About this trial
In the United States, adolescents experience alarmingly high rates of major depression, and gold-standard treatments are only effective for approximately half of patients. Rumination may be a promising treatment target, as it is well-characterized at the neural level and contributes to depression onset, maintenance, and recurrence as well as predicts treatment non-response. Accordingly, the proposed research will investigate whether an innovative mindfulness-based real-time functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) neurofeedback intervention successfully elicits change in the brain circuit underlying rumination to improve clinical outcomes among depressed adolescents.
Eligibility criteria
Qualifiers
Ages 13-18 years-old
Written informed assent/consent and parental/guardian permission for 13-17 year-olds or informed consent for 18 year-olds
Tanner puberty stage ≥3
Meets current diagnostic criteria for MDD
Disqualifiers
Lifetime history of primary psychotic disorders, bipolar disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, conduct disorder, developmental disorder (e.g., autism), post-traumatic stress disorder, or eating disorders
Substance use disorder, moderate or severe in past 6 months
Active suicidal ideation with a specific plan
History of seizure disorder
Trial design
Treatments tested in this trial
- Mindfulness + fMRI Neurofeedback
Treatment groups
Sponsors and collaborators
Columbia University
Lead sponsor
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Collaborator