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Meta-analyses of the neural mechanisms and predictors of response to psychotherapy in depression and anxiety

Marwood, L; Wise, T; Perkins, AM; Cleare, AJ; (2018) Meta-analyses of the neural mechanisms and predictors of response to psychotherapy in depression and anxiety. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews , 95 pp. 61-72. 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2018.09.022. Green open access

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Abstract

Understanding the neural mechanisms underlying psychological therapy could aid understanding of recovery processes and help target treatments. The dual-process model hypothesises that psychological therapy is associated with increased emotional-regulation in prefrontal brain regions and decreased implicit emotional-reactivity in limbic regions; however, research has yielded inconsistent findings. Meta-analyses of brain activity changes accompanying psychological therapy (22 studies, n = 352) and neural predictors of symptomatic improvement (11 studies, n = 293) in depression and anxiety were conducted using seed-based d mapping. Both resting-state and task-based studies were included, and analysed together and separately. The most robust findings were significant decreases in anterior cingulate/paracingulate gyrus, inferior frontal gyrus and insula activation after therapy. Cuneus activation was predictive of subsequent symptom change. The results are in agreement with neural models of improved emotional-reactivity following therapy as evidenced by decreased activity within the anterior cingulate and insula. We propose compensatory as well as corrective neural mechanisms of action underlie therapeutic efficacy, and suggest the dual-process model may be too simplistic to account fully for treatment mechanisms. More research on predictors of psychotherapeutic response is required to provide reliable predictors of response.

Type: Article
Title: Meta-analyses of the neural mechanisms and predictors of response to psychotherapy in depression and anxiety
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2018.09.022
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2018.09.022
Language: English
Additional information: © 2018 The Authors. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/BY/4.0/).
Keywords: Depression, Anxiety, Neuroimaging, Psychotherapy, Meta-analysis, Functional
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology > Imaging Neuroscience
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10058805
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