Brain Scan Feedback With Mindfulness for Teen Depression
Tests brain scan feedback with mindfulness meditation in teens with depression and rumination.
Plain-language title generated from the registry record
Registry title: Mindfulness-Based fMRI Neurofeedback for Depression
Key facts
- Where
- Boston and New York, United StatesSee the 2 sites
Could this be for you?
Answer for yourself. This is not a decision: only the study team can say whether you can take part.
- Are you between 13 and 18 years old?
Source: NCT05617495, who can take part
Where in United States
- Northeastern UniversityBoston, United StatesTaking people
- Columbia University Irving Medical CenterNew York, United StatesTaking people
Questions to ask the study team
- How often do I need to come in, and for how long each time?
- Are travel costs paid?
- Can I keep my own doctor?
- What happens if I want to stop?
Trial details
- Who runs it
- Columbia University
- Trial code
- NCT05617495
- Record updated
- 29 April 2026
- Original description
In the United States, adolescents experience alarmingly high rates of major depression, and gold-standard treatments are only effective for approximately half of patients. Rumination may be a promising treatment target, as it is well-characterized at the neural level and contributes to depression onset, maintenance, and recurrence as well as predicts treatment non-response. Accordingly, the proposed research will investigate whether an innovative mindfulness-based real-time functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) neurofeedback intervention successfully elicits change in the brain circuit underlying rumination to improve clinical outcomes among depressed adolescents.Read full original descriptionShow less
Targeting Adolescent Depression Symptoms Using Network-based Real-time fMRI Neurofeedback and Mindfulness Meditation (NIMH); Mindfulness-Based Real-Time fMRI Neurofeedback for Depression (IRB)
In the United States, adolescents experience alarmingly high rates of major depression, and gold-standard treatments are only effective for approximately half of patients. Rumination may be a promising treatment target, as it is well-characterized at the neural level and contributes to depression onset, maintenance, and recurrence as well as predicts treatment non-response. Accordingly, the proposed research will investigate whether an innovative mindfulness-based real-time functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) neurofeedback intervention successfully elicits change in the brain circuit underlying rumination to improve clinical outcomes among depressed adolescents.
Inclusion: Ages 13-18 years-old; Written informed assent/consent and parental/guardian permission for 13-17 year-olds or informed consent for 18 year-olds; Tanner puberty stage ≥3; Meets current diagnostic criteria for MDD; English fluency.
Exclusion: Current psychotropic medication use other than antidepressant medication; Lifetime history of primary psychotic disorders, bipolar disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, conduct disorder, developmental disorder (e.g., autism), post-traumatic stress disorder, or eating disorders; Substance use disorder, moderate or severe in past 6 months; History of seizure disorder; Medical or neurological illness (e.g., severe head injury); Active suicidal ideation with a specific plan; MRI contraindications; Intelligence quotient (IQ) <80.