Fangfang Chen1, Xueyu Lv2, Jiliang Fang3, Shan Yu4, Jing Sui4, Lingzhong Fan4, Tao Li2, Yang Hong3, XiaoLing Wang3, Weidong Wang5, Tianzi Jiang6. 1. School of Mathematics and Computational Science, Sun Yat-Sen University of China, Guangzhou 510275, China; School of Mathematics and Computational Science, Shenzhen University of China, Shenzhen 518060, China. 2. Psychology Department of Guang׳anMen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing 100053, China. 3. Radiology Department of Guang׳anMen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing 100053, China. 4. Brainnetome Center, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China; National Laboratory of Pattern Recognition, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China. 5. Psychology Department of Guang׳anMen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing 100053, China. Electronic address: prof_wwd@126.com. 6. Brainnetome Center, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China; National Laboratory of Pattern Recognition, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China; Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia. Electronic address: jiangtz@nlpr.ia.ac.cn.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Meditation has been increasingly evaluated as an important complementary therapeutic tool for the treatment of depression. The present study employed resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) to examine the effect of body-mind relaxation meditation induction (BMRMI) on the brain activity of depressed patients and to investigate possible mechanisms of action for this complex intervention. METHOD: 21 major depressive disorder patients (MDDs) and 24 age and gender-matched healthy controls (HCs) received rs-fMRI scans at baseline and after listening to a selection of audio designed to induce body-mind relaxation meditation. The rs-fMRI data were analyzed using Matlab toolbox to obtain the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF) of the BOLD signal for the whole brain. A mixed-design repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed on the whole brain to find which brain regions were affected by the BMRMI. An additional functional connectivity analysis was used to identify any atypical connection patterns after the BMRMI. RESULTS: After the BMRMI experience, both the MDDs and HCs showed decreased ALFF values in the bilateral frontal pole (BA10). Additionally, increased functional connectivity from the right dorsal medial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) to the left dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) and the left lateral orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) was identified only in the MDDs after the BMRMI. LIMITATION: In order to exclude the impact of other events on the participants׳ brain activity, the Hamilton Rating Scales for Depression (HDRS) was not measured after the body-mind relaxation induction. CONCLUSION: Our findings support the hypothesis that body-mind relaxation meditation induction may regulate the activities of the prefrontal cortex and thus may have the potential to help patients construct reappraisal strategies that can modulate the brain activity in multiple emotion-processing systems.
BACKGROUND: Meditation has been increasingly evaluated as an important complementary therapeutic tool for the treatment of depression. The present study employed resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) to examine the effect of body-mind relaxation meditation induction (BMRMI) on the brain activity of depressedpatients and to investigate possible mechanisms of action for this complex intervention. METHOD: 21 major depressive disorderpatients (MDDs) and 24 age and gender-matched healthy controls (HCs) received rs-fMRI scans at baseline and after listening to a selection of audio designed to induce body-mind relaxation meditation. The rs-fMRI data were analyzed using Matlab toolbox to obtain the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF) of the BOLD signal for the whole brain. A mixed-design repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed on the whole brain to find which brain regions were affected by the BMRMI. An additional functional connectivity analysis was used to identify any atypical connection patterns after the BMRMI. RESULTS: After the BMRMI experience, both the MDDs and HCs showed decreased ALFF values in the bilateral frontal pole (BA10). Additionally, increased functional connectivity from the right dorsal medial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) to the left dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) and the left lateral orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) was identified only in the MDDs after the BMRMI. LIMITATION: In order to exclude the impact of other events on the participants׳ brain activity, the Hamilton Rating Scales for Depression (HDRS) was not measured after the body-mind relaxation induction. CONCLUSION: Our findings support the hypothesis that body-mind relaxation meditation induction may regulate the activities of the prefrontal cortex and thus may have the potential to help patients construct reappraisal strategies that can modulate the brain activity in multiple emotion-processing systems.
Authors: Shudian Cao; Soh Kim Geok; Samsilah Roslan; Shaowen Qian; He Sun; Soh Kim Lam; Jia Liu Journal: Int J Environ Res Public Health Date: 2022-06-26 Impact factor: 4.614