Study Led by Dr. Lisa Miller, Teachers College, Columbia University, Finds Spirituality Most Effective With High-Risk Patients
Source Newsroom: Columbia University, Teachers College
Newswise — NEW YORK, NY – A thickening of the brain cortex associated
with regular meditation or other spiritual or religious practice could
be the reason those activities guard against depression – particularly
in people who are predisposed to the disease, according to new research
led by Lisa Miller, professor and director of Clinical Psychology and director of the Spirituality Mind Body Institute at Teachers College, Columbia University.
The study, published online by JAMA Psychiatry,
involved 103 adults at either high or low risk of depression, based on
family history. The subjects were asked how highly they valued religion
or spirituality. Brain MRIs showed thicker cortices in subjects who
placed a high importance on religion or spirituality than those who did
not. The relatively thicker cortex was found in precisely the same
regions of the brain that had otherwise shown thinning in people at high
risk for depression.
Although more research is necessary,
the results suggest that spirituality or religion may protect against
major depression by thickening the brain cortex and counteracting the
cortical thinning that would normally occur with major depression. The
study, published on Dec. 25, 2013, is the first published investigation
on the neuro-correlates of the protective effect of spirituality and
religion against depression.
“The new study links this
extremely large protective benefit of spirituality or religion to
previous studies which identified large expanses of cortical thinning in
specific regions of the brain in adult offspring of families at high
risk for major depression,” Miller said.
Previous studies by Miller and the team published in the American Journal of Psychiatry
(2012) showed a 90 percent decrease in major depression in adults who
said they highly valued spirituality or religiosity and whose parents
suffered from the disease. While regular attendance at church was not
necessary, a strong personal importance placed on spirituality or
religion was most protective against major depression in people who were
at high familial risk.
Miller is also affiliated with the
College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University. Her
co-authors were Ravi Bensal at the College of Physicians and Surgeons
and the New York State Psychiatric Institute (NYSPI); Priya
Wickramaratne at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, the Mailman
School of Public Health at Columbia and NYSPI; Xuejun Hao and Bradley S.
Peterson, M.D. at the College of Physicians and Surgeons and NYSPI;
Craig E. Tenke at NYSPI; and Myrna M. Weissman at the College of
Physicians and Surgeons.
Teachers College
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