title: Brain and behavior changes associated with an abbreviated 4-week mindfulness-based stress reduction course in back pain patients.
abstract: Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) reduces depression, anxiety, and pain for people suffering from a variety of illnesses, and there is a growing need to understand the neurobiological networks implicated in self-reported psychological change as a result of training. Combining complementary and alternative treatments such as MBSR with other therapies is helpful; however, the time commitment of the traditional 8-week course may impede accessibility. This pilot study aimed to (1) determine if an abbreviated MBSR course improves symptoms in chronic back pain patients and (2) examine the neural and behavioral correlates of MBSR treatment.
  
  
  
  Participants were assigned to 4 weeks of weekly MBSR training (n = 12) or a control group (stress reduction reading; n = 11). Self-report ratings and task-based functional MRI were obtained prior to, and after, MBSR training, or at a yoked time point in the control group.
  
  
  
  While both groups showed significant improvement in total depression symptoms, only the MBSR group significantly improved in back pain and somatic-affective depression symptoms. The MBSR group also uniquely showed significant increases in regional frontal lobe hemodynamic activity associated with gaining awareness to changes in one's emotional state.
  
  
  
  An abbreviated MBSR course may be an effective complementary intervention that specifically improves back pain symptoms and frontal lobe regulation of emotional awareness, while the traditional 8-week course may be necessary to detect unique improvements in total anxiety and cognitive aspects of depression.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroimaging Barrow Neurological Institute St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center Phoenix Arizona.
authors.forename: B Blair
authors.initials: BB
authors.lastname: Braden
authors.affiliation: College of Nursing and Health Innovation Arizona State University Phoenix Arizona.
authors.forename: Teri B
authors.initials: TB
authors.lastname: Pipe
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroimaging Barrow Neurological Institute St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center Phoenix Arizona; Departments of Psychiatry and Psychology University of Arizona Tucson Arizona.
authors.forename: Ryan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroimaging Barrow Neurological Institute St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center Phoenix Arizona.
authors.forename: Tyler K
authors.initials: TK
authors.lastname: Glaspy
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroimaging Barrow Neurological Institute St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center Phoenix Arizona.
authors.forename: Brandon R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Deatherage
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroimaging Barrow Neurological Institute St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center Phoenix Arizona.
authors.forename: Leslie C
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-3971-863X
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Baxter
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000628:therapy*; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000628:therapy; D001364:Awareness / Q000502:physiology; D001416:Back Pain / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy*; D003863:Depression / Q000628:therapy; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000628:therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D064866:Mindfulness / Q000379:methods*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000628:therapy; D013997:Time Factors
keywords: Anxiety; back pain; depression; frontal lobe; functional magnetic resonance imaging; mindfulness; stress