MAP training: combining meditation and aerobic exercise reduces depression and rumination while enhancing synchronized brain activity.

B L Alderman,T J Shors,R L Olson,C J Brush

doi:10.1038/tp.2015.225

B L Alderman, T J Shors + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.1038/tp.2015.225

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Abstract

Mental and physical (MAP) training is a novel clinical intervention that combines mental training through meditation and physical training through aerobic exercise. The intervention was translated from neuroscientific studies indicating that MAP training increases neurogenesis in the adult brain. Each session consisted of 30 min of focused-attention (FA) meditation and 30 min of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise. Fifty-two participants completed the 8-week intervention, which consisted of two sessions per week. Following the intervention, individuals with major depressive disorder (MDD; n=22) reported significantly less depressive symptoms and ruminative thoughts. Typical healthy individuals (n=30) also reported less depressive symptoms at follow-up. Behavioral and event-related potential indices of cognitive control were collected at baseline and follow-up during a modified flanker task. Following MAP training, N2 and P3 component amplitudes increased relative to baseline, especially among individuals with MDD. These data indicate enhanced neural responses during the detection and resolution of conflicting stimuli. Although previous research has supported the individual beneficial effects of aerobic exercise and meditation for depression, these findings indicate that a combination of the two may be particularly effective in increasing cognitive control processes and decreasing ruminative thought patterns.

Highlights

Thousands of new neurons are produced each day in a ‘normal’ healthy brain.[1,2] Many of these cells are produced in the hippocampus, a brain region necessary for various types of learning
It is widely accepted that aerobic exercise and meditation training are useful behavioral therapies for remediating clinical symptoms of depression.[31,32]
We present data indicating that a combination of FA meditation and moderate-intensity aerobic exercise significantly reduces symptoms of depression in individuals with major depressive disorder (MDD)

Summary

Introduction

Thousands of new neurons are produced each day in a ‘normal’ healthy brain.[1,2] Many of these cells are produced in the hippocampus, a brain region necessary for various types of learning. These cells are produced in a part of the hippocampus known as the dentate gyrus, whose primary neuronal phenotype is the granule neuron. Newly generated neurons in the dentate gyrus are especially responsive to environmental conditions that humans often experience. Many of the newly born neurons can be rescued from death by new learning experiences and they may even be involved in learning itself.[11,12]

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