WITHDRAWN
Year: 2025
Type: preprint
Abstract: Major depressive disorder is a leading cause of disability among adolescents. Perseverative negative self-referential thoughts are a promising treatment target. Mindfulness-based real-time fMRI neurofeedback (mbNF), which guides mindfulness practice with feedback to train the downregulation of the default mode network (DMN), is an intervention targeting such negative self-referential thoughts. This study builds on a registered NIMH-supported trial testing the optimal dosing of mbNF on downregulating DMN activation among depressed adolescents. Adolescents (N=90), ages 13-18-years-old, with major depressive disorder will be randomized to receive either a 15- or 30-minute mbNF session. Before and after mbNF, participants will complete a self-referential encoding fMRI task, wherein they categorize whether trait adjectives describe themselves or a friend. It is hypothesized that a 30-minute versus 15-minute mbNF dose will relate to: (1) larger decreases in behavioral negative self-referential biases and (2) larger decreases in DMN activation during self-referential processing.
Authors: Nicholas Ford, Isaac N Treves, Mia Kyler, Hanga Galfalvy, Paul Alexander Bloom, Nayoung Kim, Keara Greene, David Pagliaccio, Jiahe Zhang, Clemens C.C. Bauer, Susan Whitfield-Gabrieli, Jaclyn Schwartz Kirshenbaum, Randy P. Auerbach, PhD, ABPP, Blair H. Simpson, Francesca Morfini, Katherine Durham, Jamaal Spence, Zia Bajwa, Emma Wool
Institution: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Language: English
Subfield: Clinical Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: gold
OpenAlex ID: W4405989010