Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy Regulates Brain Connectivity in Patients With Late-Life Depression
Author: Hui Li1, Wei Yan1, Qianwen Wang1, Lin Liu1, Xiao Lin1, Ximei Zhu1, Sizhen Su1, Wei Sun1, Manqiu Sui2, Yanping Bao3, Lin Lu1,3,4, Jiahui Deng1, Xinyu Sun1
Affiliation:
1 Peking University Sixth Hospital, Peking University Institute of Mental Health, NHC Key Laboratory of Mental Health (Peking University), National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders (Peking University Sixth Hospital), Beijing, China.
2 Beijing Xi Cheng District Pingan Hospital, Beijing, China.
3 National Institute on Drug Dependence and Beijing Key Laboratory of Drug Dependence, Peking University, Beijing, China.
4 Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences and PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Peking University, Beijing, China.
Conference/Journal: Front Psychiatry
Date published: 2022 Feb 14
Other:
Volume ID: 13 , Pages: 841461 , Special Notes: doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.841461. , Word Count: 268
Late-life depression (LLD) is an important public health problem among the aging population. Recent studies found that mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) can effectively alleviate depressive symptoms in major depressive disorder. The present study explored the clinical effect and potential neuroimaging mechanism of MBCT in the treatment of LLD. We enrolled 60 participants with LLD in an 8-week, randomized, controlled trial (ChiCTR1800017725). Patients were randomized to the treatment-as-usual (TAU) group or a MBCT+TAU group. The Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD) and Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HAMA) were used to evaluate symptoms. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was used to measure changes in resting-state functional connectivity and structural connectivity. We also measured the relationship between changes in brain connectivity and improvements in clinical symptoms. HAMD total scores in the MBCT+TAU group were significantly lower than in the TAU group after 8 weeks of treatment (p < 0.001) and at the end of the 3-month follow-up (p < 0.001). The increase in functional connections between the amygdala and middle frontal gyrus (MFG) correlated with decreases in HAMA and HAMD scores in the MBCT+TAU group. Diffusion tensor imaging analyses showed that fractional anisotropy of the MFG-amygdala significantly increased in the MBCT+TAU group after 8-week treatment compared with the TAU group. Our study suggested that MBCT improves depression and anxiety symptoms that are associated with LLD. MBCT strengthened functional and structural connections between the amygdala and MFG, and this increase in communication correlated with improvements in clinical symptoms. Randomized Controlled Trial; Follow-Up Study; fMRI; Brain Connectivity.
Keywords: amygdala; functional connection; late-life depression; magnetic resonance imaging; middle frontal gyrus; mindfulness-based cognitive therapy.
PMID: 35237197 PMCID: PMC8882841 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.841461
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