Cited by 23Mindfulness and Compassion InterventionsAnxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive ProcessesNeural and Behavioral Psychology Studies

Effects of Mindfulness Training on Emotion Regulation in Patients With Depression: Reduced Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex Activation Indexes Early Beneficial Changes

Open access
Barnhofer, Thorsten, Reess, Tim J., Fissler, Maria, Winnebeck, Emilia, Grimm, Simone, Gärtner, Matti, Fan, Yan, Huntenburg, Julia M. +4 more·2021·Psychosomatic Medicine

Abstract

Objective: Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) have been found to be a promising approach for the treatment of recurrent courses of depression. However, little is known about their neural mechanisms. This functional magnetic resonance imaging study set out to investigate activation changes in corticolimbic regions during implicit emotion regulation. Methods: Depressed patients with a recurrent lifetime history were randomized to receive a 2-week MBI (n = 16 completers) or psychoeducation and resting (PER; n = 22 completers). Before and after, patients underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging while labeling the affect of angry, happy, and neutral facial expressions and completed questionnaires assessing ruminative brooding, the ability to decenter from such thinking, and depressive symptoms. Results: Activation decreased in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) in response to angry faces after MBI (p < .01, voxel-wise family-wise error rate correction, T > 3.282; 56 mm 3; Montreal Neurological Institute peak coordinate: 32, 24, 40), but not after PER. This change was highly correlated with increased decentring (r = −0.52, p = .033), decreased brooding (r = 0.60, p = .010), and decreased symptoms (r = 0.82, p = .005). Amygdala activation in response to happy faces decreased after PER (p < .01, family-wise error rate corrected; 392 mm 3; Montreal Neurological Institute peak coordinate: 28, −4, −16), whereas the MBI group showed no significant change. Conclusions: The dlPFC is involved in emotion regulation, namely, reappraisal or suppression of negative emotions. Decreased right dlPFC activation might indicate that, after the MBI, patients abstained from engaging in elaboration or suppression of negative affective stimuli; a putatively important mechanism for preventing the escalation of negative mood. Trial Registration: The study is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT02801513; 16/06/2016).

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Crossref · 10.1097/psy.0000000000000955

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  • MBIs can cause increased activation in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, a region associated with cognitive control of emotions, indicating improved emotion regulation.

    “Studies suggest that MBIs can cause increased activation in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, a region associated with cognitive control of emotions, indicating improved emotion regulation [86].”

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Authors
Barnhofer, T., Reess, T. J., Fissler, M., Winnebeck, E., Grimm, S., Gärtner, M., Fan, Y., Huntenburg, J. M., Schroeter, T. A., Gummersbach, M., Bajbouj, M., & Hölzel, B. K.
Affiliations
  • TUM Klinikum (DE)
  • University of Zurich (CH)
Corresponding author
Barnhofer, Thorsten
Venue
Psychosomatic Medicine
Published
2021-05-05
Volume
83
Issue
6
Pages
579-591
ISSN
  • 0033-3174 (ISSN-L)
  • 1534-7796
OpenAlex
W3157745579
Cited by
23
References
77
Citations by year
2026: 3 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 2
FWCI
2.73
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by
Locations
  • Psychosomatic Medicine (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • MindRxiv (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • MindRxiv (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion)
  • Zurich Open Repository and Archive (University of Zurich) (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
Keywords
mindfulness-based interventions, depression, emotion regulation, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, amygdala, facial expression recognition, decentering, cognitive reappraisal, emotional suppression, recurrent depression, neural mechanisms
MeSH terms
Emotional Regulation, Depression, Emotions, Facial Expression, Humans, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Prefrontal Cortex, Mindfulness

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