Research report The effect of body–mind relaxation meditation induction on major depressive disorder: A resting-state fMRI study Fangfang Chen a,b,1 , Xueyu Lv c,1 , Jiliang Fang g , Shan Yu d,e , Jing Sui d,e , Lingzhong Fan d,e , Tao Li c , Yang Hong g , XiaoLing Wang g , Weidong Wang c,nn , Tianzi Jiang d,e,f,n a School of Mathematics and Computational Science, Sun Yat-Sen University of China, Guangzhou 510275, China b School of Mathematics and Computational Science, Shenzhen University of China, Shenzhen 518060, China c Psychology Department of Guang'anMen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing 100053, China d Brainnetome Center, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China e National Laboratory of Pattern Recognition, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China f Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia g Radiology Department of Guang'anMen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing 100053, China article info Article history: Received 8 December 2014 Received in revised form 25 March 2015 Accepted 17 April 2015 Available online 28 April 2015 Keywords: Major depressive disorder Body–mind relaxation meditation fMRI Cognitive reappraisal Medial frontal cortex Orbitofrontal cortex abstract Background: Meditation has been increasingly evaluated as an important complementary therapeutic tool for the treatment of depression. The present study employed resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) to examine the effect of body–mind relaxation meditation induction (BMRMI) on the brain activity of depressed patients and to investigate possible mechanisms of action for this complex intervention. Method: 21 major depressive disorder patients (MDDs) and 24 age and gender-matched healthy controls (HCs) received rs-fMRI scans at baseline and after listening to a selection of audio designed to induce body–mind relaxation meditation. The rs-fMRI data were analyzed using Matlab toolbox to obtain the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF) of the BOLD signal for the whole brain. A mixed-design repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed on the whole brain to find which brain regions were affected by the BMRMI. An additional functional connectivity analysis was used to identify any atypical connection patterns after the BMRMI. Results: After the BMRMI experience, both the MDDs and HCs showed decreased ALFF values in the bilateral frontal pole (BA10). Additionally, increased functional connectivity from the right dorsal medial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) to the left dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) and the left lateral orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) was identified only in the MDDs after the BMRMI. Limitation: In order to exclude the impact of other events on the participants' brain activity, the Hamilton Rating Scales for Depression (HDRS) was not measured after the body–mind relaxation induction. Conclusion: Our findings support the hypothesis that body–mind relaxation meditation induction may regulate the activities of the prefrontal cortex and thus may have the potential to help patients construct reappraisal strategies that can modulate the brain activity in multiple emotion-processing systems. & 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a serious clinical mood disorder characterized by mood dysregulation and cognitive impairment. According to the World Health Organization, MDD will be the second-leading cause of disability in the world by the year 2020, following heart disease ( Sliz and Hayley, 2012). Despite this high prevalence, the pathogenesis of MDD remains unclear and the diagnosis of depression is often delayed or missed, leading to poor outcomes, including high relapse rates, suicide, and diminished psychosocial functioning. The most frequently used treatment for MDD is antidepressant medication. In spite of the development of new and effective medications for depression, as many as 30–50% of patients do not respond to medication treatment (Baghai et al., 2006). Furthermore, medications may induce unwanted side effects that can impair Contents lists available at ScienceDirect journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jad Journal of Affective Disorders http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2015.04.030 0165-0327/& 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. n Corresponding author at: Brainnetome Center and National Laboratory of Pattern Recognition, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China. nn Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: prof_wwd@126.com (W. Wang), jiangtz@nlpr.ia.ac.cn (T. Jiang). 1 Co-first authors. Journal of Affective Disorders 183 (2015) 75–82