Key result
Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy prevented significant deterioration toward decreased relative left-frontal activation compared to treatment-as-usual in individuals with previous suicidal depression.
Why the study?
Does mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) prevent deterioration of prefrontal alpha-asymmetry in resting EEG in individuals with a previous history of suicidal depression?
RCT (n=22)
Randomly assigned
Does mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) prevent deterioration of prefrontal alpha-asymmetry in resting EEG in individuals with a previous history of suicidal depression?
MBCT may help individuals at high risk for suicidal depression retain a balanced pattern of baseline emotion-related brain activation.
MBCT may stabilize emotion-related brain activation in high-risk patients; extends RCT evidence on its neural effects in recurrent depression.
This study investigated the effects of a meditation-based treatment for preventing relapse to depression, mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT), on prefrontal alpha-asymmetry in resting electroencephalogram (EEG), a biological indicator of affective style. Twenty-two individuals with a previous history of suicidal depression were randomly assigned to either MBCT (N=10) or treatment-as-usual (TAU, N=12). Resting electroencephalogram was measured before and after an 8-week course of treatment. The TAU group showed a significant deterioration toward decreased relative left-frontal activation, indexing decreases in positive affective style, while there was no significant change in the MBCT group. The findings suggest that MBCT can help individuals at high risk for suicidal depression to retain a balanced pattern of baseline emotion-related brain activation.
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Barnhofer et al. (2007) conducted an RCT in Previous history of suicidal depression (n=22). Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) vs. Treatment-as-usual (TAU) was evaluated on Prefrontal alpha-asymmetry in resting electroencephalogram (EEG). Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy prevented significant deterioration toward decreased relative left-frontal activation compared to treatment-as-usual in individuals with previous suicidal depression.
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