Mindfulness Intervention to Study the Neurobiology of Depression (MIND)

Mindfulness was taught to teenagers with a history of depression as one strategy for being aware of maladaptive thinking patterns such as rumination. Mindfulness was also taught as an alternative to “getting stuck in your head”. Teenagers who received 8 weeks of this intervention, experienced a reduction in residual depression symptoms compared to teenagers who did not receive the 8 week training. Teenagers completed brain scans of functional connectivity before and after the 8 week training. Teenagers who received the training demonstrated changes in connectivity across 8 weeks as well as reductions in rumination. These teenagers are currently being followed for 2 years to examine whether training reduces risk of depressive relapse. This study is important because it points to possible ways of preventing depressive relapse as adolescents transition to adulthood.