMN-CEN inverse connectivity in high risk individuals. Here, we found that this effect was moderated by self-report measures of R/S importance. Greater R/S importance in the high risk group was associated with decreased DMN connectivity. These results may represent a protective neural adaptation in the DMN of individuals at high risk for depression, and may have implications for other meditation-based therapies for depression.
Comparable studies
Other experimental studies on depression, most cited first.