{"title":"Introduction to the Special Issue on Cognitive Neuroscience of Mindfulness","authors":"Todd S. Braver , Sara W. Lazar","doi":"10.1016/j.bpsc.2025.02.009","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.bpsc.2025.02.009","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":54231,"journal":{"name":"Biological Psychiatry-Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging","volume":"10 4","pages":"Pages 337-341"},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2025-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143767931","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Closed-Loop Systems and Real-Time Neurofeedback in Mindfulness Meditation Research","authors":"Joseph C.C. Chen, David A. Ziegler","doi":"10.1016/j.bpsc.2024.10.012","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.bpsc.2024.10.012","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Mindfulness meditation has numerous purported benefits for psychological well-being; however, problems such as adherence to mindfulness tasks, quality of mindfulness sessions, or dosage of mindfulness interventions may hinder individuals from accessing the purported benefits of mindfulness. Methodologies including closed-loop systems and real-time neurofeedback may provide tools to help bolster success in mindfulness task performance, titrate the exposure to mindfulness interventions, or improve engagement with mindfulness sessions. In this review, we explore the use of closed-loop systems and real-time neurofeedback to influence, augment, or promote mindfulness interventions. Various closed-loop neurofeedback signals from functional magnetic resonance imaging and electroencephalography have been used to provide subjective correlates of mindfulness states including functional magnetic resonance imaging region-of-interest–based signals (e.g., posterior cingulate cortex), functional magnetic resonance imaging network-based signals (e.g., default mode network, central executive network, salience network), and electroencephalography spectral-based signals (e.g., alpha, theta, and gamma bands). Past research has focused on how successful interventions have aligned with the subjective mindfulness meditation experience. Future research may pivot toward using appropriate control conditions (e.g., mindfulness only or sham neurofeedback) to quantify the effects of closed-loop systems and neurofeedback-guided mindfulness meditation in improving cognition and well-being.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54231,"journal":{"name":"Biological Psychiatry-Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging","volume":"10 4","pages":"Pages 377-383"},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2025-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142559727","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Ruchika S. Prakash , Anita Shankar , Vaibhav Tripathi , Winson F.Z. Yang , Megan Fisher , Clemens C.C. Bauer , Richard Betzel , Matthew D. Sacchet
{"title":"Mindfulness Meditation and Network Neuroscience: Review, Synthesis, and Future Directions","authors":"Ruchika S. Prakash , Anita Shankar , Vaibhav Tripathi , Winson F.Z. Yang , Megan Fisher , Clemens C.C. Bauer , Richard Betzel , Matthew D. Sacchet","doi":"10.1016/j.bpsc.2024.11.005","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.bpsc.2024.11.005","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Network neuroscience is an interdisciplinary field, which can be used to understand the brain by examining the connections between its constituent elements. In recent years, the application of network neuroscience approaches to study the intricate nature of the structural and functional relationships within the human brain has yielded unique insights into its organization. In this review, we begin by defining network neuroscience and providing an overview of the common metrics that describe the topology of human structural and functional brain networks. Then, we present a detailed overview of a limited but growing body of literature that has leveraged network neuroscience metrics to demonstrate the impact of mindfulness meditation on modulating the fundamental structural and functional network properties of segregation, integration, and influence. Although preliminary, results across studies suggest that mindfulness meditation results in a shift in connector hubs, such as the anterior cingulate cortex, the thalamus, and the mid-insula. Although there is mixed evidence regarding the impact of mindfulness training on global metrics of connectivity, the default mode network exhibits reduced intraconnectivity following mindfulness training. Our review also underscores essential directions for future research, including a more comprehensive examination of mindfulness training and its potential to influence structural and functional connections at the nodal, network, and whole-brain levels. Furthermore, we emphasize the importance of open science, adoption of rigorous study designs to improve the internal validity of studies, and the inclusion of diverse samples in neuroimaging studies to comprehensively characterize the impact of mindfulness on brain organization.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54231,"journal":{"name":"Biological Psychiatry-Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging","volume":"10 4","pages":"Pages 350-358"},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2025-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142677481","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Guide for Authors","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/S2451-9022(25)00079-5","DOIUrl":"10.1016/S2451-9022(25)00079-5","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":54231,"journal":{"name":"Biological Psychiatry-Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging","volume":"10 4","pages":"Pages A5-A10"},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2025-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143767929","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"An Overview of Neurophenomenological Approaches to Meditation and Their Relevance to Clinical Research","authors":"Antoine Lutz , Oussama Abdoun , Yair Dor-Ziderman , Fynn-Mathis Trautwein , Aviva Berkovich-Ohana","doi":"10.1016/j.bpsc.2024.11.008","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.bpsc.2024.11.008","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>There is a renewed interest in taking phenomenology seriously in consciousness research, contemporary psychiatry, and neurocomputation. The neurophenomenology research program, pioneered by Varela, rigorously examines subjective experience using first-person methodologies, inspired by phenomenology and contemplative practices. This review explores recent advancements in neurophenomenological approaches, particularly their application to meditation practices and potential clinical research translations. First, we examine innovative multidimensional phenomenological assessment tools designed to capture subtle, dynamic shifts in experiential content and structures of consciousness during meditation. These experience sampling approaches enable shedding new light on the mechanisms and dynamic trajectories of meditation practice and retreat. Second, we highlight how empirical studies in neurophenomenology leverage the expertise of experienced meditators to deconstruct aversive and self-related processes, providing detailed first-person reports that guide researchers in identifying novel behavioral and neurodynamic markers associated with pain regulation, self-dissolution, and acceptance of mortality. Finally, we discuss a recent framework, deep computational neurophenomenology, that updates the theoretical ambitions of neurophenomenology to naturalize phenomenology. This framework uses the formalism of deep parametric active inference, where parametric depth refers to a property of generative models that can form beliefs about the parameters of their own modeling process. Collectively, these methodological innovations, centered around rigorous first-person investigation, highlight the potential of epistemologically beneficial mutual constraints among phenomenological, computational, and neurophysiological domains. This could contribute to an integrated understanding of the biological basis of mental illness, its treatment, and its tight connections to the lived experience of the patient.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54231,"journal":{"name":"Biological Psychiatry-Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging","volume":"10 4","pages":"Pages 411-424"},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2025-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142696062","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Clemens C.C. Bauer , Daniel A. Atad , Norman Farb , Judson A. Brewer
{"title":"From Confound to Clinical Tool: Mindfulness and the Observer Effect in Research and Therapy","authors":"Clemens C.C. Bauer , Daniel A. Atad , Norman Farb , Judson A. Brewer","doi":"10.1016/j.bpsc.2025.01.012","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.bpsc.2025.01.012","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The observer effect (OE), the idea that observing a phenomenon changes it, has important implications across scientific disciplines involving measurement and observation. While often viewed as a confounding variable to control for, this paper argues that the OE should be seriously accounted for, explored, and systematically leveraged in research and clinical settings. Specifically, mindfulness practices that cultivate present-moment, nonjudgmental awareness are proposed as a platform to account for, explore, and intentionally harness the OE. In research contexts, mindfulness training may allow participants to provide more precise self-reports by minimizing reactive biases that perturb the observed phenomena. Empirical evidence suggests that mindfulness enhances interoceptive awareness and reduces automatic judgment, potentially increasing measurement sensitivity, specificity, and validity. Clinically, psychotherapies often aim to make unconscious patterns explicitly observable to the client, capitalizing on the transformative potential of observation. Mindfulness directly cultivates this capacity for meta-awareness, allowing individuals to decenter from rigid cognitive-emotional patterns fueling psychopathology. Rather than avoiding unpleasant experiences such as cravings or anxiety, mindfulness guides individuals to simply observe these phenomena, reducing identification and reactivity. Mindfulness practices may leverage components of the OE, facilitating lasting psychological change. To further study the OE, developing an OE index to code observer influence is proposed. Overall, this paper highlights the ubiquity of the OE and advocates developing methods to intentionally account for and apply observer influences across research and therapeutic contexts.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54231,"journal":{"name":"Biological Psychiatry-Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging","volume":"10 4","pages":"Pages 402-410"},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2025-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143082558","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Stefano Delli Pizzi , Federica Tomaiuolo , Antonio Ferretti , Giovanna Bubbico , Valeria Onofrj , Stefania Della Penna , Carlo Sestieri , Stefano L. Sensi
{"title":"Modulation of Cerebellar-Cortical Connectivity Induced by Modafinil and Its Relationship With Receptor and Transporter Expression","authors":"Stefano Delli Pizzi , Federica Tomaiuolo , Antonio Ferretti , Giovanna Bubbico , Valeria Onofrj , Stefania Della Penna , Carlo Sestieri , Stefano L. Sensi","doi":"10.1016/j.bpsc.2024.11.010","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.bpsc.2024.11.010","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>Modafinil is primarily used to treat narcolepsy but is also used as an off-label cognitive enhancer. Functional magnetic resonance imaging studies indicate that modafinil modulates the connectivity of neocortical networks primarily involved in attention and executive functions. However, much less is known about the drug’s effects on subcortical structures. Following preliminary findings, we evaluated modafinil’s activity on the connectivity of distinct cerebellar regions with the neocortex. We assessed the spatial relationship of these effects with the expression of neurotransmitter receptors/transporters.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>Patterns of resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging connectivity were estimated in 50 participants from scans acquired pre- and postadministration of a single (100 mg) dose of modafinil (<em>n</em> = 25) or placebo (<em>n</em> = 25). Using specific cerebellar regions as seeds for voxelwise analyses, we examined modafinil’s modulation of cerebellar-neocortical connectivity. Next, we conducted a quantitative evaluation of the spatial overlap between the modulation of cerebellar-neocortical connectivity and the expression of neurotransmitter receptors/transporters obtained by publicly available databases.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>Modafinil increased the connectivity of crus I and vermis IX with prefrontal regions. Crus I connectivity changes were associated with the expression of dopaminergic D<sub>2</sub> receptors. The vermis I–II showed enhanced coupling with the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and matched the expression of histaminergic H<sub>3</sub> receptors. The vermis VII–VIII displayed increased connectivity with the visual cortex, an activity associated with dopaminergic and histaminergic neurotransmission.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusions</h3><div>Our study reveals modafinil’s modulatory effects on cerebellar-neocortical connectivity. The modulation mainly involves crus I and the vermis and spatially overlaps the distribution of dopaminergic and histaminergic receptors.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54231,"journal":{"name":"Biological Psychiatry-Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging","volume":"10 3","pages":"Pages 304-313"},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2025-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142741693","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Milan Houben , Tjardo S. Postma , Sophie M.D.D. Fitzsimmons , Chris Vriend , Neeltje M. Batelaan , Adriaan W. Hoogendoorn , Ysbrand D. van der Werf , Odile A. van den Heuvel
{"title":"Increased Amygdala Activation During Symptom Provocation Predicts Response to Combined Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation and Exposure Therapy in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder in a Randomized Controlled Trial","authors":"Milan Houben , Tjardo S. Postma , Sophie M.D.D. Fitzsimmons , Chris Vriend , Neeltje M. Batelaan , Adriaan W. Hoogendoorn , Ysbrand D. van der Werf , Odile A. van den Heuvel","doi":"10.1016/j.bpsc.2024.10.020","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.bpsc.2024.10.020","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) combined with exposure and response prevention is a promising treatment modality for treatment-refractory obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). However, not all patients respond sufficiently to this treatment. We investigated whether brain activation during a symptom provocation task could predict treatment response.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>Sixty-one adults with OCD (39 female/22 male) underwent symptom provocation with OCD- and fear-related visual stimuli during functional magnetic resonance imaging prior to an 8-week combined rTMS and exposure and response prevention treatment regimen. Participants received one of the following 3 rTMS treatments as part of a randomized controlled trial: 1) 10-Hz rTMS (110% resting motor threshold) to the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, 2) 10-Hz rTMS (110% resting motor threshold) to the left presupplementary motor area, or 3) 10-Hz control rTMS (60% resting motor threshold) to the vertex. Multiple regression and correlation were used to examine the predictive value of task-related brain activation for treatment response in the following regions of interest: the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, amygdala, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and left presupplementary motor area.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>The different treatment groups responded equally to treatment. Higher pretreatment task-related activation of the right amygdala to OCD-related stimuli showed a positive association with treatment response in all groups. Exploratory whole-brain analyses showed positive associations between activation in multiple task-relevant regions and treatment response. Only dorsal anterior cingulate cortex activation to fear-related stimuli showed a negative association with treatment outcome.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusions</h3><div>Higher pretreatment right amygdala activation during symptom provocation predicts better treatment response to combined rTMS and exposure and response prevention in OCD.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54231,"journal":{"name":"Biological Psychiatry-Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging","volume":"10 3","pages":"Pages 295-303"},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2025-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142640468","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Anthony G. Chesebro , Botond B. Antal , Corey Weistuch , Lilianne R. Mujica-Parodi
{"title":"Challenges and Frontiers in Computational Metabolic Psychiatry","authors":"Anthony G. Chesebro , Botond B. Antal , Corey Weistuch , Lilianne R. Mujica-Parodi","doi":"10.1016/j.bpsc.2024.10.011","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.bpsc.2024.10.011","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>One of the primary challenges in metabolic psychiatry is that the disrupted brain functions that underlie psychiatric conditions arise from a complex set of downstream and feedback processes that span multiple spatiotemporal scales. Importantly, the same circuit can have multiple points of failure, each of which results in a different type of dysregulation, and thus elicits distinct cascades downstream that produce divergent signs and symptoms. Here, we illustrate this challenge by examining how subtle differences in circuit perturbations can lead to divergent clinical outcomes. We also discuss how computational models can perform the spatially heterogeneous integration and bridge in vitro and in vivo paradigms. By leveraging recent methodological advances and tools, computational models can integrate relevant processes across scales (e.g., tricarboxylic acid cycle, ion channel, neural microassembly, whole-brain macrocircuit) and across physiological systems (e.g., neural, endocrine, immune, vascular), providing a framework that can unite these mechanistic processes in a manner that goes beyond the conceptual and descriptive to the quantitative and generative. These hold the potential to sharpen our intuitions toward circuit-based models for personalized diagnostics and treatment.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54231,"journal":{"name":"Biological Psychiatry-Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging","volume":"10 3","pages":"Pages 258-266"},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2025-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142559726","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}