scholarly journals Keeping weight off: Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction alters amygdala functional connectivity during weight loss maintenance in a randomized control trial

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Serhiy Y. Chumachenko ◽  
Ryan Cali ◽  
Milagros C. Rosal ◽  
Jeroan Allison ◽  
Sharina Person ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Weight Loss ◽  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Functional Connectivity ◽  
Stress Reduction ◽  
Behavioral Interventions ◽  
Weight Loss Maintenance ◽  
Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Depression Symptoms ◽  
Significant Group ◽  
Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction

AbstractObesity is associated with significant comorbidities and financial costs. While behavioral interventions produce clinically meaningful weight loss, weight loss maintenance is challenging. The objective was to improve understanding of the neural and psychological mechanisms modified by mindfulness that may predict clinical outcomes.Individuals who intentionally recently lost weight were randomized to Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) or a control healthy living course. Anthropometric and psychological factors were measured at baseline, 8 weeks and 6 months. Functional connectivity (FC) analysis was performed at baseline and 8 weeks to examine FC changes between regions of interest selected a priori, and independent components identified by independent component analysis. The association of pre-post FC changes with 6-month weight and psychometric outcomes was then analyzed.Significant group x time interaction was found for FC between the amygdala and ventromedial prefrontal cortex, such that FC increased in the MBSR group and decreased in controls. Non-significant changes in weight were observed at 6 months, where the mindfulness group maintained their weight while the controls showed a weight increase of 3.4% in BMI. Change in FC at 8-weeks between ventromedial prefrontal cortex and several ROIs was associated with change in depression symptoms but not weight at 6 months. This pilot study provides preliminary evidence of neural mechanisms that may be involved in MBSR’s impact on weight loss maintenance that may be useful for designing future clinical trials and mechanistic studies.

scholarly journals Keeping weight off: Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction alters amygdala functional connectivity during weight loss maintenance in a randomized control trial

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. e0244847
Author(s):  
Serhiy Y. Chumachenko ◽  
Ryan J. Cali ◽  
Milagros C. Rosal ◽  
Jeroan J. Allison ◽  
Sharina J. Person ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Weight Loss ◽  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Functional Connectivity ◽  
Stress Reduction ◽  
Behavioral Interventions ◽  
Weight Loss Maintenance ◽  
Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Depression Symptoms ◽  
Significant Group ◽  
Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction

Obesity is associated with significant comorbidities and financial costs. While behavioral interventions produce clinically meaningful weight loss, weight loss maintenance is challenging. The objective was to improve understanding of the neural and psychological mechanisms modified by mindfulness that may predict clinical outcomes. Individuals who intentionally recently lost weight were randomized to Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) or a control healthy living course. Anthropometric and psychological factors were measured at baseline, 8 weeks and 6 months. Functional connectivity (FC) analysis was performed at baseline and 8 weeks to examine FC changes between regions of interest selected a priori, and independent components identified by independent component analysis. The association of pre-post FC changes with 6-month weight and psychometric outcomes was then analyzed. Significant group x time interaction was found for FC between the amygdala and ventromedial prefrontal cortex, such that FC increased in the MBSR group and decreased in controls. Non-significant changes in weight were observed at 6 months, where the mindfulness group maintained their weight while the controls showed a weight increase of 3.4% in BMI. Change in FC at 8-weeks between ventromedial prefrontal cortex and several ROIs was associated with change in depression symptoms but not weight at 6 months. This pilot study provides preliminary evidence of neural mechanisms that may be involved in MBSR’s impact on weight loss maintenance that may be useful for designing future clinical trials and mechanistic studies.

Age differences in ventromedial prefrontal cortex functional connectivity during socioemotional content processing

2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (7) ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Ryan T. Daley ◽  
Holly J. Bowen ◽  
Eric C. Fields ◽  
Angela Gutchess ◽  
Elizabeth A. Kensinger
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Functional Connectivity ◽  
Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Emotional Content ◽  
Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Supramarginal Gyrus ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Content Processing

Self-relevance effects are often confounded by the presence of emotional content, rendering it difficult to determine how brain networks functionally connected to the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) are affected by the independent contributions of self-relevance and emotion. This difficulty is complicated by age-related changes in functional connectivity between the vmPFC and other default mode network regions, and regions typically associated with externally oriented networks. We asked groups of younger and older adults to imagine placing emotional and neutral objects in their home or a stranger's home. An age-invariant vmPFC cluster showed increased activation for self-relevant and emotional content processing. Functional connectivity analyses revealed age × self-relevance interactions in vmPFC connectivity with the anterior cingulate cortex. There were also age × emotion interactions in vmPFC functional connectivity with the anterior insula, orbitofrontal gyrus, inferior frontal gyrus, and supramarginal gyrus. Interactions occurred in regions with the greatest differences between the age groups, as revealed by conjunction analyses. Implications of the findings are discussed.

scholarly journals Quieting the mind: aspects of neuroscience in reconciliation

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 788-802
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Limbic System ◽  
Stress Reduction ◽  
Emotional Arousal ◽  
Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Mind

The reconciliation of conflicting parties by the mediator has to deal with high levels of emotional arousal. She or he has to lower these levels for reconciliation to succeed. In this paper two approaches to accomplish this and to quiet the mind are presented, a Buddhist one (anapanasati) and a Western one (Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, commonly known as MBSR). In order for the mediator to comprehend emotional arousal and the practices of quieting the mind, some underlying aspects of neuroscience are discussed, specifically, the prefrontal cortex and the limbic system. In contrast to mindfulness-based stress reduction, anapanasati, in its definition of mindfulness as well as in its practice, seems compatible with neuroscience. Recommendations are made to the mediator to facilitate the process of reconciliation.

Neurochemical and brain functional changes in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex of first-episode psychosis patients: A combined functional magnetic resonance imaging—proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy study

2020 ◽  
Vol 54 (5) ◽  
pp. 519-527 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haixin Cen ◽  
Jiale Xu ◽  
Zhilei Yang ◽  
Li Mei ◽  
Tianyi Chen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Functional Connectivity ◽  
Proton Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Proton Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy ◽  
First Episode Psychosis ◽  
Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
First Episode ◽  
Gaba Level ◽  
Episode Psychosis

Objective: Previous studies showed alterations of brain function in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex of schizophrenia patients. Also, neurochemical changes, especially GABA level alteration, have been found in the medial prefrontal cortex of schizophrenia patients. However, the relationship between GABA level in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and brain functional activity in schizophrenia patients remains unexplored. Methods: In total, 23 drug-naïve, first-episode psychosis patients and 26 matched healthy controls completed the study. The single voxel proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy data were acquired in ventromedial prefrontal cortex region, which was used as the seed region for resting-state functional connectivity analysis. The proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy data were processed to quantify the concentrations of GABA+, glutamine and glutamate, and N-acetylaspartate in ventromedial prefrontal cortex. Spearman correlation analysis was used to examine the relationship between metabolite concentration, functional connectivity and clinical variables. Pearson correlation analysis was used to examine the relationship between GABA+ concentration and functional connectivity value. Results: In first-episode psychosis patients, GABA+ level in ventromedial prefrontal cortex was higher and was positively correlated with ventromedial prefrontal cortex-left middle orbital frontal cortex functional connectivity. N-acetylaspartate level was positively correlated with positive symptoms, and the functional connectivity between ventromedial prefrontal cortex and left precuneus was negatively associated with negative symptoms of first-episode psychosis patients. Conclusion: Our results indicated that ventromedial prefrontal cortex functional connectivity changes were positively correlated with higher local GABA+ level in first-episode psychosis patients. The altered neurochemical concentration and functional connectivity provide insights into the pathology of schizophrenia.

scholarly journals Weakened Functional Connectivity Between the Amygdala and the Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex Is Longitudinally Related to Psychopathic Traits in Low-Income Males During Early Adulthood

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 628-635 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca Waller ◽  
Arianna M. Gard ◽  
Daniel S. Shaw ◽  
Erika E. Forbes ◽  
Craig S. Neumann ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Functional Connectivity ◽  
Personality Traits ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Early Adulthood ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Psychopathic Traits ◽  
Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Complex Disorder ◽  
Urban Males

Psychopathy is a complex disorder consisting of harmful personality traits and impulsive-lifestyle and antisocial behaviors. Weakened functional connectivity between limbic and prefrontal brain regions is thought to underlie impaired sensitivity to others’ emotions that contribute to the interpersonal and affective personality traits associated with psychopathy. We tested whether weakened functional connectivity between the amygdala and ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) during the processing of fearful, angry, and neutral facial expressions was prospectively related to psychopathic traits in early adulthood. The sample included 167 low-income, racially diverse, urban males who completed a functional MRI scan at age 20 and questionnaire measures at ages 20 and 22. Weakened amygdala-vmPFC functional connectivity to fearful but not neutral or angry faces at age 20 was related to higher psychopathic traits at age 22.

scholarly journals Knowing me, knowing you: Resting-state functional connectivity of ventromedial prefrontal cortex dissociates memory related to self from a familiar other

2017 ◽  
Vol 113 ◽  
pp. 65-75 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irene de Caso ◽  
Theodoros Karapanagiotidis ◽  
Elena Aggius-Vella ◽  
Mahiko Konishi ◽  
Daniel S. Margulies ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Functional Connectivity ◽  
Resting State ◽  
Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Resting State Functional Connectivity
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